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These days, it is easy to be cynical about democracy. Even though
there are more democratic societies now (119 and counting) than
ever before, skeptics can point to low turnouts in national
elections, the degree to which money corrupts the process, and the
difficulties of mass participation in complex systems as just a few
reasons the system is flawed. The Occupy movement in 2011 proved
that there is an emphatic dissatisfaction with the current state of
affairs, particularly with the economy, but, ultimately, it failed
to produce any coherent vision for social change. So what should
progressives be working toward? What should the economic vision be
for the 21st century? After Occupy boldly argues that democracy
should not just be a feature of political institutions, but of
economic institutions as well. In fact, despite the importance of
the economy in democratic societies, there is very little about it
that is democratic. Questioning whether the lack of democracy in
the economy might be unjust, Tom Malleson scrutinizes workplaces,
the market, and financial and investment institutions to consider
the pros and cons of democratizing each. He considers examples of
successful efforts toward economic democracy enacted across the
globe, from worker cooperatives in Spain to credit unions and
participatory budgeting measures in Brazil and questions the
feasibility of expanding each. The book offers the first
comprehensive and radical vision for democracy in the economy, but
it is far from utopian. Ultimately, After Occupy offers
possibility, demonstrating in a remarkably tangible way that when
political democracy evolves to include economic democracy, our
societies will have a chance of meaningful equality for all.
In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Tom Malleson investigates
the ethical justifications of wealth inequality, taking the radical
position that we should abolish the billionaires. Stark inequality
is a problem the world over, but it has been worsening over the
past thirty years, particularly in rich, economically developed
countries. To acquire the same amount of wealth as Elon Musk, the
average American worker would have to work for more than four and a
half million years. Is this inequality morally acceptable and is it
feasible to actually reduce inequality in the real world? In
Against Inequality, Tom Malleson makes the case for rejecting
meritocracy, presenting a strong defense against the claim that
individuals "deserve" their wealth. Malleson argues that people,
especially rich people, do not morally deserve the bulk of their
income because it does not, by and large, come from anything the
specific individual does, but is largely due to the vast
understructure of other people's labor, in addition to their lucky
possession of bodily talents and efforts. Furthermore, the book
brings to light extensive historical and comparative evidence to
show that raising taxes on both income and wealth is practically
feasible and that the costs of doing so are far outweighed by the
truly enormous benefits that such taxes could bring in terms of
environmental sustainability, democratic equality, equal
opportunity, and reduced racism and xenophobia. Unlike previous
books on inequality, Against Inequality focuses on the superrich,
arguing that they have far too much: a world with billionaires
alonside severe deprivation is a world without justice. Malleson's
argument is not that billionaires are individually evil, but that a
society that allows the existence of the superrich is structurally
immoral. In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Against
Inequality takes the radical position that we should abolish the
billionaires.
These days, it is easy to be cynical about democracy. Even though
there are more democratic societies now (119 and counting) than
ever before, skeptics can point to low turnouts in national
elections, the degree to which money corrupts the process, and the
difficulties of mass participation in complex systems as just a few
reasons why the system is flawed. The Occupy movement in 2011
proved that there is an emphatic dissatisfaction with the current
state of affairs, particularly with the economy, but, ultimately,
it failed to produce any coherent vision for social change. So what
should progressives be working toward? What should the economic
vision be for the 21st century? After Occupy boldly argues that
democracy should not just be a feature of political institutions,
but of economic institutions as well. In fact, despite the
importance of the economy in democratic societies, there is very
little about it that is democratic. Questioning whether the lack of
democracy in the economy might be unjust, Tom Malleson scrutinizes
workplaces, the market, and financial and investment institutions
to consider the pros and cons of democratizing each. He considers
examples of successful efforts toward economic democracy enacted
across the globe, from worker cooperatives in Spain to credit
unions and participatory budgeting measures in Brazil and questions
the feasibility of expanding each. The book offers the first
comprehensive and radical vision for democracy in the economy, but
it is far from utopian. Ultimately, After Occupy offers
possibility, demonstrating in a remarkably tangible way that when
political democracy evolves to include economic democracy, our
societies will have a chance of meaningful equality for all.
In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Tom Malleson investigates
the ethical justifications of wealth inequality, taking the radical
position that we should abolish the billionaires. Stark inequality
is a problem the world over, but it has been worsening over the
past thirty years, particularly in rich, economically developed
countries. To acquire the same amount of wealth as Elon Musk, the
average American worker would have to work for more than four and a
half million years. Is this inequality morally acceptable and is it
feasible to actually reduce inequality in the real world? In
Against Inequality, Tom Malleson makes the case for rejecting
meritocracy, presenting a strong defense against the claim that
individuals "deserve" their wealth. Malleson argues that people,
especially rich people, do not morally deserve the bulk of their
income because it does not, by and large, come from anything the
specific individual does, but is largely due to the vast
understructure of other people's labor, in addition to their lucky
possession of bodily talents and efforts. Furthermore, the book
brings to light extensive historical and comparative evidence to
show that raising taxes on both income and wealth is practically
feasible and that the costs of doing so are far outweighed by the
truly enormous benefits that such taxes could bring in terms of
environmental sustainability, democratic equality, equal
opportunity, and reduced racism and xenophobia. Unlike previous
books on inequality, Against Inequality focuses on the superrich,
arguing that they have far too much: a world with billionaires
alonside severe deprivation is a world without justice. Malleson's
argument is not that billionaires are individually evil, but that a
society that allows the existence of the superrich is structurally
immoral. In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Against
Inequality takes the radical position that we should abolish the
billionaires.
An innovative view of how everyone doing part-time work and
part-time caregiving would promote flourishing families, free time,
equality, and the true value of care. The way that Western
countries approach work and care for others is fundamentally
dysfunctional. The amount of time spent at work places
unsustainable stress on families, particularly in the face of
rising inequality, while those who perform care are underpaid and
their labor undervalued. In Part-Time for All, Jennifer Nedelsky
and Tom Malleson propose a plan to radically restructure both work
and care. As such, they offer a solution to four pressing problems:
the inequality of caregivers; family stress from competing demands
of work and care; chronic time scarcity; and policymakers who are
ignorant about the care that life requires—the care/policy
divide. Nedelsky and Malleson argue that no capable adult should do
paid work for more than 30 hours per week, so that they can
contribute substantial amounts of time to unpaid care for family,
friends, or other "communities of care." While the authors focus
primarily on human-to-human care, they also include care for the
earth as a vital part of this shift. All of the elements of
Nedelsky and Malleson's proposal already exist piecemeal in various
countries. What is needed is to integrate the key reforms and scale
them up. The result is an actionable plan to motivate widespread
take-up of part-time work and part-time care. Highlighting how
these new norms can create synergies of institutional
transformation while fostering a cultural shift in the value of
care and work, this "care manifesto" identifies the deep changes
that are needed and lays out a feasible path forward.
In June 2010 activists opposing the G20 meeting held in Toronto
were greeted with arbitrary state violence on a scale never before
seen in Canada. "Whose Streets?" is a combination of testimonials
from the front lines and analyses of the broader context, an
account that both reflects critically on what occurred in Toronto
and looks ahead to further building our capacityfor resistance.
Featuring reflections from activists who helped organize the
mobilizations, demonstrators andpassersby who were arbitrarily
arrested and detained, and scholars committed to the theory and
practice of confronting neoliberal capitalism, the collection
balances critical perspective with on-the-street intensity. It
offers vital insight for activists on how local organizing and
global activism can come together.
Although contemporary Western societies refer to themselves as
"democratic," the bulk of the population spend much of their lives
in workplaces that are severely undemocratic, even tyrannical.
Gigantic corporations such as Amazon, Meta, Exxon, and Walmart are
now among the richest and most powerful institutions in the world
yet accountable to no one but a limited number of shareholders. The
undemocratic nature of conventional firms generates profound
problems across society, including domination at work,
environmental destruction, and spiralling inequality. Against this
backdrop, Isabelle Ferreras proposes a radical but realistic
solution to democratizing the private firm. She suggests that all
large firms should be bicamerally governed, with a chamber of
worker representatives sharing equal governance power with the
standard Board representing owners. In response to this proposal,
twelve leading experts on corporate behavior from multiple
disciplines consider its attractiveness, viability, and
achievability as a "real utopian" proposal to strengthen democracy
in our time.
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