Looking Forward. By Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel

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  11. Conclusion and Transition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let us lay claim to our birthright liberty, love, and delight.

Sheila Rowbotham

Reclaim the Moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alice: ... would you tell me please which way we should go from here? The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

 -Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.

 

-Bertrand Russell

 Autobiography

 

 

 

 

Transition to Participatory Economics

 

How to move toward a participatory economy is a very different question than how does a well-established participatory economy work. Strategies for building a participatory economy are part of overall strategies for social change. As such, the transition to participatory economics includes how to mobilize people's energy for social change, how to raise consciousness and commitment, whether to pursue electoral, grassroots, or confrontational tactics, what interim institutions to establish, what programs to pursue in other dimensions of social life, and how to overcome various obstacles as they arise. Answers obviously vary depending on the country, obstacles encountered, etc. But even after we begin the "long march" toward participatory economics, it is one thing to have a clear idea of what the finished product should look like and quite another to know what to do in the early stages when old values and habits prevail and skills and decision making experience are unequally distributed.

 

What makes transition from one economic system to another difficult? For one thing the "playing field" continually alters. Opponents continually use new methods to block change. Not even the most thoroughly prepared movement can foresee all the even­tualities of struggle. Moreover, efforts to change economic struc­tures do not evolve independently of influences from a society's political, kinship, and cultural spheres. Even the best prepared movement for economic change will fail if it underestimates or misunderstands the impact of political, cultural, and gender forces. It follows, therefore, that economic activists must be flexible and promote the agendas of activists struggling to change other spheres of social life in compatible directions.

 

We take it as self-evident that there is little reason to address the details of transition until there is at least broad agreement on "transition to what." Still, goals should certainly inform strategy so, to close, we point out a few general implications of participatory vision for participatory strategy. We begin with four conclusions:

 

1. Markets, central planning, hierarchical production, and hierarchical consumption all propel coordinator rather than participatory aims.

 

2. Participatory production requires balanced work complexes and must allow producers to understand the effects their

choices have on others as well as themselves.

 

3. Participatory consumption must reflect sociality while preserving privacy; it must allow consumers to understand the implications of their choices for producers.

 

4. Participatory allocation must promote collective self management and solidarity by providing both quantitative and qualitative information about the consequences of economic choices.

 

But how do these conclusions bear on strategy or transitional program?

 

Strategic Principles

 

Contemporary economic struggle features three major classes pursuing three opposed aims: (1) capitalists trying to maintain capitalism; (2) coordinators vying to establish or maintain coor­dinator relations; and (3) workers struggling to introduce par­ticipatory economics.

Of course, not all members of any class will actively participate, nor will all those who do participate always support movements representing their class interests. Defections are important, whether workers ignoring their better interests and serving as police for capitalists, or coordinators overcoming their elitism and putting their skills at the service of workers. Nonetheless, these three opposed goals will dominate economic struggle and alternatives.

 

But while long-term programs deriving from each class vision are contradictory, short-term goals will sometimes coincide. Likewise, each movement will compete for the allegiance of many of the same actors, though on different bases. It follows that an important component of participatory economic strategy will be developing ways to utilize the energies and skills of coordinators while never compromising the working-class character, culture, and content of the movement for participatory economics.

 

Formation Of Councils

 

A participatory economic strategy must emphasize forming and strengthening councils of workers and consumers. If economic change is to emphasize collective self-management, these institutions must become primary vehicles of the struggle for participatory aims. This would begin with grassroots community movements that organize neighborhood consumer councils which collaborate with neighborhood political, gender, and cultural struggles. Progressive organizers in workplaces should organize workers' councils with autonomous women's and minority caucuses. Obviously, these early councils would only address some issues, depending on the circumstances organizers face. But struggles in the workplace must win reforms that give workers ever greater say over their worklife and increasing confidence, security, and institutional strength for pursuing further participatory gains.