An Introduction to Participatory Economics (Workers of the World, Take Heed)

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/05/an-introduction-to-participatory-economics/

by Eric Patton / May 12th, 2007



Participatory economics, or parecon for short, is a new way for a society to organize its economic activity. In the United States, our economy is currently organized under a capitalist model. In the old Soviet Union, economic activity was organized using what is commonly referred to as socialism.

Parecon, however, is neither capitalism nor socialism. Both of those economic models are classist. That is, in both capitalism as well as socialism, working-class people have little-to-no say over their workplaces and generally follow orders given to them by others. Unlike capitalism and socialism, parecon is classless. In a parecon, workers manage their own affairs.... capitalist workplaces and socialist workplaces are virtually indistinguishable. If you were a worker in a U.S. Ford factory in Detroit, and you were suddenly transported to a Soviet Lada plant in Moscow, you would probably not be able to tell the difference based on the nature of the work alone. Yes, there would be obvious language differences, cultural difference, and so on. But just based on the nature of the job itself, you most likely would not know which plant you were in unless somebody told you.

Those tasks that are bundled to create jobs like janitor, secretary, or manager don’t have to be bundled that way. We could just as easily re-apportion the tasks so that everyone has to do their fair share of unpleasant or undesirable work, and so that everyone gets to do some of the more empowering work.... I just want to try to convince you that classlessness is possible. Most working-class people are very cynical, and justifiably so. But my claim is that classlessness is possible, and that parecon is in fact a classless model. Balanced job complexes are one of the first things to understand when assessing these claims.... Both capitalists as well as socialists organize their workplaces in the same fundamental way. They both take the tasks that are disempowering, unpleasant, rote, onerous, or perhaps even dangerous, and they bundle those tasks to create jobs that typify their workplaces. Then they skim off the creamy tasks and bundle them to create jobs like manager, lawyer, doctor, and engineer.

See, this unequal division of labor gives rise to a class of workers that socialists never tell you about: the coordinator class. In a capitalist economy, workplaces are privately owned by a class of people commonly referred to as capitalists (or sometimes simply owners). And people like janitors, secretaries, assembly-line workers, and the like are referred to as the working class (or sometimes simply workers). It’s true that capitalists and workers comprise two possible classes in an economy.

Eric Patton lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio. He can be reached via e-mail at: ebpatton@yahoo.com.

n/t

The inspiration behind parecon is Michael Albert, who has recently published a memoir called Remembering Tomorrow

Here's a blurb on the book from Robert McChesney

"It is to Michael Albert's everlasting credit that he has worked tirelessly to grapple with the very difficult questions of what a truly democratic economy might look like, and how it might work. Albert's thoughtful contribution deserves wide attention."

Also, fundamental to understanding things like participatory economics is that there's absolutely nothing about democracy that requires capitalism. Democracy is a political system. Capitalism is an economic system. The two definitely don't have to travel as a pair. Yet they are often used interchangeably in our society.

It's near impossible to run our government without having some form of hierarchy, and it's the same with most businesses and organizations. We elect our political leaders to coordinate our government for us. Imagine a government where there was no such class system. It would just be anarchy and chaos.

Specialization and division of labor keeps our economy running efficient and smoothly. While a doctor could act as a janitor or a secretary, it's not best for society since the doctor can best spend his time treating patients instead of wasting his time doing some other job.