Essay in: Cooperatives and Socialism. A View from Cuba
On Pages: Edited by Camila Piñeiro Harnecker


Author: Dario Azzellini
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Pages: 364
Published in Nov. 2012

http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=63...

This book presents the cooperative economy as a viable alternative to the neoliberal capitalist and authoritarian socialist models currently in use around the world. The authors contend that the cooperative model is based on principles essential to building a more just and equitable society. The democratic decision making process is indispensable for advancing towards a society that can better fulfil material and spiritual needs, helping to motivate workers and promoting solidarity. It is argued that the cooperative model would not only be of great use for the economic reform currently taking place in Cuba, but would radically transform other societies as well.


Reviews

Crises of classical socialism and global capitalism are leading many to re-examine an alternative system based on workers' self-directed cooperatives. Its concepts and realizations are building hopes and concrete plans for progressive change in Cuba and beyond. Camila and her co-authors excellently explore this important, historic project.
Richard D. Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, author of Democracy at Work

This impressive collection of essays, by Cuban and non-Cuban thinkers, could not be more timely—both for Cuba, which is in the process of restructuring its economy, and for most of the rest of the world, which, given the seemingly intractable crisis of global capitalism, should be doing the same. These essays are infused with both realism and hope.
David Schweickart, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago, author of After Capitalism

A most important collection of seminal essays on the role of cooperatives in the capitalist and socialist development process. It provides a series of theoretical and analytical probes into a critically important development issue and a window into an ongoing debate on how best to adapt the Cuban model to the 21st century.
Henry Veltmeyer, Professor of Sociology and International Development Studies at Saint Mary's University (Halifax, Canada), author of Plantation Economy in the Age of 21st Century Globalisation


Translation of: Cooperativas y Socialismo: Una mirada desde Cuba. Camila Piñeiro Harnecker (Editor). La Havana: Editorial Caminos