The Political Economy of Participatory Economics or Rethinking Development Geographies

The Political Economy of Participatory Economics

Author: Michael Albert

With the near bankruptcy of centrally planned economies now apparent and with capitalism seemingly incapable of generating egalitarian outcomes in the first world and economic development in the third world, alternative approaches to managing economic affairs are an urgent necessity. Until now, however, descriptions of alternatives have been unconvincing. Here Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel support the libertarian socialist tradition by presenting a rigorous, well-defined model of how producers and consumers could democratically plan their interconnected activities.

After explaining why hierarchical production, inegalitarian consumption, central planning, and market allocations are incompatible with "classlessness," the authors present an alternative model of democratic workers' and consumers' councils operating in a decentralized, social planning procedure. They show how egalitarian consumption and job complexes in which all engage in conceptual as well as executionary labor can be efficient. They demonstrate the ability of their planning procedure to yield equitable and efficient outcomes even in the context of externalities and public goods and its power to stimulate rather than subvert participatory impulses. Also included is a discussion of information management and how simulation experiments can substantiate the feasibility of their model.

Interesting book: Color Medicine or Your Heart Needs the Mediterranean Diet

Rethinking Development Geographies

Author: Marcus Power

This work offers a stimulating critical introduction to the changing geographies of global development. It moves away from the traditional approach of providing descriptive accounts of Third World geographical issues, and instead finds alternative geography of development theories and practices, which show that "development" has been a pain staking, protracted and fiercely contested process. By examining the progress towards development at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it raises issues of debt and democracy, but also looks at the recent wave of anti-capitalist protests and global financial summits. The book considers the spatiality of development, rather than simply adding a geographical twist to existing debates about development and explores critical and radical perspectives on development as a global industry, with a specific geography of power. Case studies are drawn from Africa, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean; boxes will highlight and explain key theories and competing perspectives on development; chapter objectives and summaries will be given and there will be annotated further reading for each chapter.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction: New Geographies of Development?