Question

Are there realistic alternatives to the current form of global capitalism? If so, how might they be brought into existence?

Answer 1

Post-capitalism is a state in which the economic systems of the world can no longer be described as forms of capitalism. Various individuals and political ideologies have speculated on what would define such a world. According to some classical Marxist and some social evolutionary theories, post-capitalist societies may come about as a result of spontaneous evolution as capitalism becomes obsolete. Others propose models to intentionally replace capitalism. The most notable among them are socialism and anarchism.There are many alternatives to capitalism. You can be excused for not having heard of them, though, as they don't shout as loudly as capitalism.
One alternative, Professor David Schweickart's Economic Democracy, socialises control of enterprises and the means of production, placing resources, factories and other productive capital into the hands of the people and away from the short-term interests of both the state and private sector. Crucially, Schweickart argues this form of economics would not need to rely on growth. Capitalism thus entails and reproduces a highly undemocratic organization of production inside enterprises. Tina believers insist that no alternatives to such capitalist organizations of production exist or could work nearly so well, in terms of outputs, efficiency, and labor processes. The falsity of that claim is easily shown. Indeed, I was shown it a few weeks ago and would like to sketch it for you here.
Under the vision of economic democracy, workers would control most enterprises democratically. Global capitalism is often seen in terms of impersonal forces (notably market forces, free trade) wreaking havoc on the lives of ordinary and defenseless people and communities. It is not coincidental that interest in economic globalization has been accompanied by an upsurge in what has come to be known as New Social Movements (NSM) research. NSM theorists, despite their substantial differences, argue that the traditional response of the labor movement to global capitalism, based on class politics, has failed. In its place, a new analysis based on identity politics (notably of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, community, belief systems) has been developed, directed towards resistance to sexism, racism, environmental damage,
war-mongering,capitalist exploitation and other forms of human rights abuses.The globalization of identity politics involves the establishment of global networks of people with similar identities and interests outside the control of international, state and local authorities. There is a substantial volume of research and documentation on such developments in the women's, peace, indigenous peoples' and environmental movements, some of it in direct response to perceived TNC malpractices. This provides a series of research-rich connections for scholars influenced by postmodernist and global capitalist theories.Nevertheless, global capitalists, if we are to believe their own propaganda, are continuously beset by opposition, boycott, legal challenge, and moral outrage from the consumers of their products, concerned citizens, and by disruptions from their workers. There are also many ways to be ambivalent or hostile about cultures and ideologies of consumerism, some of which the Green movement has successfully exploited.The issue of democracy is central to the prospects for global capitalism and the struggle against it. The rule of law, freedom of association and expression, freely contested elections, as minimum conditions and however imperfectly sustained, are as necessary in the long run for mass market based global consumerist capitalism as they are for alternative social systems.While most theory and research on capitalism continues to be state-centrist, focusing largely on how it works within specific countries, the growing influence of globalization in the social sciences appears to be encouraging more scholars to consider capitalism in the global as well as the local and/or national context.