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Home , Abby Martin, Ben Manski, Bob Massie (politician), Donella Meadows, Erik Olin Wright, Frances Fox Piven

The Next

A call for national discussion and debate A call for national discussion and debate by Gar Alperovitz, James Gustave Speth, Jane Mansbridge, Sarita Gupta, Bill McKibben, Danny Glover, , Leo Gerard, Annie Leonard, Robert B. Reich, , Anuradha Mittal, Jeffrey D. Sachs, , Manuel Pastor, , Phyllis Bennis, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, , Nancy Fraser, , Gerald Torres, John James Conyers, Jr., , Herman E. Daly, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, William Greider, , , Larry Cohen, Medea Benjamin, Timothy E. Wirth, Emily Kawano, Saru Jayaraman, Jeff Faux, Heather McGhee, James Mumm, Joseph Blasi, Paul S. Adler, Richard Falk, , , Will Raap, Gerald Hudson, May Boeve, L. Hunter Lovins, Jose Zapata Calderon, Deepak Bhargava, Lawrence Mishel, Angela Glover Blackwell, James Counts Early, Chuck Collins, Maya Schenwar, Heather Booth, Robin Hahnel, Dayna Cunningham, J. Phillip Thompson, George Goehl, Saskia Sassen, Kai Bird, Marcus Raskin, David Korten, Marta Ceroni, Carole Pateman, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Jessica Gordon Nembhard, David W. Orr, Sonia E. Sachs, Alexis Goldstein, , Mark Weisbrot, J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Julie Matthaei, Christopher Jencks, Robert W. McChesney, Neva Goodwin, C. Otto Scharmer, Richard Heinberg, Bob Massie, Ron Blackwell, Vijay Prashad, Fran Korten, Jeffrey Hollender, Joe Uehlein, Juanita Valdez-Cox, Richard D. Wolff, John Cavanagh, Greg Grandin, James K. Boyce, Robert Costanza, Peter Kuznick, john a. powell, Susan Witt, Lester Brown, Raj Patel, Carlos Pérez de Alejo, John Bellamy Foster, , Dick Mazess, Stacy Mitchell, Paul Raskin, Joel Rogers, Peter Marcuse, Michael C. Dawson, Todd Gitlin, Jerry Mander, Anna Galland, Aaron Tanaka, Ed Whitfield, Peter Barnes, L. Randall Wray, Saket Soni, David Schweickart, Judy Wicks, Michelle Long, Christian Parenti, Gayle McLaughlin, Peter G. Brown, & many others. It’s Time to Face the Depth of the Systemic Crisis We Confront

thenextsystem.org The following statement was developed with input from a small group of initial signatories whose names are included in the statement. They have been joined by many more—activists, policymakers, practitioners, business people, and scholars from across disciplines—in spelling out the systemic nature of the current crisis we face as a society and the urgent need to think in terms of systemic solutions.

It’s time for everyone who cares about our troubled country to face the depth of the systemic crisis we now confront as a nation. We must step back from the daily fray and ask: How do we actually get on a path to the kind of society—and world—we’d like now and for future generations? We must begin a real conversation—locally, nationally, and at all levels in between—on how to respond to the profound challenge of our time in history. “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending,” Lincoln said, “we could better judge what to do.” Today’s answer to Lincoln’s charge is grim. If one looks at “where we are” among advanced across more than a score of key indicators of national well-being—including relative poverty, inequality, education, social mobility, health, environment, militarization, , and more—we find ourselves exactly where we don’t want to be: at or near the bottom.

The challenging realities of growing inequality, political stalemate, and climate disruption prompt an important insight. When big problems emerge across the entire spectrum of national life, it cannot be due to small reasons. When the old ways no longer produce the outcomes we are looking for, something deeper is occurring. We have fundamental problems because of fundamental flaws in our economic and . The crisis now unfolding in so many ways across our country amounts to a systemic crisis. Today’s political is not programmed to secure the wellbeing of people, place and planet. Instead, its priorities are corporate profits, the growth of GDP, and the projection of national power. If we are to address the manifold challenges we face in a serious way, we need to think through and then build a new that takes us beyond the current system that is failing all around us. However difficult the task, however long it may take, systemic problems require systemic solutions.

The social pain arising from the economic crisis, the steady unfolding of the climate calamity, and many other deeply troubling developments have made it possible to pose the question of large-scale system change in a serious fashion in the . Yet, despite this new space for a debate about fundamental change, challenges to the system have until recently been constrained by a continuing lack of imagination concerning social, economic and political alternatives. It is said that the existing system is the only possibility, one we must accept and work with—that, as Margaret Thatcher famously insisted, “There is no alternative.” But she had it wrong. The good news is that the inability of traditional politics and policies to address fundamental challenges has fueled an extraordinary amount of experimentation in communities across the United States—and around the world. It has also generated an increasing number of sophisticated and thoughtful proposals for transformative change. Together these developments suggest that it is possible to build a new and better America beyond the failed of the past and present.

Indeed, new terms have begun to gain currency among diverse social movements and activist communities—an indication that the domination of traditional thinking has already started to weaken. Thus we encounter the sharing economy, the caring economy, the solidarity economy, the restorative economy, the regenerative economy, the sustaining economy, the resilient economy, and, of course, the new economy. There is talk of the need for a great transition. Several of these approaches already have significant networks and thoughtful research efforts underway. New thinking by creative scholars and members of the labor movement and community-oriented advocates is also contributing to the ferment. It is time for to think boldly about what is required to deal with the systemic difficulties facing the United States. It is time to explore genuine alternatives and new models—“the next system.” It is time to debate what it will take to move our country to a very different place, one where outcomes that are truly sustainable, equitable, and democratic are commonplace.

Those of us signing this statement are committed to working towards these ends. Gar Alperovitz James Gustave Speth Angela Atwood Jill Bamburg Co-Founder Board Member Executive Director President The Democracy Collaborative The New Economy Coalition College Houses Bainbridge Graduate Institute Co-Chair, The Next System Co-Chair, The Next System Pinchot University Project Project Robert U. Ayres Professor of Environmental Aman Banerji Hilary Abell Kali Akuno Management, Center for the Community Manager Co-Founder Coordinator Management of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Project Equity Cooperation Jackson Environment and Resources Network Organizer INSEAD - Institut Européen Dean Abrahamson Malcolm X Grassroots Movement d’Administration des Affaires Peter Barnes Professor Emeritus of Energy Author and Environmental Policy Michael Albert Jay Thomas Bad Heart Bull With Liberty and Dividends for All University of Minnesota Co-Founder President and CEO Z Communications Native American Community Ed Barry Frank Ackerman Co-Author Development Institute Director Lecturer Participatory Economy vision Sustainable World Initiative Massachusetts Gianpaolo Baiocchi Sustainable Living Adviser Institute of Technology Lindsey Allen Director, Urban Democracy Lab Population Institute Senior Economist Executive Director New Synapse Energy Rainforest Action Network Allison Basile Dean Baker Co-Founder Paul S. Adler Patrick Almonrode Co-Director Impact Hub DC Professor of Management and 350NYC Center for Economic and Policy Organization Research Ben Beachy University of Southern Rev. Dr. Jim Antal Research Director Conference Minister, Gopal Balakrishnan Global Trade Watch President Massachusetts Associate Professor Public Citizen Conference History of Consciousness United Church of Christ Department Medea Benjamin University of California, Santa Co-Founder Cruz CODEPINK Phyllis Bennis Ron Blackwell J. Alan Brewster John Burroughs Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies Former Chief Economist Chair, Energy Advisory Board Executive Director Fellow, Transnational Institute UNITE and AFL-CIO City of Milford, Connecticut Lawyers Committee on Former Deputy Dean Nuclear Policy Suzanne Bergeron Joseph Blasi School of Forestry & Environ- Professor of Womens’ Studies J. Robert Beyster Distinguished mental Studies, Dallas Burtraw and Social Professor, School of Manage- Former Senior Vice President Darius Gaskins Senior Fellow Dearborn ment and Labor Relations World Resources Institute Associate Director Rutgers University Center for Climate and Electricity Elaine Bernard Robin Broad Policy Resources for the Future Executive Director, Labor and May Boeve Professor, School of Worklife Program Co-Founder and Executive International Service Marco Buttazzoni Harvard Law School Director American University Climate Change Mitigation and 350.org Sustainability Advisor Rajasvini Bhansali Ellen H. Brown Owner, Buttazzoni Consulting Executive Director Heather Booth President Emeritus, Founder International Development Democracy Partners and Senior Advisor Jacqueline Cabasso Exchange Public Banking Institute Executive Director Craig Borowiak Western States Legal Foundation Deepak Bhargava Associate Professor of Political Lester R. Brown Executive Director President and Founder Jose Zapata Calderon Center for Community Change Haverford College Earth Policy Institute Emeritus Professor of and Chicano/a and Keane Bhatt James K. Boyce Peter G. Brown Latino/a Studies Journalist, Activist Professor of Economics Professor, School of Pitzer College University of Massachusetts, Environment, and Departments of Kai Bird Amherst Geography and Natural Resource Katie Campbell Author, Biographer Sciences Founder and Executive Director Jessica Brackman McGill University Aynah Angela Glover Blackwell Board Member Founder and CEO New Economy Coalition PolicyLink John Cavanagh Tiy Chung Larry Cohen Chuck Collins Director Researcher President Senior Scholar Institute for Policy Studies SCORAI Communications Workers of Institute for Policy Studies America Co-Founder Marta Ceroni Christina A. Clamp Wealth for the Common Good Executive Director Professor, School of Arts and Maurie Cohen Donella Meadows Institute Sciences Associate Professor and Melvyn Colón Director, Ph.D. Program, Com- Director, Program in Science, Executive Director Karen Chapple munity Economic Development Technology & Society Southside Institutions Professor, City and Regional Planning Director, Center for New Jersey Institute of Neighborhood Alliance Interim Director, Institute of Co-operatives & CED Technology Urban and Regional Development Southern New Hampshire Ken Conca Faculty Director, Center for University Jonathan Cohn Professor, School of Community Innovation Managing Editor International Service Co-Chair, Master of City Planning Mary M. Cleveland Great Transition Initiative American University Program Adjunct Professor of Tellus Institute University of California, Berkeley Environmental Economics Representative John School of International and Peter Colavito James Conyers, Jr. Theresa Chelikowsky Public Affairs Director, Government Relations Member of Congress (D) Executive Director Service Employees International Thirteenth District, Michigan Florida Alliance of Community Union Development Corporations, Inc. Jaimie Cloud Christine G. Cordero President Romand Coles Program Director Noam Chomsky Cloud Institute for Sustainability Frances B. McAllister Endowed Chair Center for Story-Based Strategy Institute Professor, Professor of Education Director, Program for Linguistics Emeritus Community, Culture and Teresa Córdova Massachusetts Institute of David Cobb Environment Director, Great Cities Institute Technology National Spokesperson Northern Arizona University University of at Leslie Christian Jose Corona Investment Advisor Chief Executive Officer Leslie E Christian LLC Inner City Advisors (ICA) Robert Costanza Brian Czech John de Graaf James Counts Early Professor of Public Policy President Executive Director Board of Trustees Australian National University Center for the Advancement of Take Back Your Time Institute for Policy Studies Editor-in-Chief, Solutions the Steady State Economy Boaventura de Sousa Santoss Farhad A. Ebrahimi Harvey Cox Herman E. Daly Professor of Sociology Founder and Trustee Chair Hollis Research Professor of Professor Emeritus University of Coimbra (Portugal) The Chorus Foundation Divinity School of Public Policy Distinguished Legal Scholar University of University of -Madison David Ehrenfeld Distinguished Professor of Reid Cramer Bob Dandrew Peter Dreier Biology Director, Asset Building Program Director, Local Economies Project Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Rutgers University New America Foundation New World Foundation Professor of Politics Chair, Urban and Environmental Barbara Ehrenreich Charlie Cray Gerald Davis Policy Department Author Research Specialist Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Occidental College Greenpeace Professor of Management Michael Eisenscher University of Michigan Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz National Coordinator Ronnie Cummins Professor Emerita US Labor Against the War Director Michael C. Dawson California State University Organic Consumers Association John D. MacArthur Professor of Daniel Ellsberg and College Riley E. Dunlap Author, Whistleblower Dayna Cunningham Director, Center for the Study of Dresser Professor and Regents Executive Director, Community Race, Politics, and Culture Professor of Sociology Gerald Epstein Innovators Lab (CoLab) Oklahoma State University Professor of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Co-Director, Political Economy Technology Gopal Dayaneni Ethan Earle Research Institute Collective Member Project Manager, North America University of Massachusetts Elliott Currie Movement Generation: Justice Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Amherst Professor of Criminology, Law and Ecology Project New York Office and Society Advisory Board Member University of California, Irvine The Working World Jon D. Erickson Jeff Faux Bill Fletcher, Jr. George Friday Professor of Founder and Distinguished Fellow Senior Scholar Leadership Team Member and Fellow, Gund Institute for Eco- Economic Policy Institute Institute for Policy Studies Co-Founder logical Economics Author Move to Amend University of Vermont The Servant Economy Margaret Flowers National Planning Committee Co-Director Member Sara Day Evans Richard Feldman It’s Our Economy US Social Forum Founding Director James and Grace Lee Boggs A project of PopularResistance Accelerating Appalachia Center to Nurture Community Deborah Frieze Co-Founder Leadership William E. Forbath Founding Partner Prosperity Collective Lloyd M. Bentsen Chair in Law Boston Impact Initiative Deeohn Ferris Associate Dean of Research, Elena Fairley President and Founder School of Law John Fullerton Program and Communications Sustainable Community Professor of History Founder and President Director Development Group University of Texas Austin Capital Institute Prospera Co-ops Eric M. Fink John Bellamy Foster Anna Galland Richard Falk Associate Professor of Law Professor of Sociology Executive Director Milbank Professor of Elon University University of Oregon MoveOn.org Civic Action International Law Emeritus Lorenzo Fioramonti Nancy Fraser Douglas Gamble Professor of Political Economy Henry A. and Louise Loeb Member, Board of Directors Joshua Farley University of Pretoria (South Africa) Professor of Politics and Manufacturing Renaissance Professor, Community Develop- Director Philosophy ment and Applied Economics Centre for the Study of New School for Social Research Laura Gang and Public Administration Governance Innovation Coordinator, Greater of Vermont Omar Freilla Move to Amend Richard Flacks Coordinator Anika Fassia Professor of Sociology Green Worker Cooperatives Herbert J. Gans Director of Outreach University of California, Santa Robert S. Lynd Professor Public Works Barbara Emeritus Sociology Columbia University Dave Gardner Eban Goodstein John A. Grim Hildegarde Hannum Filmmaker, Growthbusters Director, MBA in Sustainability Senior Lecturer and Senior Board of Directors Director, Center for Research Scholar Schumacher Center for a New Leo Gerard Environmental Policy Yale School of Forestry and Economics International President Bard College Environmental Studies United Steelworkers Rev. Fletcher Harper Neva Goodwin Christopher Gunn Executive Director Todd Gitlin Co-Director, Global Development Professor of Economics Emeritus GreenFaith Professor of Journalism and and Environment Institute Hobart and William Smith Colleges Sociology Chair, PhD Program in Keith Harrington Communications Sarita Gupta Co-Founder Columbia University Linda Gordon Executive Director International Student Initiative University Professor of the Jobs With Justice for Pluralist Economics Danny Glover Humanities Actor, Social Activist Florence Kelley Professor of Robin Hahnel Lisa Hasegawa History Professor Emeritus Executive Director Tim Glynn-Burke New York University American University National Coalition for Asian Associate Director of Visiting Professor Pacific American Community Democratic Governance and Greg Grandin Portland State University Development Student Programs, Ash Center Professor of History for Democratic Governance and New York University Gwendolyn Hallsmith Paul Hawken Innovation Executive Director Author Harvard University Alisa Gravitz Public Banking Institute Founder, Project Drawdown President Founder, Global Community George Goehl Green America Initiatives and Vermonters for a Randy Hayes Executive Director New Economy Executive Director National People’s Action William Greider Foundation Earth National Affairs Correspondent Ian F. Haney-López Alexis Goldstein John H. Boalt Professor of Law Richard Heinberg Writer, Activist University of California, Berkeley Senior Fellow-in-Residence Communications Director Post Carbon Institute The Other 98% Seymour Hersh Gerald Hudson Sushil Jacob Anne R. Kapuscinski Journalist International Executive Vice Director Sherman Fairchild President Green-Collar Communities Clinic Distinguished Professor of Rita Axelroth Hodges Service Employees (GC3), Community Law Sustainability Science Assistant Director, Netter Center International Union Center for Community Partnerships Berkeley Law Penn Program for Public Service Joshua Humphreys Jenny Kassan School of Arts and Sciences President and Senior Fellow David Jacobs Chief Executive Officer University of Pennsylvania Croatan Institute Associate Professor of Labor, Cutting Edge Capital Business and Society Jeffrey Hollender Leah Hunt-Hendrix Graves School of Business and John B. Kassel Founder and Chief Co-Founder Management President Executive Officer Solidaire Morgan State University Conservation Law Foundation Sustain Board Member Co-Founder and former New Economy Coalition Saru Jayaraman Tim Kasser Chief Executive Officer Co-Founder and Co-Director Professor of Psychology Seventh Generation Jonathan T. Isham, Jr. Restaurant Opportunities Knox College Director Centers United Melissa Hoover Center for Social Director J. Kēhaulani Kauanui Interim Executive Director Entrepreneurship Food Labor Research Center Associate Professor of American US Federation of Worker Professor of Economics University of California Studies and Anthropology Cooperatives Middlebury College Berkeley Founding Director Democracy at Work Institute Nick Iuviene Christopher Jencks Emily Kawano Program Director Malcolm Wiener Professor of Coordinator Louise A. Howells Just Urban Economies Social Policy U.S. Solidarity Economy Professor of Law MIT Community Innovators Lab Harvard University Network UDC David A. Clarke Staff Economist School of Law Janine Jackson Christina A. Jennings Center for Popular Economics Program Director Executive Director Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund Michael Kazin Nicolas Kosoy Marilyn Langlois Andrew Lichterman Professor of History Assistant Professor, School of Co-Founder Senior Research Analyst Environment and Department of Richmond Progressive Alliance Western States Legal Foundation Co-Editor Natural Resource Sciences Richmond, California Planning Dissent Magazine McGill University Commissioner Alison Lingane Co-Founder Esteban Kelly Dan Kovalik Annie Leonard Project Equity Staff Leadership Team Adjunct Professor, International Author New Economy Coalition Human Rights The Story of Stuff Penn Loh Board Member University of Pittsburgh School Executive Director Lecturer and Director of National Cooperative Business of Law Greenpeace USA Community Practice Association Department of Urban and Author, Playwright, Executive Producer Benjamin Kunkel Environmental Policy and Planning Marjorie Kelly Author Editor Tufts University Senior Fellow Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Tikkun Magazine The Democracy Collaborative Present Crisis Chair Michelle Long Network of Spiritual Progressives Executive Director Lee Ketelsen Peter Kuznick Business Alliance for Local Coordinator Professor of History Andrea Levere Living Economies Central Massachusetts Move to Amend Director, Nuclear Studies President Institute Corporation for Enterprise Roberto Lovato American University Development Writer, Visiting Scholar Associate Professor of Sociology Center for Latino Policy Research Columbia University Alnoor Ladha Ariana Levinson University of California, Berkeley Executive Director Associate Professor of Law David Korten The Rules University of Louisville Thomas E. Lovejoy Founder and President University Professor of Living Economies Forum Erik Lampmann Mark Levinson and Researcher, Activist Chief Economist Policy Fran Korten Service Employees International George Mason University Executive Director and Publisher Union YES! Magazine L. Hunter Lovins Jane Mansbridge Julie Matthaei Gayle McLaughlin President Adams Professor of Political Professor of Economics Councilmember and Natural Solutions Leadership and Democratic Wellesley College Two-term Mayor Values Board Member City of Richmond, California Stephanie Luce Harvard University U.S. Solidarity Economy Network Professor of Labor Studies Co-Coordinator, Boston Area Repa Mekha Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Ben Manski Solidarity Economy Network President and CEO Worker Education President Cornerstone Cohousing Nexus Community Partners CUNY School of Professional Studies Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution Dick Mazess Pam McMichael Paul Lussier Emeritus Professor of Executive Director Author, Playwright, Executive PresidentProducer Peter Marcuse Medical Physics Highlander Research and Me2U Media Professor Emeritus of Urban University of Wisconsin, Madison Education Center Lecturer Planning Yale College Columbia University Robert W. McChesney Zia Mian Gutgsell Endowed Professor of Program on Science and Global Communication Security Christopher Mackin Founder University of Illinois at Princeton University Founder and President MediaRoots.org Urbana-Champaign Ownership Associates, Inc. Lawrence Mishel Rania Masri Heather McCulloch President Jerry Mander Associate Director Manager, Tax Policy Project Economic Policy Institute Founder and Distinguished Asfari Institute for Asset Funders Network Fellow Civil Society and Citizenship Stacy Mitchell International Forum on American University in Beirut Heather McGhee Director President Community-Scaled Economy Bob Massie Demos Initiative Gabriel Mandujano Minister, Activist, Non-Profit Co-Director Founder Executive Bill McKibben Institute for Local Self-Reliance Wash Cycle Laundry Inc. Co-Founder and Senior Advisor 350.org Anuradha Mittal Bruce Nelson Bertell Ollman Manuel Pastor Executive Director Emeritus Professor of History Professor of Politics Professor of Sociology and The Oakland Institute Dartmouth College New York University American Studies and Ethnicity Director, Program for Environ- Marissa Mommaerts Jessica Gordon Nembhard David W. Orr mental and Regional Equity Communications Manager Professor of Community Justice Paul Sears Distinguished Pro- University of Southern California Transition US and Social Economic Development fessor of Environmental Studies Director, McNair Post-Baccalau- and Politics Raj Patel Yolanda T. Moses reate Achievement Program, Oberlin College Research Professor Professor of Anthropology Department of Africana Studies Lyndon B. Johnson School of University of California Riverside City University of New York Noel Ortega Public Affairs New Economy Working Group University of Texas, Austin Jamal Mubdi-Bey Thomas Newmark Coordinator Director, Office of Community Co-Founder and Chair Institute for Policy Studies Carole Pateman Outreach The Carbon Underground Distinguished Professor Sojourner-Douglass College Richard L. Ottinger Emeritus of Political Science Helena Norberg-Hodge Dean Emeritus UCLA James Mumm Director Pace Law School Staff Director Local Futures / International Michael Alden Peck National People’s Action Society for Ecology and Culture Thomas Palley Co-Founder Author Senior Economic Policy Adviser 1worker1vote.org Caryn McTighe Musil Ancient Futures AFL-CIO Senior Scholar and Director of Producer Research Associate David Pellow Civic Learning and Democracy The Economics of Happiness Economic Policy Institute Don A. Martindale Professor of Initiatives Sociology Office of the President Richard B. Norgaard Christian Parenti University of Minnesota Association of American Professor Emeritus of Energy Faculty, Global Liberal Studies Colleges and Universities and Resources New York University Antonio Pérez University of California, Berkeley Secretary-Executive Director Ralph Nader Housing Authority of the City of Consumer Advocate, Author, Milwaukee Former Presidential Candidate Francisco Perez Alicia Plerhoples Carolyn Raffensperger Lauren Ressler Activist Associate Professor of Law Executive Director Director of Campus Organizing Director, Social Enterprise and Science and Environmental Responsible Endowments Carlos Pérez de Alejo Nonprofit Law Clinic Health Network Coalition Co-Director Georgetown University Law Cooperation Texas Center M.V. Ramana Anne Reynolds Program on Science and Global Executive Director Tova Perlmutter john a. powell Security, Princeton University University of Wisconsin Center Principal Director, Haas Institute for a Fair for Cooperatives Engine of Progress and Inclusive Society Kelly Ramirez Professor Chief Executive Officer Burton Richter Sarah M. Pike University of California, Berkeley Social Enterprise Greenhouse Nobel Laureate (Physics 1976) Director of Partnerships Professor Emeritus Common Enterprise Joni Praded Marcus Raskin Stanford University Development Corporation Senior Editor Co-Founder and Distinguished Chelsea Green Publishing Fellow Corey Robin Frances Fox Piven Institute for Policy Studies Professor of Political Science Distinguished Professor of Vijay Prashad Brooklyn College and the CUNY Political Science George and Martha Kellner Paul Raskin Graduate Center The Graduate Center Chair in South Asian History Founding President City University of New York Professor of International Tellus Institute Doria Robinson Studies Executive Director Brenda Platt Trinity College Dave Reed Urban Tilth Co-Director Organizer Institute for Local Self-Reliance Will Raap Fund for Democratic Communities Belinda Rodriguez Founder and Chairman Youth and Student Network Rachel Plattus Gardener’s Supply Robert B. Reich Organizer Director of Youth and Student Co-Chair Chancellor’s Professor of Public New Economy Coalition Organizing New Economy Coalition Policy New Economy Coalition University of California, Berkeley Joel Rogers Jeffrey D. Sachs Maya Schenwar Michael H. Shuman Sewell-Bascom Professor of Director, Earth Institute Editor-in-Chief Author Law, Political Science, Public Columbia University Truthout.org The Local Economy Solution Policy and Sociology University of Wisconsin-Madison Sonia E. Sachs Juliet Schor William Shutkin Director Director, Health Programs Professor of Sociology President and CEO Center on Wisconsin Strategies Millennium VIllages Project Presidio Graduate School Euneika Rogers-Sipp Maliha Safri Jonathan Schwarz Nikki Silvestri Founder Associate Professor of Economics Senior Editor Social Innovation Strategist Sustainable Rural Regenera- Drew University The Intercept tive Enterprises for Families Alan Smith (SURREF) Rachelle C. Sampson David Schweickart Associate Director of RH Smith School of Business Professor of Philosophy Networked Initiatives Richard Rosen University of Maryland, College Loyola University Chicago Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow and Executive Park Vice President D’Artagnan Scorza Marcie Smith Tellus Institute Saskia Sassen Founder and Executive Director Executive Director Robert S. Lynd Professor of Social Justice Learning Institute Responsible Endowments Coalition Heather L. Ross Sociology Visiting Fellow Co-Chair, Committee on Global Deborah Scott Richard Smith Resources for the Future Thought Executive Director Research Associate Columbia University Georgia Stand Up Institute for Policy Research & Peter Rugh Development Journalist C. Otto Scharmer Naoko Shibusawa Vice News Senior Lecturer Associate Professor of History Co-Founder Massachusetts Institute of and American Studies Founder and Executive Director System Change Not Climate Technology Brown University Institute for Public Accuracy Change Founding Chair Presencing Institute Aisha Shillingford Activist Saket Soni Cathy Swain Marnie Thompson Alayne Unterberger Executive Director President and CEO Co-Managing Director Founder National Guestworker Alliance The Hub of Human Innovation Fund for Democratic Florida Institute for New Orleans Workers’ Center Communities Community Studies for Racial Justice David Swanson Director Kabzuag Vaj Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap World Beyond War Executive Director Co-Founder and Co-Executive National Director Campaign Coordinator Center for International Studies Director Move to Amend RootsAction.org Massachusetts Institute of Freedom Inc. Technology Jill Stein Aaron Tanaka Juanita Valdez-Cox Physician Director Gerald Torres Executive Director 2012 Green Party Presidential Center for Economic Democracy Jane M.G. Foster Professor La Union del Pueblo Entero Nominee Startup Manager Cornell University Law School Boston Impact Initiative Sarah van Gelder Steven Stoll Rodolfo D. Torres Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief Associate Professor of History Linwood Tauheed Professor of Urban Planning, YES! Magazine Fordham University Associate Professor of Economics Chicano Studies, Political Sci- Responsible Endowments Coalition University of Missouri, City ence, Culture and Theory Carlos L. Velasco Oliver Stone University of California, Irvine Founder Academy Award-winning Astra Taylor Velasco Consulting LLC Filmmaker Filmmaker Mary Evelyn Tucker Director Author Co-Director Fuerza Local Arizona Sarah Stranahan The People’s Platform: Taking Forum on Religion and Ecology Strategic Development Director Back Power and Culture in the Yale University Peter A. Victor Free Speech For People Digital Age Professor of Environmental Studies Joe Uehlein York University Lee Stuart J. Phillip Thompson President Executive Director Professor of Urban Planning and Labor Network for Sustainability Stewart Wallis CHUM Politics Executive Director Massachusetts Institute of New Economics Foundation Technology (London) Michael Walzer Wendy Willbanks Susan Witt Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Co-Editor (Emeritus) Wiesner Executive Director Zamindar Dissent Magazine Founding Board Member Schumacher Center for a New Associate Professor of History and Treasurer Economics Brown University Cheyenna Layne Weber Partnerships for Affordable Co-Founder Cohousing Richard D. Wolff Kevin Zeese SolidarityNYC Democracyatwork.info Co-Director Steven Williams Professor Emeritus of It’s Our Economy Mark Weisbrot Executive Director Economics A project of Popular Resistance Co-Director The Partnership CDC University of Massachusetts, Center for Economic and Policy Amherst Deidre Zoll Research Thad Williamson The New School University Research Coordinator Associate Professor of Lead- Gund Institute for Ecological Allen L. White ership Studies and Philosophy, George M. Woodwell Economics Vice President and Senior Politics, Economics and Law Founder and Director Emeritus University of Vermont Fellow University of Richmond Woods Hole Research Center Tellus Institute Billy Wimsatt L. Randall Wray Ed Whitfield Gamechanger Labs Professor of Economics Signatories are acting in a Co-Managing Director University of Missouri, Kansas City personal capacity; affiliations are Fund for Democratic Communities Timothy E. Wirth for identification Vice Chair Erik Olin Wright purposes only. Judy Wicks Foundation University of Wisconsin, Madison Co-Founder and Better World Fund Professor of Sociology BALLE Design by Owl Grammar Press Author Felipe Witchger Emily Wurth Front cover image by funkybug Good Morning, Beautiful Business Executive Director Water Program Director flickr.com/funkybug Community Purchasing Food and Water Watch (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, with modifications thenextsystem.org | @thenextsystem Alliance Cooperative Daphne Wysham Back cover image by getdarwin Fellow flickr.com/getdarwin Institute for Policy Studies (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, with modifications) The Next System Project is an ambitious multi- year initiative aimed at helping Americans think boldly about what is required to deal with the systemic challenges the United States faces now and in coming decades. Responding to real hunger for a new way forward, and building on practical experience with new economic institutions and approaches being developed in communities across the country and around the world, we will use the best research, understanding and strategic thinking to refine and publicize comprehensive alternative political-economic models capable of delivering superior social, economic, and ecological outcomes and put the central idea of system change, and that there can be a “next system,” on the map. For more information, see http://thenextsystem.org or write to [email protected] thenextsystem.org | @thenextsystem It is possible to build a new and better America beyond the failed systems of the past and present. TheNextSystem.org #whatsnext