Someone once said that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism. Michael Albert would disagree.
‘Realizing Hope’ offers a speculative vision of a future beyond capitalism – an alternative to the exploitation of human labour, the unchecked destruction of the earth, and the oppression of all for the benefit of the few. ‘Participatory Economics’ – ‘Parecon’ for short – is Albert’s concrete proposal for a classless economy, developed from anarchist principles first introduced by Kropotkin, Bakunin, Pannekoek, and others. Under capitalism, the centre cannot hold. This book is a blueprint for a world that might be just over the horizon; a world we can begin building today.