Beyond Capitalism: Building Democratic Alternatives for Today and the Future

Capitalism as a global system barely allows the needs of the majority of the world's population to be met. Whether from an industrialized country such as the US or from South Africa, the need for an alternative can be felt all over the world. It is clear nowadays that, due to the non-democratic nature and inadequacies of capitalism, another system must take its place. Such a process has already begun through the cooperative movement, which this book examines along with other initiatives.

Featuring essays by international scholars and activists from various spheres of the anti-capitalist left, the work features many examples from the north and the south, to cover both the historically-advanced and late capitalist economies. It discusses such initiatives as participatory economics, the Mondragon experience, worker cooperatives in Europe and Latin America, solidarity economy in South Africa, and more.

Written in an accessible manner, Beyond Capitalism will be an invaluable resource for any student of social movements and political thought and for anyone looking for alternative to today's ongoing systemic crises.

Jeffrey Shantz teaches human rights and community advocacy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, Canada. A rank and file union and antipoverty organizer and scholar, he focuses on worker self-activity and the connections between ecology and labor organizing. He is the author and editor of eleven books, including Organizing Anarchy: Direct Action and Insurgency (Berghahn Books, 2012) and Green Syndicalism (Syracuse University Press, 2012).

José Brendan Macdonald is Professor Emeritus at the Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Joao Pessoa, Brazil, where he founded the Incubator of Solidarity Enterprises. He has written extensively on solidarity economics.