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"Now that the idea that 'there is no alternative' has been challenged by the idea that 'another world is possible,' it behooves us to debate what that 'other world' could and should be. This book presents a coherent school of thought with provocative answers to that question - answers that go beyond the traditional shibboleths of the left." --Jeremy Brecher, historian and author of Strike!
"This is a spectacular book of ideas - brave, adventurous, intriguing ideas that reclaim perhaps the greatest human asset of all, political imagination, and help us realise once again that another world is indeed possible." --ohn Pilger, author of New Rulers of the World and Freedom Next Time.
"This book captures what's best in past and most promising in future social practice; no one-size-fits-all miracles but practical suggestions and a huge and warranted display of confidence in peoples' skills and imagination. It's a compendium of healthily head-in-clouds [where the air is purer] but feet-on-ground utopias, and it reinforces our belief that the story of human emancipation is far from over." --Susan George, Board Chair of the Transnational Institute.
"This is a spectacular book of ideas - brave, adventurous, intriguing ideas that reclaim perhaps the greatest human asset of all, political imagination, and help us realise once again that another world is indeed possible." --ohn Pilger, author of New Rulers of the World and Freedom Next Time.
"This book captures what's best in past and most promising in future social practice; no one-size-fits-all miracles but practical suggestions and a huge and warranted display of confidence in peoples' skills and imagination. It's a compendium of healthily head-in-clouds [where the air is purer] but feet-on-ground utopias, and it reinforces our belief that the story of human emancipation is far from over." --Susan George, Board Chair of the Transnational Institute.
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What if we had direct control over our daily lives? What if society's defining institutions - those encompassing economics, politics, kinship, culture, community, and ecology - were based not on competition, individual ownership, and coercion, but on self-management, equity, solidarity, and diversity? Real Utopia identifies and obliterates the barriers to an egalitarian, bottom-up society, while convincingly outlining how to build it. Instead of simply declaring "another world is possible," the writers in this collection engage with what that world would look like, how it would function, and how our commitment to just outcomes is related to the sort of institutions we maintain. Topics include: participatory economics, political vision, education, architecture, artists in a free society, environmentalism, work after capitalism, and poly-culturalism. The catchall phrase here is "participatory society" - one that is directly democratic and seeks institutional solutions to complex sociological and economic questions. Contributors include: Michael Albert, Barbara Ehrenreich, Steve Shalom, Robin Hahnel, Marie Trigona, Noam Chomsky, Paul Burrows, Justin Podur, Tom Wetzel, Cynthia Peters, Andrej Grubacic, and Mandisi Majavu, among others.
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5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical visions of the good society!, 29 July 2008
By wildflowerboy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Real Utopia: Participatory Society for the 21st Century (Paperback)
Expanding upon Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel's theory of parecon, "Real Utopia" is an inspiring anthology of essays by left libertarian activists exploring the possibilities of a directly democratic, participatory, ecologically sustainable society based on egalitarianism, diversity, workers' self-management, solidarity, and the social ownership of the means of production. Rejecting the mandates of capitalist globalization and bureaucratic state socialism, pareconistas advocate a socialism from below, replacing centralized planning with participatory budgeting and substituting class division with workers' councils, balanced job complexes, neighborhood assemblies, and workers' cooperatives. Transcending the economism of many other radical left political theories, parecon has far-reaching implications beyond the workplace, potentially transforming every aspect of social life like ecology, education, technology, kinship, sexuality, and the arts. In the spirit of internationalism, this volume includes essays on exciting attempts at participatory economics in Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa, India, the Balkans, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It also includes a couple of historical essays about revolutionary Russia and Spain. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Noam Chomsky, Michael Albert, and Robin Hahnel, and the brilliant essays on student organizing. The essay about the evolution of the South End Press collective I also found quite fascinating.
In short, this is really an excellent book, one that I encourage every activist on the left to read and discuss. Thank you AK Press for publishing yet again another awesome book!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great book on vision and strategy, 23 Oct 2008
By Michael B. Mcgehee - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Real Utopia: Participatory Society for the 21st Century (Paperback)
not more needs to be said other than whats on this page. good book, good arguments.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thoughtful, must-read collection, 6 Nov 2010
By anttiveikko - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Real Utopia: Participatory Society for the 21st Century (Paperback)
Well composed and structured, easy-to-approach introduction to the current state of visionary thinking that justifiedly doesn't follow the disastrous polarities of communism and capitalism. The devastating critique of current capitalism is even more profound with all the excellent examples in this book, clearly illustrating the need for, and the attainability of a new, participatory society. For anyone concerned about the state and future of our current society - the majority of us - this is a thought-provoking and very useful book as well a tool to change the world with (to borrow from an often repeated quote from Noam Chomsky).
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