Erik Olin Wright：How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century (2019) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Format: epub

different from capitalist firms: solidarity, equality, democratic governance, dignity of work, community development. In capitalist economies, with few exceptions, worker cooperatives tend to be isolated, small firms on the margins of the economy. In a democratic socialist economy, worker cooperatives would potentially constitute a substantial sector, perhaps even the dominant form of organization engaged in market production for many goods and services. There are reasons to believe that the prospects for worker cooperatives in the twenty-first century may be improving. In particular, technological changes connected to the information technology (IT) revolution have reduced the economies of scale in many sectors of the economy, thus reducing the competitive advantages of large-scale production. This in turn makes worker-owned and democratically governed firms potentially more viable. To use classical Marxist terminology, the changing forces of production expand the possibilities for new relations of production. That said, unless there are significant changes in the rules of the game within capitalist economies, this potential is unlikely to be realized. Some of the changes in rules that would open up more space for worker cooperatives include: • Unconditional basic income. As noted, UBI would reduce the dependency of worker-owners on market income generated by the cooperative enterprise and thus reduce the risks of forming a cooperative. • Public programs to facilitate the conversion of capitalist firms, especially small, family-owned firms, into worker cooperatives . Programs already exist in the United States and other countries to facilitate capitalist firms distributing shares to employees. While power in such Employee Stock Ownership Programs (ESOPs) remains based on one share, one vote, ESOPs could become a bridge between a capitalist corporation and a fully worker-owned, democratically governed firm. • Specialized public credit institutions to support cooperatives . Since cooperatives are a critical component of an economy oriented to realizing the values of equality, democracy and solidarity, there is a justification for creating public institutions designed to direct resources toward cooperative development. While unconditional

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