The origins of the next radical economy is rooted in a tradition that has empowered people for centuries and is now making a comeback.
Capitalism is in crisis mode. It is no longer serving ordinary people, while continuing to enrich the 1%. But as journalist Nathan Schneider shows, there is a democratic alternative to the robber-baron economy hiding in plain sight; we just need to know where to look. Cooperatives -- jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprises that advance the economic, social, and cultural needs of the members -- have provided that alternative for centuries. They often emerge during moments of capitalist crisis not unlike our own, putting people in charge of the credit unions, hardware stores, grocery stores, healthcare, and homes they depend on.
After the economic crisis that began in 2008, the cooperative movement is coming back with renewed vigor. Based on years of reporting, Schneider chronicles this economic and social revolution -- from the taxi cooperatives in Colorado that are keeping Uber and Lyft at bay; to the mayoral administration in Jackson, Mississippi, that is giving citizens control over their economy; to the French hacker who is building a cooperative version of bitcoin; to the electricity coop members who are propelling an outdated system into the future.
As these pioneers show, cooperative enterprise is poised to revolutionize our lives, put people like us in charge of our economy, and engender creativity and innovation that serves us all. Everything for Everyone is a must-read book on our economic future.
Industry Reviews
"Everything for Everyone proves how our vested interests are best served by addressing our common ones. In Schneider's compelling take on the origins and future of cooperativism, working together isn't just something we do in hard times, but the key to a future characterized by abundance and distributed prosperity. We owe ourselves, and one another, this practical wisdom."--Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus
"Everything for Everyone lives up to its title. This is no paean to the neoliberal 'gig economy' but rather an historical and contemporary tour of the radical potential of cooperative economics to disrupt capitalism as we know it. It is a book for everyone and a book for our times: read it, share it, but don't just talk about it. Commons for all!"--Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black RadicalImagination
"[An] invaluable study."--New York Journal ofBooks
"A gifted writer, chronicling the world he and his compatriots are helping to make--spiritual, technological, communal."--Krista Tippett, host of NPR's On Being
"If Walter Kaufmann and Annie Dillard had a love child, it would be Nathan Schneider. Part philosophy junkie, part spiritual seeker, all journalist."--Kathryn Lofton, Yale University
"Nathan Schneider is one of our era's foremost chroniclers of social movements. Always engaging and analytically insightful, there's simply no one I'd trust more to guide me through the latest iteration of the longstanding, international, and utterly urgent struggle to build a more cooperative world and reclaim our common wealth."--AstraTaylor, author of The People's Platform
"People have always fought to forge economies based on cooperation and creativity, rather than domination and exclusion. But that work has never looked so urgent as it does today. Charting a wealth of renewable ideas, tools, and commitments that are poised to reinvent democracy, Schneider tackles an immense subject with precision and grace."--Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough and ThisChanges Everything
"The time has never been better for cooperative enterprise to change how we do business. This is a guide to how a new generation is starting to make that promise into a reality."--Jeremy Rifkin
