No Bosses: A New Economy for a Better World

mέta / Κέντρο Μετακαπιταλιστικού Πολιτισμού

by Michael Albert

Life under capitalism. Rampant debilitating denial for the many next to vile enrichment of the few. Material deprivation, denial, and denigration. Dignity defiled. Michael Albert's book No Bosses advocates for the conception and then organization of a new economy. The vision offered is called participatory economics. It elevates self-management, equity, solidarity, diversity, and sustainability. It eliminates elitist, arrogant, dismissive, authoritarian, exploitation, competition, and homogenization. No Bosses proposes a built and natural productive commons, self-management by all who work, income for how long, how hard, and the onerousness of conditions of socially valued work, jobs that give all economic actors comparable means and inclination to participate in decisions that affect them, and a process called participatory planning in which caring behavior and solidarity are the currency of collective and individual success.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

American activist, speaker, and writer. He is co-editor of ZNet, and co-editor and co-founder of Z Magazine. He also co-founded South End Press and has written numerous books and articles. He developed along with Robin Hahnel the economic vision called participatory economics.

Albert identifies himself as a market abolitionist and favors democratic participatory planning as an alternative.

During the 1960s, Albert was a member of Students for a Democratic Society, and was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement.

Albert's memoir, Remembering Tomorrow: From SDS to Life After Capitalism (ISBN 1583227423), was published in 2007 by Seven Stories Press.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is often the case, this book has good ideas expressed in a style more suited to academic than general readers. As a result, it lacks the kind of examples necessary to make complex ideas new to most people more applicable at their present place of existence. Ironically, like the neoliberal economic hypothesis it's meant to be a counter for, it also relies to heavily on a homogeneous concept of humanity making logical decisions about everything.

Anyone who's ever served on a committee of more than 5 people knows just how little that belief exists in reality. For that reason, it's hard to imagine an entire workforce meeting to make major decisions about their workplace operations and having the majority's choices politely accepted by the minority without protest. Even more unrealistic is the idea every single citizen would take time to review masses of data to prepare for the vote.

In the end, the premises in the book are a bit too utopian for anyone who regularly deals with lots of non-academics to put much weight on. We humans are an ornery bunch, and no matter how much we'd like to think otherwise, the kind of placid world outlined in this book isn't likely to emerge anytime soon.

[tytoisreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of democratizing workplaces and cooperatives but I left this feeling like it was mostly just an academic thought exercise.

[Simon P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good economic vision

I enjoyed the ideas described, the model, but despite a very very clear speaking style, Michael's writing style is hard to follow, referencing previous sentences all the time and using overflourished linguistic manners, which coalesce in a confusing prism that obfuscated the vision conveyed.

But I like the concept, the considerations. Trying to be fair, to not have a coordinator class ruling over a doer class, to organize without markets, to include most if not all of production as part of the Commons, have a sense of the hardship associated with different jobs and have a balanced job complex.

The back and forth planning described between the consumers and producers does seem initially cumbersome, but Michael wave it off as being automatable. I'd go further and have all of production planned in real time all the time, adjusted based on demand, to manage stocks of goods instead of just-in-time manufacturing. It was my job to do this for private Capitalists, might as well apply the vast planning power of corporations to the Commons.

[Marco Pavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book both on theory and practicality