Andrew Gamble and Jon Cruddas are two of the speakers who will feature in the Sheffield-based School of Democratic Socialism’s new lecture series called ‘There has to be a better way’....
Debt and Democracy: National Economic Institutions in a Global Order
MAURICE GLASMAN argues that institutional renewal of banks, corporate governance and land are vital to a new political economy for Labour....
Key Questions Facing Co-op Leaders
As Cameron woos the co-op movement, JACK STREET asks if the co-op ideal is being hijacked to help privatise the state....
Kicking the dog
A real movement for social change must have real democracy, co-operation and mutuals at its heart, says EDGAR PARNELL...
The State of the State
The role and nature of the state has become a central feature of British political argument – should it be an ‘EasyJet state’ or a ‘John Lewis state’? Should the state give way for the arrival of the ‘big society’, or forms of mutualism or associationalism? In the context of deficit reduction and austerity...
Life Beyond Growth
STEVE THOMPSON commends the grassroots movements seeking alternatives to economic growth The current edition of New Internationalist (NI434. July/August 2010) tackles what I consider to be one of the most crucial problems we face today, perhaps the most crucial. Headlined ‘Life beyond growth’, it deals with the conundrum that economic growth is not environmentally...
The Seeds of Radicalism
Steve Thompson traces the history of the co-operative movement and argues that this is a decisive moment in its renaissance. There is an alternative to capitalism, it’s called the co-operative commonwealth. It’s a way of living and trading with business which is run democratically for the benefit of the members and communities who use...
No solutions, much confusion
JONATHAN TIMBERS searches for the soul of social enterprise but finds a rather worrying state of mind This event was billed as ‘social enterprise solutions to 21st century challenges’. It was held in the upmarket Manchester International Convention Centre in late January 2005. I attended the conference in the hope that by the end...
Debating democracy
WILL BROWN examines two welcome contributions to debates on democratic renewal and progressive social change The need to extend democratic practices within society, beyond the confines of the parliamentary system, has been widely recognised on the political left for some time. However, in a context of rising political apathy and a perceived ‘crisis’ of...
Stepping stone or scam?
ANDY HANSFORD wonders whether foundation hospitals will be a fig leaf for privatisation of the NHS. The Tories tried to reform the National Health Service by setting up an ‘internal market’. The result was a failure, with a massive increase in accountants to count debits and credits in a whole new layer of contracts....
The case against social enterprise
The headlong rush towards social enterprise could undermine any prospects of a genuine social economy, says STEVE SCHOFIELD Social enterprise is very much the flavour of the month, or even, possibly, the next big thing. Its proponents put forward an ambitious agenda of creating jobs, providing training and developing local services in areas of...
A Hill of beans?
BARRY WINTER reviews Anti-Capitalism: The social economy alternative, by Chris Hill, and considers the role of the social economy in creating change, as well as sustaining socialism. This is an intriguing book. Written and, indeed, published by a former, long-standing member of Militant and, at the time of writing, a member of one of...