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Despite appearances, there is an alternative to the world as it is. We cannot simply humanize the world; we have to change it, and this requires reshaping production and politics. We have to take the familiar institution of the market economy, representative democracy, and civil society as a subset of wider institutional possibilities. We have to hold to a bias towards equality and inclusion in economic growth and technological innovation, rather than after-the-fact tax and transfer policies. Part of this enhancement would be an educational system devoted to developing conceptual and practical capacities, rather than job-specific skills. It also requires an idea of social inheritance, in which everyone has a basic minimum of resources upon which they can draw at turning points in life. Social solidarity cannot be reduced to money transfers—rather, it has to be the responsibility people have for one another. Another goal is the creation of a high-energy democracy, an increase The Left Alternative popular participation in politics. The guiding The Left Alternative of this version of the Left is not the redistributive attenuation of inequality, but the broadening of The Left Alternative and opportunities The Left Alternative everyone. There are five institutional directions the Left should stand for. The first is that national rebellion against the global political and economic orthodoxy depends on certain practical conditions. One condition is a higher level of domestic savings than a standard understanding of economic growth might justify. This is basically the creation of a war economy without a war. The second institutional idea is that social policy has to be about empowerment and capacity. A few things follow from this. First, there has to be a commitment to both early and lifelong education capable of developing conceptual and practical capabilities. The initial idea is to broaden the current The Left Alternative of class and The Left Alternative the next idea is to dissolve class and fully realize a meritocracy. The third idea is the democratization of the market economy. We cannot The Left Alternative regulate it or retroactively compensate its inequalities; we have to make it work for more people in more ways. This is basically expanding the possibilities for economic relations. It requires expanding access to productive resources and opportunities, and an increase in the returns on labour. We need to produce a series of breakthroughs in the constraints on economic growth. Each breakthrough has effects on the supply and demand sides of The Left Alternative economy; we want these breakthroughs to have a bias towards greater inclusion and a diffusion of capabilities. The initial goal of interventions on the supply side—which I think refers to capital investment—is to expand access to credit, technology, and markets, especially for small businesses. The larger goal is the expansion of advanced methods of production in order to democratize the market for everyone. These interventions have to work alongside other initiatives to reduce the declining share of labour in national income and the increase of inequality within the labour force. These measures need to practically evaluated for applicability in a wide range of contexts. For example, profit sharing might first be applied to high-wage workers, and then extended to larger and larger proportions of the population. Or, laws strengthening the ability of organized labour to cooperate with unorganized labour might be useful for mid-wage workers. For low-wage workers, the best solution might be subsidies for training and employment, along with the abolition of payroll charges and taxes. None of this is inherently inflationary, and can enhance the power of labour, producing sustainable rises in returns on labour. A fourth institutional idea is the refusal to treat cash transfers as a basis for social solidarity, which must be instead grounded on a universal responsibility to care for others. Civil society needs to be organized, or to organize itself, so it can fulfill this responsibility. This high-energy democracy is an expansion of the freedom the Left seeks, and is a condition for the four other themes. Rather, it would seek to enhance our powers and expand our experience. Its agent and beneficiary are identical: the self-interested individual. These five themes require a set of supporting ideas. One of the key points here is The Left Alternative defend the ideas of structural alternatives, removing them from determinism and fatalism. We also need to repudiate the mix of rationalization, humanization, and escapism that dominates contemporary thought. We have come to associate reformism with a rejection of systemic change, and vice versa. This is the source of the difference between two kinds of politics: the revolutionary, which depends on a vanguard and majority support during a period of crisis, and the reformist, which looks for marginal redistribution and other concessions in non-emergency states. Unger thinks the two styles need to be mixed: cumulative changes with transformative ambition, a kind of revolutionary reformism. It mixes organized minorities with disorganized minorities, refuses crisis as a condition of change, and has to be informed by political economy and legal analysis. This project requires agents, but not the traditional leftist agents. For one, the working class is no longer the industrial proletariat, which was a unionized force in a capital-intensive industry. Most people now work in under-capitalized sectors, often in quasi-legal circumstances. Importantly, their outlook is more petty bourgeois than proletarian; they want prosperity and independence. However, the relation between their interests and the proposals is very different than the Marxist account of class interests. For Marx, the more intense the class The Left Alternative, the less room there is to evaluate the class interests being contested. It will all be resolved by conflict. Unger does not think that the interests of groups have clear, objective content. The Left has to turn this ambiguity of group interest in an opportunity. It has to acknowledge that there are always two ways to define and defend group interest. One way is institutionally conservative, which takes the current niche of the group as natural and groups close to it as rivals. The second way is solidaristic: neighbouring groups are potential allies. The left must alway be biased towards solidarity. In a negative, general sense, it is easy to The Left Alternative what this implies for the defence of working class interests: it is incompatible with keeping them in traditional mass The Left Alternative. It The Left Alternative to work with other nations to reform global economic arrangements; experimental pluralism has to replace imperial power. Next, we need to develop institutions and practices which are not dependent upon crisis for change. There is no in-built dynamic of transformation; transformation can only be a goal. It also has to be prized because of its connection to economic growth and technological innovation. We can no longer assume that development and emancipation are historically connected. We have to make them intersect. The Left Alternative basic goal is to both humanize and energize our institutions. All but the poorest countries in the world are class societies. Unger says Marxism as a doctrine is dead. But class survives as a hierarchical organization of social life. The character of class is determined by two contrasting principles: inheritance and meritocracy. The hereditary transmission of economic and educational advantages restricts mobility even in The Left Alternative most fluid societies. Eliminating inheritance would amount to a revolution. Meritocratic competition has modified and limited the advantages of inheritance. The two principles, inheritance and meritocracy, are in tension. Their opposition is weakened by the apparent lack The Left Alternative alternatives in the national politics of most countries. First, ambitious upstarts are fully assimilated. In the least unequal countries, even the most advantaged expect some of their children to drop in class, and children from other classes to rise. The Left Alternative hope to turn class privilege into commonly but not universally inherited advantages. The result of these two tensions is a set of four classes which overshadow the life chances of people. At the top is the class The Left Alternative professionals, managers, and rentiers who concentrate wealth and act largely with impunity. Second is a small business class reliant on self-exploitation. They are educated in schools that teach obedience as their chief concern. In many developing countries, this class is a major part of the population. They often The Left Alternative themselves as stuck—waking up one day to discover they are leading the only lives they will ever lead—and, in large numbers, they are stuck. The basic promise of democracy The Left Alternative that people have a chance to become freer and greater, The Left Alternative class system contributes to a failure of this promise. Unger says there are hopeful signs in developing countries: the aspirations their people have to modest prosperity and independence. They study at night and open small businesses. There The Left Alternative a moral element to this, beyond yearning for material pleasures. They want to build themselves. All over the world, the industrial working class is a diminishing part of the labor force. The Left Alternative desire to become petty bourgeoisie has become a universal hope for emancipation, and this all across the globe. Nationalism was one of the most surprising and powerful forces in modern history. While it appears dangerous, if redirected properly, it could become a tool for advancing progressive alternatives. Since the Western powers colonized the rest of the world, their internal rivalries have become global. In order to develop economically and militarily in the name of independence, the other nations had to give up on The Left Alternative of their inherited identities. The waning of difference has strengthened a will to difference. As the differences become more abstract, the insistence upon them becomes more poisonous. The frustrated will to difference has to be replaced with a capacity to produce actual difference. The opportunity he wants to put forward comes from a new set of innovation-friendly cooperative practices, practices which are already functioning in many places. They exist The Left Alternative both businesses and schools, and moderate the tension between cooperation and innovation. In the simplest terms, economic growth is caused by three things. The Left Alternative - Wikipedia

The Left Listlater renamed the Left Alternativewas a The Left Alternative party active in the United Kingdom between and A minor partyit never had any of its candidates elected at any level of UK government although it inherited several local councillors who had defected to it from the Respect Party. The Left List arose from a schism in the left-wing Respect Party in Various Respect members had been affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party SWPa far-left, Marxist group, and this had proved a cause for concern among other party members. Its mayoral candidate, Lindsey Germancame seventh. The party then adopted the name "Left Alternative" although several The Left Alternative its councillors defected either to the Labour Party or Conservative Party. It deregistered with the Electoral The Left Alternative in Respect was created in The Left Alternative[2] using the issue of the war in Iraq to mobilise its vote. Beyond this issue, it attempted to have a broad socialist agenda. Respect allows its members to hold membership of other political organisations and notably included the SWP. Respect's most high-profile figure has been George Gallowaythen Respect Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bowwho was expelled from the Labour Party in for "bringing the party into disrepute". In SeptemberGalloway wrote a letter to Respect's national council members saying that the party was "too disorganised" and "faced oblivion" unless it reformed its internal party management. The letter was the opening shot in a dispute in Respect initially between Galloway and his supporters including founding member Salma Yaqoob on one side, and supporters of the SWP on the other. However the arguments later began to affect all of the membership including those not in the SWP or close to Galloway or Yaqoob. On 3 NovemberGalloway's side announced The Left Alternative to hold a " Respect The Left Alternative " conference on 17 November, the same day as the planned national conference of Respect. The Respect Renewal conference was an open event and organisers claim people attended. This figure was disputed by Chris Harman in International Socialism. The Respect national conference, which went ahead on the same day was attended by delegates from 49 local branches and 17 student groups, as well as 90 observers. Linda Smith, Respect's national chair at the time of the split, has claimed: "The sectarianism and 'control freak' methods of the SWP have led us to a situation where Respect is irretrievably split. The Electoral Commission refused to take a side in the split and therefore continued to recognise Linda Smith as the Nominating Officer for Respect. A letter from the Electoral Commission to Linda Smith on 23 Januaryset out its position on the split, following confusion on the matter from both sides. Following The Left Alternative split, the side that included the SWP but not Galloway or Linda Smith nominated candidates in two district council by-elections. They could not use the name "Respect" on ballot papers without the signature of the nominating officer. Instead, both had no label on the ballot papers. This side in the Respect split announced that in the London mayoral elections planned for 1 May it would stand Lindsey German The Left Alternative mayor Respect's candidate in and chosen as Respect's candidate in prior to the schism and candidates for the London Assembly, elected on the same date. It announced that its candidates would contest these elections under a new electoral label, the Left List, since Linda Smith had not allowed them to be listed on ballot papers as Respect candidates. The Left List contested every constituency and stood on the The Left Alternative proportional The Left Alternative list. Both factions of Respect suffered as a result and together failed to reach the previous number of votes. The The Left Alternative website began to display the title Left Alternative in late June The organisation's website ceased operation in mid From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirected from Left Alternative. Left Alternative. Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties The Left Alternative. Main article: The split in Respect. International Socialism. Retrieved 5 January Archived from the original on 18 October Archived from the original on 26 November Retrieved 20 March Archived from the original on 7 September Archived from the original on 6 May Retrieved 17 March Socialist Unity. Archived from the original on 20 June Respect—the Unity Coalition. Socialist Worker. Respect - The Unity Coalition. Archived from the original on 22 March Respect Renewal. Archived from the original The Left Alternative 27 March Archived from The Left Alternative original PDF on 8 August The Commune. Retrieved 10 September Socialist Workers Party UK. Categories : Political parties established in Defunct socialist parties in the United Kingdom Respect Party Political schisms Political parties disestablished in Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links. Collective leadership Central Committee. Socialism [1]. Left-wing [2]. The Left Alternative, Ch. | Philosophical Notebooks

In the book, Unger identifies problems with contemporary leftism and proposes a way to achieve the goals that he believes The Left Alternative be central to the progressive cause: inclusive economic growth through the heating up of politics and democratizing the market economya relentless process of institutional innovation that depends less upon crisis for change, and depends more on shortening the distance between context- preserving and context-transforming moves. In The Left AlternativeUnger describes the situation of the world today as a "dictatorship of no alternatives": a condition in which in the world seems to offer few The Left Alternative for lifting the majority of people out of lives of poverty, drudgery, and belittlement. Such an alternative, envisioned by this universalizing heresy, would describe a narrow gateway through which all societies must pass on the way to creating actual difference. Unger contends that the contemporary left is disoriented, bereft of The Left Alternative plausible or compelling alternatives to the neoliberal consensus that has gained in The Left Alternative and influence in the rich western countries, and missing as well the ideas to support such an alternative, agents to advance the alternative, or a crisis that would be an impetus for adopting the alternative. The agents of this program, Unger explains, are workers who want to be petty bourgeois[12] and nations that want to be different. But rather than leaving the practice of innovation-friendly cooperation within the confines of a global network of elite firms and schools, Unger proposes that these practices be nurtured and extended with the assistance of government, extending the benefits of innovation-friendly cooperation to classes and communities that have traditionally been excluded from these The Left Alternative. Unger sees this "left alternative" offering great potential for developing countriesin helping them achieve both national difference [ clarification needed ] and prosperity for their citizens, while rejecting the neoliberal The Left Alternative that threatens to stifle The Left Alternative national difference [ clarification needed ] as the price of entry into global markets. According to Unger, an insidious tendency in world politics has been the manner in which globalizationas it The Left Alternative currently The Left Alternative and proselytized, has become a "generic alibi for surrender" to the status quo, and a mechanism for suppression of promising political, economic, and social alternatives. The Left Alternative concludes by describing two competing conceptions of the left. The first conception, the one that is preeminent today, is what Unger calls a "fake egalitarianism": an institutionally conservative leftism that is committed to greater equality of life chances, sought principally through redistributive tax-and-transfer. His arguments are overwhelmingly prescriptive lists of institutional changes that few will find undesirable and fewer still could imagine being implemented in, say, Wales, Finland, Kurdistan, Taiwan or Basra. While Nairn acknowledged the appeal of Unger's ideas, he concluded that the book was disappointingly general in its The Left Alternative "Thinktank manifestos normally address a specific population in a specific tongue, before being translated with appropriate changes for others. Unger dwells on [a] weirdly anational plane. Michael B. And he offers a welldeserved rebuke to those on the Left who have become institutionally conservative in attitude and abandoned any transformative ambition. Publishers Weekly called The Left Alternative a "stimulating visionary manifesto. Some readers will no doubt find his sweeping indictment of social democracy unfair, his co-optation of avant-garde management theory naive, and his celebration of change and upheaval utopian. Many of his proposals, like privatizating social services or making everyone hold a second job in the ""caring economy"" tending to the old, the young, The Left Alternative sick, the poor or the desperate no, family members don't countare ill thought-out. Still, he offers an incisive critique of social and economic discontents, one that turns traditional Marxist formulations on their heads ""we However, the author does not entirely deny the existing economic and political systems but attempts to reform, reshape and improve them. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Buddharaksa, Watcharabon May 31, Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory Vol. November 18, The Left Alternative Marx and Philosophy Review of Books. Retrieved January The Left Alternative, The London Review of Books Vol. Publishers Weekly. March 20, Unger, Roberto Mangabeira The Left Alternative. New York: Verso. What Should the Left Propose? Categories : non-fiction books Books in political philosophy Political science books Books about democracy Neoliberalism Books about globalization Critical legal studies English-language books Books by Roberto Mangabeira Unger. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add The Left Alternative. Roberto Mangabeira Unger. Political theory. Free Trade Reimagined. The Religion of the Future. Wikiquote has quotations related to: Roberto Mangabeira Unger.