A New Model Of Socialism: Democratising Economic Production

Description

Economic democracy is essential for creating a truly democratic political sphere. This engaging book uses Marxist theory to hypothesise that capitalism is not a democratic system, and that a modern socialist system of producer cooperatives and democratically managed enterprises is urgently needed. A New Model of Socialism focuses on the current crisis of the political Left, a result of the collapse of the Soviet model of society and the decline of statism and kingship. Bruno Jossa expands on existing theories to explore Marxs notions on economic democracy in a modern setting. He advocates a move away from the centralised planning form of economic socialism towards a self-management system for firms that does not prioritise the interests of one class over another, in order to achieve greater economic democracy. It is argued that the establishment of such a system of democratic firms is the precondition for reducing intervention in the economy, thus enabling the State to perform its ultimate function of serving the public interest. This timely book is ideal for advanced scholars of Marxist, radical and heterodox economic theory, as well as academics with an interest in the rise of socialism in our modern world. Indeed, it will also be of value to all those seeking a viable and practical alternative to existing capitalist and socialist thinking. Front Matter......Page 2 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 9 1. Introduction......Page 10 2. Production modes, Marx’s method and the feasible revolution......Page 19 3. The cooperative firm as an alternative to the capital-owned business enterprise......Page 38 4. A few advantages of economic democracy......Page 54 5. Marx, Marxism and the cooperative movement......Page 71 6. Recent criticisms of the labour theory of value: the democratic firm and Marxism......Page 92 7. Further reflections on the links between Marxism and producer cooperatives......Page 113 8. Some critics of labour management......Page 129 9. The labour-managed firm and socialism......Page 145 10. The evolution of socialism from utopia to scientific producer cooperative economics......Page 161 11. The democratic firm in the estimation of intellectuals......Page 177 12. An involuntary antagonist of history and progress......Page 193 References......Page 206 Index......Page 248