Christopher Gunn

Markets Against Economic Democracy

Renewed reliance on markets has made it more difficult for democratic institutions of production to survive. The impact of diminished market mediation is illustrated by the cases of the plywood cooperatives in the United States and the Mondragon cooperatives in Spain. New property relations and institutions that are more supportive of economic democracy are essential if market transmission of the norms of capitalism are to be overcome.

Workers’ Participation in Management, Workers’ Control of Production Worlds Apart

For several decades workers’ participation in management was a persistent demand of the left. In the neoliberal era it became, in a twisted way, a reality for some workers. Team organization of production, reduction of supervisory staffing, and a constant drive for productivity improvement became the norm, requiring broader managerial involvement by workers in their activities. Workers’ control of production remains on the radical agenda, but with broader implications. Workers’ control of production implies dramatic changes in the relationship between capital and labor, and with them development of alternative forms of production and distribution. JEL classification: J54, B51, L23

Cooperatives and Market Failure: Workers’ Cooperatives and System Mismatch:

Cooperatives function in market economies, but they are not always served well by markets. Workers’ cooperatives avoid use of the labor market by definition, but they encounter forms of market failure and system mismatch in equity markets. Economic theory of the labor-managed firm and the historical development of the Mondragón system of financing cooperatives provide insight into these problems. This article argues for new strategies to assist capital formation in cooperatives.

The Nonprofit Sector: Radical Potential?

What is the potential for using nonprofit institutions to foster radical change in the United States? At a time when the public sector is heavily constrained, does the third sector provide a base for radical activity? Recent writing advocating growth of the sector is surveyed, as are some of the sectors most significant areas of activity. While most nonprofit institutions function for social reproduction and tight constraints exist for all of them, they do offer some means by which to work for change.

Acequias as Commons

Acequias are a form of commons used to share scarce surface water for agricultural purposes. They have existed in the arid southwestern United States for centuries. In this paper I will argue that acequias are pre-capitalist organizations that convey important lessons for a post-capitalist world. The paper will also discuss La Vega, a grazing commons supported by the Hispanic culture. Both forms of the commons help to sustain low-income households many of whose members do not have regular or full-time wage-labor jobs, and they provide examples of sustainable agriculture in a fragile, high altitude environment. Within the study of political economy, they are an example of political struggles in the arena of material production and reproduction.