Description
Book SynopsisWhat would an alternative to contemporary capitalism look like? In this book, Geert Reuten sets out a detailed design of a democratic society organised in worker cooperatives, followed by an equally detailed democratic transition to it, thereby making a convincing case. In Reuten’s design, Workers constitute the single economic class. However, unlike in capitalism, there is no class that owns the means of production. The legal structure of worker cooperatives is such that workers have full rights to the fruits of the cooperative without owning it, and yet the state does not own the cooperatives either. Interestingly, worker councils in the economic and state domains vote on all economically relevant matters. In Reuten’s work, the free choice of occupation and of specific consumer goods is even larger than in capitalism.
Table of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements General introduction Part One Design of the organisation of a worker cooperatives society 1 Preview of the main elements of the design’s worker cooperatives society 2 Design of the economy of a worker cooperatives society: economic democracy and the organisation of cooperatives 3 Design of the state in a worker cooperatives society: democratic governance of the state and the organisation of state institutions 4 Municipal and provincial administrations 5 International economic relations Part Two From modifying capitalism to transition Introduction to Part Two 6 The modification of capitalist practices by ‘worker-owned cooperatives’ and similar democratic enterprises 7 Circumstances just before the transition: financial and real estate markets and the scope of capital flight 8 Transition to a worker cooperatives society General summary References Index of names Index of subjects Abbreviations Extended list of contents
