The social, economic, and political challenges we face have reached the point of crisis: economic irrationality contributes to workplace disempowerment, social disintegration, political alienation, and environmental degradation. Despair is not an option.
The 99 Percent Economy provides a stirring alternative: Democratic Socialism. Paul S. Adler, a leading business and management expert, argues that to overcome these crises we need to assert control over economic affairs through social ownership and democratic management of companies as well as the national economy. He draws on a surprising source of inspiration: the strategic management techniques of large corporations. He shows how leading companies have designed and implemented strategies that involve and empower workers, enhance engagement and motivation, increase innovation, and are environmentally and socially sustainable. The principles are scalable-because they work in large corporations with thousands of people, they can work at local, regional, and national scales.
Standing in the way? Private ownership of society's productive resources, the foundation of capitalism's ruthless competition and focus on individual gain at the cost of society, the environment, and future generations. Adler shows how socialize public ownership will merge individual and social goals through the democratic involvement of all people in deciding what the future will be-both political and economic, both local and global. The needs of people and the planet will guide decisions about investment and production, rather than the pursuit of profit. Public planning forums at the enterprise, regional, and national levels will democratically decide goals, instead of being the prerogative of CEOs doing the bidding of investors.
Democratic socialism is not a leap into the entirely unknown, Adler shows. Capitalist industry has built the foundations for democratic socialism.
Industry Reviews
"This is an important book on an issue crucial to organizational theorists of every stripe. Adler is dealing with fundamental issues about how best to structure and manage our organizations, and he has done so in a way that will provoke the kinds of conversations that our field and our world desperately need." -- Mark S. Mizruchi , University of Michigan, Administrative Science Quarterly
"What does "democratisation" mean in concrete terms? Some millennial socialists say everyone should be guaranteed a job; others want a universal basic income, a drastic reduction in the working week, or both. It also means promoting non-traditional forms of business organisation, including co-operatives, which give workers a decisive role in the day-to-day management of their company. Mr. Adler thinks through how such plans would function. Drawing on his
expertise in management, he explains in detail how firms could be managed along socialist lines." -- The Economist
"From Bernie Sanders to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, candidates who call themselves socialists are winning more elections and wielding wider influence. Paul Adler's timely new book helps us imagine what a political economy, based on socialist ideas, might actually look like and how it might operate for the benefit of millions of Americans who are not well-served by our current system. The 99 Percent Economy is not just a compelling indictment of capitalism run
amuck. Adler makes a clear and convincing case for economic planning, expanded public investment, and greater social ownership and democratic management of productive enterprises. His book will be an
essential educational tool for activists in labor and on the left." -- Steve Early, Former International Representative for the Communications Workers of America and author of Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City
"Lucidly written and powerfully argued. Rarely do we get insight into the opportunities a truly democratic socialist economy might offer from an expert who knows how decisions are really made in leading corporations and large institutions. A must read for anyone interested in the creation of a progressive future." -- Gar Alperovitz, Author of America Beyond Capitalism and CoFounder of The Democracy Collaborative
"Paul Adler asks whether society can be reorganized for the benefit of its majority, that is, help those regularly disempowered? His book, The 99 Percent Economy begins with a radical premise that the economy should serve the vast majority rather than the other way around. Adler asks us to engage in a discussion about a different future that can move humanity away from the abyss and in the direction of a socialism that is democratic, radical, and
visionary." -- Bill Fletcher, Jr., Former president of TransAfrica Forum; writer and labor activist
"I can think of few books that so convincingly prove, in such clear prose, that capitalism is incapable of meeting the needs of most of humanity, that it must be replaced with a system that does meet humanity's needs, and that such a system is not only desirable but practicable. Buy this book-and then lend it to your 'socialism skeptical' family and friends." -- Jason Schulman, New Politics
