Alternatives to Capitalism Research Network
Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE)
The broad aim of this SASE research network on Alternatives to Capitalism that I co-founded and co-chair is to advance the international, comparative and interdisciplinary study of capitalism and its alternatives, and thereby contribute to debates on the future of capitalism, the commons, prefigurative politics, social movements and collective action, real utopias, radical politics, and heterodox economic thinking.
The main area of enquiry is to explore how long-standing and emerging social actors are challenging and supplanting conventional capitalistic modes of production, consumption, and reproduction by engaging in collective action of various sorts. We are especially interested in research that helps us to understand: Who are the emancipatory subjects that are embodying alternatives to capitalism? What are the emancipatory strategies enacted by these subjects and to what extent are they viable, achievable, and scalable? And in what ways does the State and the market co-opt, repress, or facilitate alternatives in the socio-economic, political, and geographic contexts in which they are embedded?
Our past annual gatherings in Berkeley (2016), Lyon (2017), Kyoto (2018), New York (2019), online (2020, 2021), Amsterdam (2022), and Limerick (2024) have given rise to a new book series published by Bristol University Press titled ‘Alternatives to Capitalism in the 21st Century’.
The network encourages interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars form a variety of disciplines (e.g., sociology, social theory, social movement studies, political economy, anthropology, industrial relations, cultural studies) that are conducting theoretical and empirical research on a range of topics such as:
- Contemporary capitalism, its crises and alternatives
- Social change, transitions to post-capitalist societies and low-carbon economies
- Resilience and resistance to capitalist expropriation and exploitation
- Radical/deep ecology, eco-feminism, eco-socialism and degrowth
- Political and ethical consumerism
- Ecovillages, communes and intentional communities, radical lifestyles
- Decolonial and feminist economic and social practices
- Worker/producer/consumer cooperatives, economic democracy, and labour struggles
- Direct democracy, radical municipalism and the commons
- Democratic socialism and socialism in the 21st century
- Alternatives to shareholder capitalism
- Alternative metrics and values in capitalist societies (e.g., ESG impact, new taxonomies and benchmarks)
- Critiques of “green capitalism” and “conscious capitalism”
- Alternative and complementary currencies
- Alternatives in/to creative industries
- Transformative social innovation, social and solidarity economy
- Alternative and place-based food and energy networks
- Anti-capitalist trade unions, political parties, and social movements
- Critical pedagogy for a just ecological transition
- Innovative methods and epistemologies for interpreting alternatives to capitalism