Description

“After Capitalism – Economic Democracy in Action”

Dada Maheshvarananda

(2012) 374 pages within New Zealand

What people are saying of the book

As its subtitle suggests, the book is about extending democracy from the political to the economic. Of this, when interviewed for the book, Noam Chomsky says, “you can’t have meaningful political democracy without functioning economic democracy.”

Johan Galtung, winner of the Right Livelihood Award describes the Progressive Utilisation Theory on which the book is based as “the theory of an economic (and political) self-reliant system that is spiritually rather than materialistically inspired. In this system money is no longer in command, nor are economists. The goal is not ‘economic growth’ and the accumulation of wealth, but true human growth that satisfies basic needs, and unlimited spiritual growth topping that.”

Reviewing Maheshvarananda’s book Bill Ayers says it “provides a comprehensive critique of the economic system that grips the planet and suffocates our lives, names the contemporary political moment we’re facing with astonishing clarity, and illustrates with concrete cases and specific examples, the practical steps needed to build a radical movement toward joy and justice, peace and love, sanity and balance”. He describes the question at the heart of the book as “Where do we go from here, socialism or barbarism, chaos or community?”

Howard Zinn – author of the best-selling “A People’s History of the United States”
“After Capitalism is refreshingly original. It is spiritual and utopian while remaining grounded in reality. Its analysis is intelligent and its vision inspiring.”