Cooperatives Confront Capitalism PDF Download

Author: Peter Ranis
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1783606525
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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Book Description
Cooperatives the world over are successfully developing alternative models of decision-making, employment and operation without the existence of managers, executives and hierarchies. Through case studies spanning the US, Latin America and Europe, including valuable new work on the previously neglected cooperative movement in Cuba, Peter Ranis explores how cooperatives have evolved in response to the economic crisis. Going further yet, Ranis makes the novel argument that the constitutionally enshrined principle of 'eminent domain' can in fact be harnessed to create and defend worker cooperatives. Combining the work of key radical theorists, including Marx, Gramsci and Luxemburg, with that of contemporary political economists, such as Block, Piketty and Stiglitz, Cooperatives Confront Capitalism provides what is perhaps the most far-reaching analysis yet of the ideas, achievements and wider historical context of the cooperative movement.

Author: Catherine Mulder
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137337095
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Transcending Capitalism Through Cooperative Practices identifies and analyzes sustainable alternatives to capitalism by examining five diverse enterprises, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Green Bay Packers football team, and the Lusty Lady sex club.

Author: Jw Smith
Publisher: Instittute for Economic Dem, Press
ISBN: 0975355597
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2

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Book Description
Permanent global peace and sustainable development. The efficiency of a modern land commons. The efficiency of a modern technology commons. The efficiency of a modern money commons. Reclaiming the communications commons., Democratic-cooperative-capitalism. How a free people and a free press are propagandized. The periphery of empire could not be permitted their freedom. A large segment of the world almost broke free. A viable Yugoslavia could not be permitted. The IMF/World Bank/GATT/NAFTA/WTO/MAI/GATS/FTAA military collosus

Author: Andrew Zitcer
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452964173
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
A powerful new understanding of cooperation as an antidote to alienation and inequality From the crises of racial inequity and capitalism that inspired the Black Lives Matter movement and the Green New Deal to the coronavirus pandemic, stories of mutual aid have shown that, though cooperation is variegated and ever changing, it is also a form of economic solidarity that can help weather contemporary social and economic crises. Addressing this theme, Practicing Cooperation delivers a trenchant and timely argument that the way to a more just and equitable society lies in the widespread adoption of cooperative practices. But what renders cooperation ethical, effective, and sustainable? Providing a new conceptual framework for cooperation as a form of social practice, Practicing Cooperation describes and critiques three U.S.-based cooperatives: a pair of co-op grocers in Philadelphia, each adjusting to recent growth and renewal; a federation of two hundred low-cost community acupuncture clinics throughout the United States, banded together as a cooperative of practitioners and patients; and a collectively managed Philadelphia experimental dance company, founded in the early 1990s and still going strong. Through these case studies, Andrew Zitcer illuminates the range of activities that make contemporary cooperatives successful: dedicated practitioners, a commitment to inclusion, and ongoing critical reflection. In so doing he asserts that economic and social cooperation must be examined, critiqued, and implemented on multiple scales if it is to combat the pervasiveness of competitive individualism. Practicing Cooperation is grounded in the voices of practitioners and the result is a clear-eyed look at the lived experience of cooperators from different parts of the economy and a guidebook for people on the potential of this way of life for the pursuit of justice and fairness.

Author: Camila Piñeiro Harnecker
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137277750
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
This book demonstrates that the cooperative model is based on principles essential to building a more just and democratic society. It is argued that this is the best economic reform alternative to neoliberal capitalism and authoritarian socialism in Cuba, and that this model can also radically transform other economies around the world.

Author: Bruno Jossa
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1800372019
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
This book revolves around the idea that capitalism is not a democratic system and that a system of producer cooperatives, or democratically managed enterprises, gives rise to a new mode of production which is authentically socialist in essence and fully consistent with the ultimate rationale underlying Marx’s theoretical approach. The author argues that the cooperative firm system outlined in this book offers a rich array of non-economic benefits that justify its classification as a ‘genuinely socialist’ entity, with real potential for achieving true economic democracy.

Author: Rob Harrison
Publisher: New Internationalist
ISBN: 1780261624
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
Capitalism is failing and ordinary people are forced to pay the price. With such deep-rooted problems there is real hunger for alternative ways of organizing our economic system. Answering the question, "Is there a co-operative alternative to capitalism?" this book showcases fourteen responses from economists, academics, co-operators, politicians, and campaigners, exploring both the success and untapped potential of co-operatives. Each essay approaches from a new direction—from the flourishing open source movement to cases of co-operative success in different parts of the world. Rob Harrison has written and commented widely on social change issues for more than twenty years.

Author: John Restakis
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550924613
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
How the largest social movement in history is making the world a better place. At the close of the twentieth century, corporate capitalism extended its reach over the globe. While its defenders argue that globalization is the only way forward for modern, democratic societies, the spread of this system is failing to meet even the most basic needs of billions of individuals around the world. Moreover, the entrenchment of this free market system is undermining the foundations of healthy societies, caring communities, and personal wellbeing. Humanizing the Economy shows how co-operative models for economic and social development can create a more equitable, just, and humane future. With over 800 million members in 85 countries and a long history linking economic to social values, the co-operative movement is the most powerful grassroots movement in the world. Its future as an alternative to corporate capitalism is explored through a wide range of real-world examples including: Emilia Romagna's co-operative economy of in Northern Italy Argentina's recovered factory movement Japan's consumer and health co-operatives Highlighting the hopes and struggles of everyday people seeking to make their world a better place, Humanizing the Economy is essential reading for anyone who cares about the reform of economics, globalization, and social justice. John Restakis has been active in the co-op movement for 15 years. He is the Executive Director of the BC Co-operative Association and has been a consultant for co-op development projects in Africa and Asia. A pioneering researcher on co-operative economies, he writes and lectures on economic democracy and the role of co-operatives in humanizing economies.

Author: Bruno Jossa
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317963164
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
The notion that there is no alternative to capitalism emerged after the fall of the Berlin Wall and made rapid headway due to increasing economic globalisation. More recently, this belief that there is no viable alternative has held firm despite the financial crisis, high unemployment levels and an ever-increasing gap between rich and poor. However, since the appearance of Benjamin Ward’s seminal 1958 article, economic theorists have been developing a workable alternative: a system of self-managed firms. The core argument outlined in this book is that a well-organised system of producer cooperatives would give rise to a new mode of production and, ultimately, a genuinely socialist society. This argument is developed through three key steps. First, following on from Jaroslav Vanek’s definition, it is argued that a ‘Labour-Managed Firm’, a firm which strictly segregates capital incomes from labour incomes, would implement a new production mode because it would reverse the pre-existing relation between capital and labour. Second, given that a system of these ‘Labour-Managed Firm’ cooperatives would reverse the capital-labour relationship, it is suggested that this would constitute a form of market socialism. Third, it is argued that compared to capitalism a system of producer cooperatives offers a wealth of advantages, including the potential for efficiency gains, the eradication of unemployment and the end of exploitation. Ultimately, this book concludes that self-management could take the place of central planning in Marxist visions for the future.

Author: Chris Wright
Publisher: Booklocker
ISBN: 1632634325
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Since the financial crisis of 2008 and the global popular protests of 2011, more people have begun to wonder and speculate: what’s next for civilization? The economic, social, and political status quo seems unsustainable, but what can emerge to take its place? In this book, a historian examines the past and present to argue that the seeds of a more humane society are already being planted, on local and international scales. Whether they will bear fruit depends, ultimately, on grassroots initiative. Focusing on the new worker cooperative movement in the West, this study not only contains the first systematic discussion of the solidarity economy in the light of Marxist theory; it also introduces a major revision of Marxism that both updates it for the twenty-first century and illuminates our historical moment. It includes an analysis of the history of cooperatives in the U.S., showing where they went wrong and how we can correct their past mistakes. It has a case-study of the successful new worker-owned business New Era Windows in Chicago, which has been celebrated internationally for its defiance of conventional paradigms. And it shows a way out of the age-old conflict between Marxism and anarchism, arguing that both are more relevant now than they have ever been. Which is to say: a gradualist “revolution” is, for the first time, within the realm of possibility.