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Parecomic: Michael Albert and the Story of Participatory Economics
Parecomic is a graphic novel about the system we live in—what’s wrong with it, and how we might be able change it for the better. The recent upsurge in popular protest around the world shows that people are not happy with the state of capitalism and desire an alternative that will work for the 99%, not just the 1%. Parecon is one such alternative, and Parecomic brings this to life in illustrated form.
Parecomic is about Michael Albert—the visionary behind “participatory economics”—and his life’s struggle as a left-wing activist in the US, beginning with the heady days of 1960s student demos and lifestyle rebellions; following the developments of the antiwar, civil rights, woman’s, and Black Panthers movements; to the establishment of alternative media like South End Press and ZNet; and the development of the participatory economics model.
Parecomic is about Michael Albert—the visionary behind “participatory economics”—and his life’s struggle as a left-wing activist in the US, beginning with the heady days of 1960s student demos and lifestyle rebellions; following the developments of the antiwar, civil rights, woman’s, and Black Panthers movements; to the establishment of alternative media like South End Press and ZNet; and the development of the participatory economics model.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Sean Michael Wilson
79 books85 followersSean Michael Wilson is a comic book writer from Scotland. He has had around 30 books published with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers, including: a comic book version of A Christmas Carol ('Best of 2008’, Sunday Times), AX:alternative manga ( 'Best ten books of 2010’, Publishers Weekly), Parecomic (with an introduction by Noam Chomsky, his first contribution to a book in graphic form). He is currently writing books for big Japanese publisher Kodansha, being the only British writer to do so. In fact, he is the only pro manga writer from Britain who lives in Japan. He is also the editor of the critically acclaimed collection 'AX:alternative manga' (Publishers Weekly's 'Best ten books of 2010' and nominated for a Harvey award).
Working with various Japanese artists he has written a unique line of Japanese history/martial arts/Samurai books, including The Book of Five Rings, Secrets of the Ninja, The 47 Ronin, and Cold Mountain (winner of China Comic and Animation Competition 2015 ‘Best Overseas Comic’ award). In 2016 his book 'The Faceless Ghost' was nominated for an Eisner Award. In 2017 he became the first British person to receive an International Manga Award from the Japanese Government. In 2019 his book 'The Many Not the Few' was launched by the Labour Party leader in an event in the Houses of Parliament. In 2020 he received the Scottish Samurai Award from an association promoting connections between Japan and Scotland.
He does comic books outside the normal superhero/fantasy brands, going into areas such as history, biography, drama, and social issues, often in collaboration with universities, charities and book publishers. He often gives lectures and talks about comics in schools and colleges, and writes articles for such places as The Japan Times, The London Economic and The Herald Scotland.
Working with various Japanese artists he has written a unique line of Japanese history/martial arts/Samurai books, including The Book of Five Rings, Secrets of the Ninja, The 47 Ronin, and Cold Mountain (winner of China Comic and Animation Competition 2015 ‘Best Overseas Comic’ award). In 2016 his book 'The Faceless Ghost' was nominated for an Eisner Award. In 2017 he became the first British person to receive an International Manga Award from the Japanese Government. In 2019 his book 'The Many Not the Few' was launched by the Labour Party leader in an event in the Houses of Parliament. In 2020 he received the Scottish Samurai Award from an association promoting connections between Japan and Scotland.
He does comic books outside the normal superhero/fantasy brands, going into areas such as history, biography, drama, and social issues, often in collaboration with universities, charities and book publishers. He often gives lectures and talks about comics in schools and colleges, and writes articles for such places as The Japan Times, The London Economic and The Herald Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 20, 2018
I've been aware of Micahel Albert, and his alternate economic system "participatory economics" (parecon) for many years. His scathing assessments of capitalism are, to my mind, spot on. But more than tearing down, Albert puts his energy into articulating, and trying to implement, a better economic and life system.
While Parecomic addresses Albert's model of participatory economics, it is more about the life of Albert. Many aspects I didn't know: he was student president of MIT before getting kicked out for anti-Vietnam War activities, for example. Readers will be reminded of the turbulence, passions, dreams, music and decadence of the 1960s. At MIT he began a lifetime of collaboration with noted scholar, linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky. Sean Michael Wilson the author and Carl Thompson the artist do a brilliant job depicting Albert's life. This comic certainly has broad appeal, especially for people who know capitalism is not working but cannot conceive of an alternative.
While Parecomic addresses Albert's model of participatory economics, it is more about the life of Albert. Many aspects I didn't know: he was student president of MIT before getting kicked out for anti-Vietnam War activities, for example. Readers will be reminded of the turbulence, passions, dreams, music and decadence of the 1960s. At MIT he began a lifetime of collaboration with noted scholar, linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky. Sean Michael Wilson the author and Carl Thompson the artist do a brilliant job depicting Albert's life. This comic certainly has broad appeal, especially for people who know capitalism is not working but cannot conceive of an alternative.
February 20, 2018
Excellent stuff. I must have been quite a task to take about 40 years of personal and cultural history AND complicated sociological theory and make it into a visual version that boths flows well and has interesting art in it...but Wilson and Thompson pulled it off.
The Parecon ideas are still a bit confusing to me, but I understood almost nothing about them before i read this graphic novel. Now i think i get the basic aspects, and they seem like reasonable things to me. Better than the way we do things now!
The Parecon ideas are still a bit confusing to me, but I understood almost nothing about them before i read this graphic novel. Now i think i get the basic aspects, and they seem like reasonable things to me. Better than the way we do things now!
January 25, 2026
An economic utopia comic where everyone gets fair pay and balanced jobs – but it still makes me wonder how to stop Jeff Bezos from suing. It's well-written too. Clear enough to teach your cat Parecon, though it does lecture like an earnest econ prof. Hey, don't knock it, those guys need to teach more like this. It definitely and coherently untangles economic jargon into comics without giving you so much as a migraine. It might even make you think radical economics would be fun at parties –cuz this is entertaining. Or maybe not, that depends on your critical thinking score. Conceptually it's clever; narratively, it’s like broccoli: good for you, but not as tasty as fast food. Not totally amusing– unless you laugh at pie charts. But it's absolutely creative and novel. Turning economic blueprints into comics is like tattooing Marx on Garfield – unexpected, but it works.
February 20, 2018
Hi , I am the writer of this visual version, thanks for your nice reviews.
It was great to gain further understanding of these issues and this history from Michael Albert and Noam Chomsky. That is one of the lovely things about writing books - you learn a lot yourself in the process.
Please check out some of our other history/sociology/politics type graphic novels - we have done several and more coming. Such as our best selling book of this type so far ‘Portraits of Violence’ or the book about to come out in March 2018, ’The Satsuma Rebellion’
You can see more pages from the book on my web site:
https://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/...
Sean
It was great to gain further understanding of these issues and this history from Michael Albert and Noam Chomsky. That is one of the lovely things about writing books - you learn a lot yourself in the process.
Please check out some of our other history/sociology/politics type graphic novels - we have done several and more coming. Such as our best selling book of this type so far ‘Portraits of Violence’ or the book about to come out in March 2018, ’The Satsuma Rebellion’
You can see more pages from the book on my web site:
https://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/...
Sean
August 25, 2015
Bad as a comic, poorly written and paced, should be a book, this is less about his theory of participatory economics and more his autobiography. Nothing against the theory of parecon, this format is bad for it
October 30, 2015
Ok it is up to you to decide whether you agree with the ideas or not. However, i gave it four starts as it was the first time that i read a comic book on politics. I liked the idea
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews