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A pragmatic vision of how democratic socialism can overcome the economic, workplace, political, environmental, social, and international crises that we face today.
List of contents
- Introduction
- 1. Five crises
- 2. The capitalist roots of these crises
- 3. A growing tension
- 4. The promise and limits of reform
- 5. Managing our economy, democratically and effectively
- 6. A democratic socialist America
- 7 . Getting there
- References
About the author
Paul S. Adler is the Harold Quinton Chair of Business Policy, and Professor of Management and Organization, Environmental Studies, and Sociology at the University of Southern California. In 2014-15, he served as President of the Academy of Management, the leading organization of the leading organization of management scholars.
Summary
We live in a time of crises - economic turmoil, workplace disempowerment, unresponsive government, environmental degradation, social disintegration, and international rivalry. In The 99 Percent Economy, Paul S. Adler, a leading expert on business management, argues that these crises are destined to deepen unless we radically transform our economy.
But despair is not an option, and Adler provides a compelling alternative: democratic socialism. He argues that to overcome these crises we need to assert democratic control over the management of both individual enterprises and the entire national economy. To show how that would work, he draws on a surprising source of inspiration: the strategic management processes of many of our largest corporations. In these companies, the strategy process promises to involve and empower workers and to ensure efficiency and innovation. In practice, this promise is rarely realized, but in principle, that process could be consolidated within enterprises and it could be scaled-up to the national level.
Standing in the way? Private ownership of society's productive resources, which is the foundation of capitalism's ruthless competition and focus on private gain at the cost of society, the environment, and future generations. Adler shows how socialized, public ownership of our resources will enable democratic councils at the local and national levels to decide on our economic, social, and environmental goals and on how to reach them. The growing concentration of industry makes this socialization step ever easier.
Democratic socialism is not a leap into the unknown, Adler shows. Capitalist industry has built the foundations for a world beyond capitalism and its crises.
Additional text
Paul Adler asks whether society can be reorganized for the benefit of its majority, that is, help those regularly disempowered? His book, The 99 Percent Economy begins with a radical premise that the economy should serve the vast majority rather than the other way around. Adler asks us to engage in a discussion about a different future that can move humanity away from the abyss and in the direction of a socialism that is democratic, radical, and visionary.
