Recasting Egalitarianism: New Rules for Communities, States and Markets (Real Utopias Project) (v. 3) [Paperback]

Samuel Bowles (Author), Herbert Gintis (Author), Harry Brighouse (Author), Erik Olin Wright (Author)

Book Description

Series: Real Utopias Project | Publication Date: January 1999

In Recasting Egailtarianism, part of Verso's Real Utopias series, economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis diagnose the current malaise of the Left as a result of the obsolescence of its traditional economic models. They propose an egalitarian redistribution of assets - land, capital and housing - and draw in novel ways on markets, competition, state regulation and community governance. The lead essay in the book lays out the underlying logic of this proposal in some detail. In the series of critiques which follow it, a range of distinguished thinkers engage in lively polemic concerning the practicality and effectiveness of the authors' scheme.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An exhaustive, interdisciplinary evaluation of the proposal from a variety of egalitarian perspectives and analytical viewpoints. -- Roberto Veneziani, Review of Radical Political Economics, 27 February 2004

About the Author

Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis both teach at the University of Massachusetts. Their books include Schooling in Capitallst America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life and Democracy and Capitalism: Community Property and the Contradictions of Modern Social Thought. Erik Olin Wright is the author of Interrogating Inequality, Classes, The Debate on Classes and Class, Crisis and the State, all published by Verso

Product Details

• Paperback: 397 pages
• Publisher: Verso Books (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859842550
• ISBN-13: 978-1859842553
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,470,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rigorous exploration of how to end inequality, April 18, 1999

By 

Ian Murray - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recasting Egalitarianism: New Rules for Communities, States and Markets (Real Utopias Project) (v. 3) (Paperback)

All the contributors to this volume are seriously committed to solving the persistent riddle of economic inequality in advanced economies as well as preventing the undermining of democracy by the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few. To this end, they set out bold proposals which transcend the pitfalls of both corporate capitalism and the now defunct, East European socialisms. Issues such as property rights, housing, school choice, political associations, economic efficiency and the benefits of asset redistribution are all discussed with rigor and clarity by the several contributors. All the topics are excellent counterblasts to the current aopologists for Conservative policies in the era of 'globalization'. This one is a must for all those concerned about the future of economic justice and the evolution of democratic societies.