In After Capitalism, David Schweickart moves beyond the familiar arguments against globalizing capitalism to contribute something absolutely necessary and long overdue--a coherent vision of a viable, desirable alternative to capitalism. He names this system Economic Democracy, a successor-system to capitalism which preserves the efficiency strengths of a market economy while extending democracy to the workplace and to the structures of investment finance. Drawing on both theoretical and empirical research, Schweickart shows how and why this model is efficient, dynamic, and superior to capitalism along a range of values.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Only the most fanatical adherents of the 'free market' orthodoxy will now say that 'there is no alternative.' After Capitalism is extremely clear and free of technical jargon so that it should be readily accessible to any reader. The book seems to me to be the best celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto. (Schmitt, Richard )
Many book-cover blurbs urge that no one interested in its field can afford to ignore the pages within: here, for once, there would be no element of exaggeration. This book provides a clear and persuasive argument for why practically no one should resign themselves to the evils of capitalism. (Philosophy In Review )
At a time when American-style capitalism appears to be unassailable, this very readable book is a timely reminder that there really is an alternative. After Capitalism is full of hope but, importantly, also full of reason. Schweickart's concept of Economic Democracy provides a compelling vision for everyone distressed by the enormous waste of human potential that characterizes capitalism as we know it. (Thomas E. Weisskopf )
This brilliant and elegant tour de force makes a clear and compelling case for economic democracy and confirms David Schweickart as the leader in the field. (Sheehan, Thomas )
A fresh take on a familiar argument. (Future Survey )
David Schweickart uniquely joins a devastating critique of capitalism with a practical program for a democratic alternative, making After Capitalism a worthy successor to the work of Karl Marx. No one interested in implementing an alternative to capitalism can afford to ignore this landmark work. (Manley, John F. )
After Capitalism makes the clearest case I have seen that capitalism leads nowhere but to moral, social, and environmental catastrophe. Yet it inspires hope by describing a realistic and sensible way to put our productive lives in our own hands instead of at the service of capital accumulation. Schweickart's accessible book will enlighten students and political activists about how the world works while opening new paths for its transformation. (Clayton Morgareidge )
If a well-read non-socialist leftist were to ask me for the best current book on socialism, I'd recommend After Capitalism. (Science & Society )
Many book-cover blurbs urge that no one interested in its field can afford to ignore the pages within: here, for once, there would be no element of exaggeration. This book provides a clear and persuasive argument for why practically no one should resign themselves to the evils of capitalism. (Philosophy In Review )
At a time when American-style capitalism appears to be unassailable, this very readable book is a timely reminder that there really is an alternative. After Capitalism is full of hope but, importantly, also full of reason. Schweickart's concept of Economic Democracy provides a compelling vision for everyone distressed by the enormous waste of human potential that characterizes capitalism as we know it. (Thomas E. Weisskopf )
This brilliant and elegant tour de force makes a clear and compelling case for economic democracy and confirms David Schweickart as the leader in the field. (Sheehan, Thomas )
A fresh take on a familiar argument. (Future Survey )
David Schweickart uniquely joins a devastating critique of capitalism with a practical program for a democratic alternative, making After Capitalism a worthy successor to the work of Karl Marx. No one interested in implementing an alternative to capitalism can afford to ignore this landmark work. (Manley, John F. )
After Capitalism makes the clearest case I have seen that capitalism leads nowhere but to moral, social, and environmental catastrophe. Yet it inspires hope by describing a realistic and sensible way to put our productive lives in our own hands instead of at the service of capital accumulation. Schweickart's accessible book will enlighten students and political activists about how the world works while opening new paths for its transformation. (Clayton Morgareidge )
If a well-read non-socialist leftist were to ask me for the best current book on socialism, I'd recommend After Capitalism. (Science & Society )
About the Author
David Schweickart is professor of philosophy at the Loyola University of Chicago and holds Ph.D.s in both philosophy and mathematics. He is author of Against Capitalism (Cambridge University Press, 1993) and Capitalism or Worker Control? An Ethical Economic Appraisal (Praeger, 1980), and co-author of Market Socialism: The Debate Among Socialists (Routledge, 1998).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A vision of "Economic Democracy",
By
This review is from: After Capitalism (New Critical Theory) (Paperback)
The evils of centrally planned socialism on the Soviet model are widely proclaimed, but capitalism has equally negative side effects: gross maldistribution of the fruits of the economy, the breeding of a mass consumer culture, and destruction of the environment among them. Capitalism may well collapse under its own excesses, but what would one propose to replace it? Margaret Thatcher's mantra was TINA...There Is No Alternative. David Schweickart's vision of "Economic Democracy" proposes a serious alternative. Even more fundamentally, it opens the door to thinking about alternatives. His may or may not turn out to be the definitive "successor system," but he is a leader in breaking out of the box.
24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is this already happening???,
By "tomu18" (Bridgeview, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: After Capitalism (New Critical Theory) (Paperback)
This is a good book. It was recommended to me by a friend who took the professor's philisophy class. The professor provides an excellent lesson on capitalism. The economic democracy that the professor proposes is fascinating because it eliminates capitalism. First, the professor explains why capitalists are inherently bad for democracy, then he explains how we can do without capitalists, then he explains how we being to phase capitalists and their effects out of society. This is not a book that comes from far out in left field. In fact, I am the son of a father who is a member of a worker-collective right here in Chicago. Economic democracy is happening, but will it go as far as proposed in this book? If economic democracy is superior to capitalism, is there any other alternative for our future?
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most workable, realistic, and inspiring socialist system to date.,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: After Capitalism (New Critical Theory) (Paperback)
After completing Dr. Schweickart's masterpiece I left with a true sense of empowerment and optimism. Economic democracy is only a theory on paper but the substance of the model is made so clear in "After Capitalism" you can almost perfectly imagine what the system would look like fully implemented. Schweickart breaks his theory into several important points:
Worker self management. Using evidence from numerous scholars the book looks at the merits of having a macro econ. policy based on workers coops. Staying balanced with studies done by pro-coop Princeton economist and a critic of the Mondragon coop in Spain, he offers more than enough empirical evidence to come to a clear conclusion: Worker's coops are just as efficient, if not more so, as their privately owned counter-parts. Efficiency is only one plus of the coop though. The author digs deep to explore coop's relation to future business expansion, employment, and profit sharing. Social control of investment is the next major characteristic of E.D. All workers coop's are charged a flat tax that is diverted into a national investment fund. These funds are then transferred back to communities (on a per capita basis) through regional and local public banks. Banks then give grants to coops creating "profitable employment" and to groups of individuals who intend to start new coops. This is a weighty concept and I would read it with a pen and pad in hand. However, at the end of chapter three you will be well versed in the financial markets replacement and ready to defend the proposition if you so chose. The last major tenet of E.D. involves the market itself. Unlike the USSR or decentralized econ. planning schemes E.D. keeps the consumer market intact. He defends this stance well and shows how a consumer market can be a powerful aspect of a socialist system. The book also covers "socialist protectionism" to be practiced in place of free trade, a blueprint of reforms to move towards E.D., and ways to keep the average Joe's money safe in the transcending of capitalism. Much of the book is spent dismantling capitalism's contradictions and short comings. If you have free market sympathies be prepared to be challenged. I can not do the book justice in this short review but I suggest this book to all realms of the political spectrum. It will present a challenge to those on the right and make some new debates on the left. I am now a firm advocate of many of Schweickart's theories.
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