Source: Firestorm Coop

A Participatory Economy is written for people who desire an equitable, ecological economy, but want to know what an alternative to capitalism could look like. It presents a fascinating, new alternative to capitalism. It proposes and defends concrete answers to how all society’s economic decisions can be made without resort to unaccountable and inhumane markets (capitalism) or central planning authorities (communism). It explains the viability of early socialism’s vision of an economy in which the workers come together to decide among themselves what to produce and consume.

At the same time, Hahnel proposes new features to this economic model including proposing how “reproductive labor” might be socially organized, how to plan investment and long-term development to maximize popular participation and efficiency, and finally, how a participatory economy might engage in international trade and investment without violating its fundamental principles in a world where economic development among nations has been historically unfair and unequal.

Robin Hahnel is a life-long radical activist and economist whose work emphasizes environmental sustainability and is best known for his work on alternatives to capitalism. His books include Democratic Economic Planning, The ABCs of Political Economy, and Economic Justice and Democracy. Hahnel is a contributor to participatoryeconomy.org.

Ferdia H. O’Brien is a futurist and host of After The Oligarchy, a political economy podcast and YouTube channel dedicated to exploring deep solutions to humanity’s problems. He is writing a book with Anders Sandström presenting a detailed model of a democratic socialist society. Ferdia is a founding member of the Democracy in Europe Movement’s (DiEM25) Post-Capitalism Collective. He trained as an electrical engineer and lives in Ireland. You can find his work at aftertheoligarchy.com and on Twitter: @afteroligarchy

Website: https://firestorm.coop/
Community Sustainer Program:
https://www.patreon.com/firestormcoop
Community Calendar:
https://firestorm.coop/calendar.html
A Participatory Economy:
https://firestorm.coop/products/19061…


ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.

Donate
Donate

Robin Hahnel is a radical economist and political activist. He is Professor Emeritus at American University in Washington, D.C. where he taught in the Economics Department from 1976 – 2008. He is currently a visiting professor in economics at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, where he resides with his family. His work in economic theory is informed by the work of Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, Karl Polanyi, Pierro Straffa, Joan Robinson, and Amartya Sen among others. He is best known as co-creator, along with Michael Albert, of a radical alternative to capitalism known as participatory economics, (or parecon for short). His more recent work is focused on economic justice and democracy, and the global financial and ecological crisis. Politically he considers himself a proud product of the New Left and is sympathetic to libertarian socialism. He has been active in many social movements and organizations over forty years, beginning with the Harvard and MIT SDS chapters and the Boston area anti-Vietnam war movement in the 1960s.

Leave A Reply

Subscribe

All the latest from Z, directly to your inbox.

Institute for Social and Cultural Communications, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Our EIN# is #22-2959506. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

We do not accept funding from advertising or corporate sponsors.  We rely on donors like you to do our work.

ZNetwork: Left News, Analysis, Vision & Strategy

Subscribe

All the latest from Z, directly to your inbox.

No Paywalls. No Billionaires.
Just People Power.

Z Needs Your Help!

ZNetwork reached millions, published 800 originals, and amplified movements worldwide in 2024 – all without ads, paywalls, or corporate funding. Read our annual report here.

Now, we need your support to keep radical, independent media growing in 2025 and beyond. Every donation helps us build vision and strategy for liberation.

Subscribe

Join the Z Community – receive event invites, announcements, a Weekly Digest, and opportunities to engage.

Exit mobile version