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"Alternatives to Capitalism" Seminar, New York City, April 23-24, 2005
Alternatives to Capitalism
Two-Day Participatory Seminar
New York City, April 23–April 24, 2005
Bluestockings and The Institute for Social Ecology present:
A Two-Day Intensive Participatory Seminar on Alternatives to Capitalism Facilitated by Peter Staudenmaier (see bio below)
When: Saturday–Sunday April 23rd–24th @ 4–6pm & 7–9pm (2 two-hour sessions/day)
Where: Meeting at Bluestockings (172 Allen Street NYC)
Price: $40 (scholarships available — no one turned away for lack of $)
Pre-Registration REQUIRED: here.
Must commit to at least 3 of the 4 sessions (no drop-ins)
As discontent with capitalism grows around the globe, those of us involved in struggles for a better world face challenging questions about just what form of society we are working toward. Questions of political economy, in particular, present a series of dilemmas for anti-capitalist activists. This intensive course aims to work through several of these core questions collectively and critically.Building on social ecology's analysis of capitalism as an irrational social system, we will examine several alternative economic visions put forward by a range of radical thinkers on the libertarian left. We will take a utopian yet skeptical approach to these proposed frameworks, evaluate their merits and flaws, consider their practical implications, and compare them with social ecology's communalist perspective.
Session 1: The introductory session will explore social ecology's conception of a moral economy and its ethical and institutional premises. We will also take a preliminary look at the earliest of our alternative models, the council-based vision of worker self-management elaborated by Cornelius Castoriadis.
Session 2: Continuing our survey of Castoriadis, we will explore the virtues and limitations of worker-centered and productivist alternatives to capitalism. We will then examine in detail Takis Fotopoulos' model of economic democracy, an attempted synthesis of Bookchin and Castoriadis.
Session 3: Broadening our analysis of council-based proposals, we will critically examine the model of participatory economics, or parecon, put forward by Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel. Parecon is possibly the most detailed and comprehensive example of an economic vision without markets or central planning, and we will devote much of the latter half of the course to scrutinizing its particulars.
Session 4: Our final session will address several crucial areas of debate among the alternative models we have considered: the role of producers and consumers and the nature of communal direct democracy; the dialectical tension between workers' control and community control; and the relationship between economics and politics. We will compare the core economic values emphasized by Castoriadis, Fotopoulos, Albert and Hahnel with those of social ecology, and attempt to draw lessons from these debates for the ongoing international debate on a reconstructive vision for a genuinely different world.
Readings (Packets available at Bluestockings): Note some readings on web:
Required Readings:
*Janet Biehl, “ Municipalized Economy”, Chapter 12 in The Politics of Social Ecology
*Murray Bookchin, "Market Economy or Moral Economy?”, chapter 3 in The Modern Crisis
*Michael Albert, Chapters 8-10 in Parecon: Life After Capitalism or here.
*Howie Hawkins, “Community Control, Workers’ Control, & the Cooperative Commonwealth”, Society & Nature # 3
*Debate on economics between Michael Albert and George Monbiot: here.
(read just the exchange on left side of this initial page, under the general title "Debating Albert's Perspective"; this consists of three rounds of debate about parecon between Monbiot and Albert)
*Review of Parecon by Joseph Green and reply by Albert: here and
"http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm">here.
Suggested additional reading:
*Readings: Castoriadis, On the Content of Socialism especially pp. 83–100
*Fotopoulos, excerpts from Toward an Inclusive Democracy esp. pp. 255–265
*Michael Albert & Robin Hannel: Chapter 3 in Looking Forward
Logistical Questions & to Reserve a Space
Questions on Course Content: Peter Staudenmaier
Bio: Peter Staudenmaier
Peter Staudenmaier is a social ecologist and left green activist who has been involved with the Institute for Social Ecology since 1989. Currently a faculty member at ISE, Peter is a PhD student in the History department at Cornell University. Peter spent the past decade working in a collectively run bookstore and helping to coordinate a network of housing cooperatives providing democratically controlled resident-owned affordable housing to 200 low income members in Madison WI. In addition to his work with cooperatives, Peter works with grassroots development organizations in Nicaragua as well as with the German radical green group Ecological Left. He devotes much of his time to independent scholarship and antifascist research, and is committed to bridging activism and theoretical work. He is co-author, with Janet Biehl, of the book Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience, and has published many articles on anarchism, ecological politics, and the history of right-wing thought. He is an experienced public speaker who conducts frequent lectures and workshops on a wide variety of topics. Peter has been engaged over the past few years in an extensive debate on alternatives to capitalism with Michael Albert. The complete debate can be found on Znet.
Alternatives to Capitalism
Two-Day Participatory Seminar
New York City, April 23–April 24, 2005
Bluestockings and The Institute for Social Ecology present:
A Two-Day Intensive Participatory Seminar on Alternatives to Capitalism Facilitated by Peter Staudenmaier (see bio below)
When: Saturday–Sunday April 23rd–24th @ 4–6pm & 7–9pm (2 two-hour sessions/day)
Where: Meeting at Bluestockings (172 Allen Street NYC)
Price: $40 (scholarships available — no one turned away for lack of $)
Pre-Registration REQUIRED: here.
Must commit to at least 3 of the 4 sessions (no drop-ins)
As discontent with capitalism grows around the globe, those of us involved in struggles for a better world face challenging questions about just what form of society we are working toward. Questions of political economy, in particular, present a series of dilemmas for anti-capitalist activists. This intensive course aims to work through several of these core questions collectively and critically.Building on social ecology's analysis of capitalism as an irrational social system, we will examine several alternative economic visions put forward by a range of radical thinkers on the libertarian left. We will take a utopian yet skeptical approach to these proposed frameworks, evaluate their merits and flaws, consider their practical implications, and compare them with social ecology's communalist perspective.
Session 1: The introductory session will explore social ecology's conception of a moral economy and its ethical and institutional premises. We will also take a preliminary look at the earliest of our alternative models, the council-based vision of worker self-management elaborated by Cornelius Castoriadis.
Session 2: Continuing our survey of Castoriadis, we will explore the virtues and limitations of worker-centered and productivist alternatives to capitalism. We will then examine in detail Takis Fotopoulos' model of economic democracy, an attempted synthesis of Bookchin and Castoriadis.
Session 3: Broadening our analysis of council-based proposals, we will critically examine the model of participatory economics, or parecon, put forward by Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel. Parecon is possibly the most detailed and comprehensive example of an economic vision without markets or central planning, and we will devote much of the latter half of the course to scrutinizing its particulars.
Session 4: Our final session will address several crucial areas of debate among the alternative models we have considered: the role of producers and consumers and the nature of communal direct democracy; the dialectical tension between workers' control and community control; and the relationship between economics and politics. We will compare the core economic values emphasized by Castoriadis, Fotopoulos, Albert and Hahnel with those of social ecology, and attempt to draw lessons from these debates for the ongoing international debate on a reconstructive vision for a genuinely different world.
Readings (Packets available at Bluestockings): Note some readings on web:
Required Readings:
*Janet Biehl, “ Municipalized Economy”, Chapter 12 in The Politics of Social Ecology
*Murray Bookchin, "Market Economy or Moral Economy?”, chapter 3 in The Modern Crisis
*Michael Albert, Chapters 8-10 in Parecon: Life After Capitalism or here.
*Howie Hawkins, “Community Control, Workers’ Control, & the Cooperative Commonwealth”, Society & Nature # 3
*Debate on economics between Michael Albert and George Monbiot: here.
(read just the exchange on left side of this initial page, under the general title "Debating Albert's Perspective"; this consists of three rounds of debate about parecon between Monbiot and Albert)
*Review of Parecon by Joseph Green and reply by Albert: here and
"http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm">here.
Suggested additional reading:
*Readings: Castoriadis, On the Content of Socialism especially pp. 83–100
*Fotopoulos, excerpts from Toward an Inclusive Democracy esp. pp. 255–265
*Michael Albert & Robin Hannel: Chapter 3 in Looking Forward
Logistical Questions & to Reserve a Space
Questions on Course Content: Peter Staudenmaier
Bio: Peter Staudenmaier
Peter Staudenmaier is a social ecologist and left green activist who has been involved with the Institute for Social Ecology since 1989. Currently a faculty member at ISE, Peter is a PhD student in the History department at Cornell University. Peter spent the past decade working in a collectively run bookstore and helping to coordinate a network of housing cooperatives providing democratically controlled resident-owned affordable housing to 200 low income members in Madison WI. In addition to his work with cooperatives, Peter works with grassroots development organizations in Nicaragua as well as with the German radical green group Ecological Left. He devotes much of his time to independent scholarship and antifascist research, and is committed to bridging activism and theoretical work. He is co-author, with Janet Biehl, of the book Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience, and has published many articles on anarchism, ecological politics, and the history of right-wing thought. He is an experienced public speaker who conducts frequent lectures and workshops on a wide variety of topics. Peter has been engaged over the past few years in an extensive debate on alternatives to capitalism with Michael Albert. The complete debate can be found on Znet.