This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Robin Hahnel, a professor of political economy at American University, will speak on “Participatory Economics” 7 p.m. Friday in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights auditorium.
Participatory economics refers to a type of economy that relies on democratic planning instead of submitting to market forces that its proponents believe create injustice in the capitalist system. The underlying values it seeks to implement are equity, solidarity, diversity, and participatory self-management.
The main institutions to attain these ends are workers’ and consumers’ councils that use self-management decision-making methods, balanced job complexes, compensation according to effort and sacrifice, and participatory planning.
Hahnel has taught political economy at American University for more than 20 years. He is author or co-author Unorthodox Marxism (1978), Marxism and Socialist Theory (1981), Socialism Today and Tomorrow (1981), Looking Forward (1991), and Panic Rules! A Guide to the Global Economic Crisis (1999), all with South End Press; Quiet Revolution in Welfare Economics (1990) and The Political Economy of Participatory Economics (1991) with Princeton University Press; and The ABCs of Political Economy: A Modern Approach (2002) with Pluto Press.