Participatory Economics

From: Paths Toward an Anti-Capitalist Liberation by Chris Spannos

A participatory economy is comprised of social rather than private or state ownership; nested worker and consumer council's and balanced job complexes rather than corporate hierarchy; remuneration for effort and sacrifice rather than for property, power, or output; participatory planning rather than markets or central planning; and self-management rather than class rule.

The balanced job complex is a redefinition of our concept of work. Basically, jobs are organized so that everyone has an equal set of both empowering and un-empowering tasks. Jobs are balanced within each work place and across work places. Balancing jobs within work places is done to prevent the organization and assignment of tasks from preparing some workers better than others to participate in decision-making at the workplace, or what would be the result of our standard work place corporate division of labor. Balancing work across work places is equally necessary so that disempowering and menial work places are not ruled by empowering ones. The outcome of the participatory balanced job complex is that everyone has an equal share of both desirable and undesirable tasks, with comparable empowerment and quality of life circumstances for all.

Another key element is remunerative justice, or pay for effort and sacrifice. This method of pay insures that unequal outcomes are not produced and reproduced, due to ownership of the means of production, bargaining power, output, genetic endowment, talent, skill, better tools, more productive coworkers, environment, inheritance, or luck. Of all these factors people control only their effort. So, effort and sacrifice is the remunerative norm in parecon, tempered by need as appropriate in cases of illness, catastrophe, incapacity, etc.

Participants are organized into federations of workers and consumers councils who negotiate allocation through "decentralized participatory planning". Workers in worker councils propose what they want to produce, how much they want to produce, the inputs needed and the human effects of their production choices. Consumers propose what they want to consume, how much they want to consume and the human effects of their consumption choices. "Iteration Facilitation Boards" (IFB) generate "indicative prices", using both quantitative and qualitative information, which is used by workers and consumers to update their proposals for further rounds of iterations. The IFB whittles proposals down to a workable plan within five to seven iterative rounds. A plan is chosen and implemented for the coming year.

A participatory plan is a feasible and desirable choice distributing the burdens and benefits of social labor fairly. It involves participants' decision making inputs in proportion to the degree they are affected. Human and natural resources are used efficiently providing a variety of outcomes.

 

This is only a thumbnail sketch of a participatory economy. Further in depth reading and introductory material can be found at:

 

Life After Capitalism:

http://www.zmag.org/books/pareconv/parefinal.htm

Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the 21^st Century: http://www.parecon.org/lookingforward/toc.htm

The Political Economy of Participatory Economics: http://www.zmag.org/books/polpar.htm