The Human Economy

by Hart, Keith; Laville, Jean-Louis; Cattani, Antonio David

• ISBN13: 9780745649801
• ISBN10: 0745649807
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-08
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

The global financial crisis has renewed concern about whether capitalist markets are the best way of organizing economic life. Would it not be better if we were to treat the economy as something made and remade by people themselves, rather than as an impersonal machine? The object of a human economy is the reproduction of human beings and of whatever sustains life in general. Such an economy would express human variety in its local particulars as well as the interests of all humanity. The editors have assembled here a citizen's guide to building a human economy. This project is not a dream but is part of a collective effort that began a decade ago at the first World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and has gathered pace ever since. Over thirty original essays address topics that range from globalization, community participation and microcredit to corporate social responsibility and alternative energy. Each offers a critical guide to further reading. The Human Economy builds on decades of engaged research to bring a new economic vision to general readers and a comprehensive guide for all students of the contemporary world.

Author Biography

Keith Hart is Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Jean-Louis Laville is Professor of Sociology at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.

Antonio David Cattani is Professor of Sociology at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

Table of Contents

Building the human economy together

World society

Globalization

Global public goods

International organizations

Development

Alter-globalization

Economics with a human face

Plural economy

Ecological economics

Feminist economics

Fair trade

Labour economy

Microcredit

Informal economy

Moral politics

Citizenship

Corporate social responsibility

Welfare

Gift

Moral economy

Communism

Beyond market and state

Third sector

Solidarity economy (économie solidaire)

Community participation

Local development

NGOs

Social capital

Social enterprise

Social entrepreneurship

New directions

Community & complementary currencies

Digital commons

Mobility

Alternative energy

Worlds of emancipation

Contributors

Index

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