In this age of overlapping and mutually reinforcing deep global crises (financial convulsions, global warming, mass migrations, militarism, inequality, selfish nation-states, etc.), there needs to be more realistic dialogue about radical alternatives to the status quo. Most literature produced heretofore has focused on the surface causes of these crises without much attention given to the sorts of major societal changes needed in order to deal with the crises we face.
This book moves the debate beyond the critiques and the false or not fully realised alternatives, to focus on what can be termed "practical utopias". The contributors to this book outline a range of practical proposals for constructing pathways out of the global economic, ecological and social crisis. Varieties of Alternative Economic Systems eschews a single blueprint but insists on dealing directly with the deep structural problems and contradictions of contemporary global capitalism. It provides a diverse array of complementary proposals and perspectives that can inform both theoretical thinking and practical action.
This volume will be of interest to academics and students who study political science, ecological economics, international politics and socialism.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1) Introduction to practical utopias
Robert Albritton and Richard Westra
Part I
Socialism and ecology
Chapter 2) Radical social democracy: a phase of transition to democratic socialism
Saeed Rahnema
Chapter 3) Ecosocialism for a new era
Pat Devine
Chapter 4) Ecological community: a practical utopia
Ann E. Davis
Chapter 5) Soviet planning and the labor-time calculation model: implications for 21st-century socialism
Seongjin Jeong
Part II
Positive practicalities: leaping ahead
Chapter 6) Provisioning under austerity: meeting human needs in the future
Barbara Hopkins
Chapter 7) World government is a necessity
Robert Albritton
Chapter 8) Alternative principles of labor: liberation from labor and liberation through work
Gui-yeon Jang
Chapter 9) Building a (very) new road to socialism: Cuba in the 21st century
Al Campbell
Chapter 10) South African commoning of medicines and water beyond human rights
Patrick Bond
Part III
New thinking towards a new future
Chapter 11) Foundations and pathways to a progressive, socialist eco-sustainable future
Richard Westra
Chapter 12) A posthumanist economics
Karin Schönpflug and Christine M. Klapeer
About the Author :
Richard Westra received his Ph.D. in Political Studies from Queen’s University, Canada, in 2001. Currently he is Designated Professor in the Graduate School of Law, Nagoya University, Japan.
Robert Albritton is Professor Emeritus, Departments of Political Science and Social and Political Thought at York University, Canada. He is a prolific writer who has authored or edited 12 books and scores of articles in journals and book collections.
Seongjin Jeong is a leading Marxian economist in South Korea. He has written widely on Marxism, socialism and the Korean economy. He is currently a Professor of Economics at Gyeongsang National University and editor of Marxism 21.
