The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Organization - Brossura

Parker, Martin; Fournier, Valerie; Reedy, Patrick

Brossura

ISBN 10: 184277333X ISBN 13: 9781842773338

Casa editrice: Zed Books, 2007

Riassunto

'There is no alternative to free market liberalism and managerialism', is the orthodoxy of the twenty-first century. All too often, ordinary people across the world are being told that the problem of organization is already solved, or that it is being solved somewhere else, or that it need not concern them because they have no choices. This dictionary provides those who disagree with the evidence. 

Using hundreds of entries and cross-references, it proves that there are many alternatives to the way that we currently organize ourselves. These alternatives could be expressed as fictional utopias, they could be excavated from the past, or they could be described in terms of the contemporary politics of anti-corporate protest, environmentalism, feminism and localism. 

Part reference work, part source book, and part polemic, this dictionary provides a rich understanding of the ways in which fiction, history and today's politics provide different ways of thinking about how we can and should organize for the coming century. 

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

Martin Parker is Professor of Organisation and Culture in the Management Centre at the University of Leicester.

Valérie Fournier is Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies in the Management Centre at the University of Leicester.

Patrick Reedy lectures in organizational behaviour and human resource management at the Business School of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Martin Parker is Professor of Organisation and Culture in the Management Centre at the University of Leicester.

Valérie Fournier is Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies in the Management Centre at the University of Leicester.

Patrick Reedy lectures in organizational behaviour and human resource management at the Business School of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

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The Dictionary of Alternatives

Utopianism and Organization

By Martin Parker, Valérie Fournier, Patrick Reedy

Zed Books Ltd

Copyright © 2007 Martin Parker, Valérie Fournier, Patrick Reedy
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84277-333-8

Contents

Introduction, ix, 
ABBEY OF THELEME, 1, 
AGORA, 2, 
ALTERNATIVE GEOPOLITICS, 3, 
AMAZONS, 5, 
AMERICA, 5, 
AMISH, 7, 
ANABAPTISTS, 8, 
ANARCHISM, 9, 
ANTI-CAPITALISM, 13, 
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, 15, 
ARCADIA, 16, 
ARTS AND CRAFTS, 16, 
ATLANTIS, 18, 
ATTAC, 18, 
AUROVILLE, 19, 
AUTO-DIDACTICISM, 20, 
AUTONOMIA, 21, 
BAKUNIN, MIKHAIL, 23, 
BALL, JOHN, 24, 
BARTERING, 25, 
BATTLE OF SEATTLE, 26, 
BLAC(K) BLOC, 27, 
BLAKE,WILLIAM, 28, 
BOOKCHIN, MURRAY, 29, 
BOURNVILLE, 31, 
BRAY, JOHN FRANCIS, 32, 
BRETHREN OF THE FREE SPIRIT, 34, 
BROOK FARM, 35, 
BUREAUCRACY, 35, 
CAPTAIN SWING, 38, 
CARNIVAL, 39, 
CATHARS, 40, 
CENTRI SOCIALI, 42, 
CHIPKO MOVEMENT, 42, 
CHRISTIANIA, 43, 
CHRISTIANOPOLIS, 44, 
CITY OF THE SUN, 45, 
CITY STATE, 47, 
COCKAIGNE, 49, 
COLLECTIVISM, 49, 
COMMONS, 51, 
COMMONWEALTH, 52, 
COMMUNE, 52, 
COMMUNISM, 54, 
COMMUNITARIANISM, 57, 
COMMUNITY, 57, 
COMMUNITY GARDENS, 59, 
COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE, 60, 
COOPERATIVES, 61, 
COOPERATIVE CITY, 63, 
CREDIT UNIONS, 64, 
CRYSTAL WATERS, 65, 
CUBA, 65, 
CULT, 67, 
DECROISSANCE / DEGROWTH, 69, 
DEEP ECOLOGY, 70, 
DEMOCRACY, 71, 
DIGGERS, 73, 
DIRECT ACTION, 75, 
DISOBBEDIENTI, 76, 
DISPOSSESSED, THE, 77, 
DISSENTERS, 79, 
DISSENTING ACADEMIES, 79, 
DYSTOPIA, 80, 
ECOFEMINISM, 83, 
ECOTOPIA, 84, 
ECOVILLAGES, 84, 
EDEN, 86, 
EL DORADO, 86, 
EMPOWERMENT, 86, 
ENVIRONMENTALISM, 88, 
EREWHON, 89, 
ESOP, 90, 
FAIR TRADE, 91, 
FARMERS' MARKETS, 92, 
FASCISM, 92, 
FEDERALISM, 93, 
FEMINISM, 95, 
FEMINIST UTOPIAS, 98, 
FINDHORN, 100, 
FOCOLARE, 101, 
FOURIER, CHARLES, 102, 
FREELAND, 104, 
FREE SCHOOLS, 106, 
FREE STATE PROJECT, 106, 
FREIRE, PAULO, 107, 
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES, 108, 
GANDHI, 110, 
GARDEN CITIES, 111, 
GODWIN, WILLIAM, 113, 
GOLDEN AGE, 114, 
GOLDMAN, EMMA, 115, 
GRAMEEN BANK, 117, 
GRASSROOTS, 119, 
GUERRILLA, 120, 
GUILDS, 121, 
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, 122, 
HAYDEN, DOLORES, 125, 
HERLAND, 127, 
ILLICH, IVAN, 129, 
INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY, 130, 
INDYMEDIA (INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE), 131, 
INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY, 132, 
INTERNATIONALS, 132, 
ISLAMIC FINANCE, 135, 
ISLAND, 137, 
ISLE OF PINES, 138, 
JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP, 140, 
KALMAR, 142, 
KIBBUTZ, 143, 
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH, 145, 
KROPOTKIN, PETER, 146, 
LE CORBUSIER, 150, 
LENIN,VLADIMIR ILYICH, 151, 
LETS, 155, 
LEVELLERS, 156, 
LIBERALISM, 157, 
LLANO DEL RIO, 160, 
LOCALIZATION, 161, 
LOOKING BACKWARD, 163, 
LUDDITES, 165, 
LUXEMBURG,ROSA, 166, 
MANAGEMENT, 168, 
MAO TSE-TUNG, 169, 
MARKETS, 171, 
MARX, KARL, 174, 
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY, 179, 
MECHANICS' INSTITUTES and MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES, 179, 
MILLENARIANISM, 181, 
MONASTICISM, 181, 
MONDRAGON, 183, 
MST, 184, 
MULTITUDE, 185, 
MUTUALISM, 186, 
NETWORK, 189, 
NEW ATLANTIS, 190, 
NEW DISCOVERY OF TERRA INCOGNITA AUSTRALIS, 192, 
NEW JERUSALEM, 193, 
NEW LANARK, 194, 
NEW MODEL ARMY, 195, 
NEWS FROM NOWHERE, 196, 
NON-CONFORMISM, 197, 
NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE, 198, 
NOZICK, ROBERT, 199, 
OCEANA, 201, 
ONEIDA, 202, 
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE, 204, 
OWEN, ROBERT, 205, 
PARADISE, 208, 
PARIS COMMUNE, 208, 
PEASANTS' REVOLT, 209, 
PERMACULTURE, 211, 
PIRATE UTOPIA, 212, 
PLUTARCH, 213, 
POLIS, 215, 
PORTO ALEGRE, 216, 
PORT SUNLIGHT, 218, 
PROTECTIONISM, 218, 
PROUDHON, PIERRE-JOSEPH, 220, 
QUAKERS, 224, 
QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE, 225, 
RAND, AYN, 227, 
RANTERS, 228, 
RAWLS, JOHN, 229, 
REPUBLIC, THE, 230, 
REVOLUTION, 232, 
ROBINSON CRUSOE, 236, 
ROCHDALE PIONEERS, 237, 
ROMANTICISM, 237, 
ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES, 240, 
RUSKIN, JOHN, 241, 
SADE, MARQUIS DE, 243, 
SAINT-SIMON, CLAUDE-HENRI DE ROUVROY, COMTE DE, 244, 
SALTAIRE, 245, 
SCHUMACHER, ERNST, 246, 
SCIENCE FICTION, 247, 
SCOTT BADER COMMONWEALTH, 249, 
SECRET SOCIETIES, 249, 
SELF-SUFFICIENCY, 251, 
SHAKERS, 252, 
SHANGRI-LA, 253, 
SITUATIONIST, 254, 
SLOW FOOD, 255, 
SMALLNESS, 256, 
SMALL STATES, 256, 
SMITH, ADAM, 258, 
SOCIAL CAPITAL, 259, 
SOCIAL ECOLOGY, 261, 
SOCIAL ECONOMY, 262, 
SOCIALISM, 264, 
SOVIETS, 266, 
SOVIET UNION, 267, 
SPANISH ANARCHIST MILITIAS, 269, 
SQUATTING, 271, 
STIRNER, MAX, 271, 
SUBSISTENCE WORK, 272, 
SUMA, 273, 
SUMMERHILL, 274, 
SUPPLEMENT TO BOUGAINVILLE'S VOYAGE, 276, 
SUSTAINABILITY, 277, 
SYNDICALISM, 279, 
TERRORISM, 281, 
THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES, 283, 
TIME BANKS, 284, 
TOLSTOY, 285, 
TOWER COLLIERY, 287, 
TRADE UNIONS, 288, 
TRAVELLERS, 292, 
TWIN OAKS, 294, 
UTOPIA, 296, 
VIA CAMPESINA, 302, 
VILLAGES, 302, 
VOYAGE TO ICARIA, 303, 
WALDEN, 306, 
WALDEN TWO, 307, 
WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE, 310, 
WIKIPEDIA, 313, 
WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, 314, 
WORKER SELF-MANAGEMENT, 316, 
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM, 317, 
ZAKAT, 319, 
ZAPATISTAS, 319, 
Further Reading, 321, 
Index, 327, 

CHAPTER 1

A

ABBEY OF THELEME The last chapters of book one of Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel, a bawdy satire written by François Rabelais between and 1532 and 1553, describe an Abbey that reverses the assumptions about religious orders that pertained in sixteenth-century France. It has no walls, both men and women are admitted, and members can marry, become rich and come and go as they please. There are no clocks, because 'the greatest nonsense in the world was to regulate one's life by the sound of a bell, instead of by the promptings of reason and good sense'. There is considerable architectural detail about the six-storey hexagonal tower which contained 9,332 apartments (each with chamber, closet, wardrobe and chapel), all opening onto a central hall. Inside were also libraries of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, Italian and Spanish books, galleries painted with histories and views, a riding ring, a theatre, swimming baths, falconry facilities, stables, orchards, perfumeries, barbershops and so on. Above the great gate was an inscription noting the various characters who were not welcome (hypocrites, swindlers, lawyers, usurers, the poor, old and sick) as well as those who were (witty and wealthy gentlemen, vigorous preachers and upright modest ladies). They could all, men and women, read, write, sing and play musical instruments. Both women and men dressed exceptionally well, no doubt assisted by the 'smart and well-arranged' block of houses nearby, which contained 'goldsmiths, jewellers, embroiderers' and so on working at their trade. Most importantly, 'in their rules there was only one clause: do what you will, because people who are free, well-born, well-bred and easy in honest company have a natural spur and instinct that drives them to virtuous deeds and deflects them from vice'.

It seems clear that parts of this utopia are a satire on the asceticism and submission required by the MONASTIC life, but Rabelais also seems to be suggesting that human beings are perfectible creatures, if they have free will and the right circumstances. It is the same assumption about human beings that underlies ANARCHISM, COMMUNISM and SOCIALISM. Given its place in the text, after pages and pages of food, drink, shit and sex, the effect of the story of the Abbey is curiously touching and inspiring. Rabelais founds a utopia that is certainly materialistic, but is also founded on liberty and a certain sort of equality, both sentiments too radical to be openly voiced in France until a few centuries later.

AGORA The centre of public life in the Ancient and Classical Greek city (see CITY STATE; POLIS). It was a physical space that enabled a wide range of interconnected economic, social, legal, political and religious activities; each influencing the other. The agora in essence was nothing more than a MARKETPLACE where people came together to meet and to buy and sell, exchanging all the social and material necessities of life. The most important feature of the agora was thus accessibility for all. It also needed to be an open space which contrasted with the narrow and constricted spaces characteristic of many other parts of the city. Although the most prestigious temple in a city would be set apart, perhaps on a fortified acropolis, the temples used every day would tend to be in the agora, again because of its accessibility. And so the agora became more than a simple marketplace.

As monarchical power gave way to a variety of more participative forms of government, and particularly to the DEMOCRACY of Athens, the agora presented itself as a space for new institutions. Thus Athenians might visit the agora 'to get information, meet their friends (or enemies), gamble, torture a slave, hire or get hired as wage labourers, accost a prostitute, seek asylum (if a slave), have a haircut, go begging, fetch water, watch cockfighting, and find out the time from a public water clock'. One might also take part in a trial, a religious procession, a philosophical debate (Socrates spent much of his time in the agora discussing ethical questions with any willing Athenian) or attend the ekklesia, the popular assembly that voted on community decisions. More conservative figures, including Plato and Socrates, were concerned at this mix of day-to-day activities with more 'elevated' ones such as law, philosophy and politics. They worried at the ability of the poor to mingle with the rich, fearing that the status quo might be inverted as a result. There was also concern that the areas of the city most concerned with trade would be 'too' democratic and, by their nature, would have a high concentration of foreigners present. Solutions to this perceived problem were suggested, including having a separate agora for trade or not allowing citizens to engage in trade.

An idealized agora provides a possible model for forms of participative democracy. Its accessibility and openness to all, the integration of everyday exchange with COMMUNITY and political functions, and its development through a continuing dialogue between all those who come to use it, contrast strongly with current forms of organizational and political governance. It is not surprising that the word crops up across a range of organizations and institutions wishing to claim democracy, openness and accessibility as governing principles, from the Treaty of Rome to open systems software developers. One application of these principles is AGORA, a UK community organization, largely sponsored by the churches, whose aims include identifying and creating new places of meeting for public conversation; ensuring that these spaces are inclusive and accessible; and building on people's life experience while resisting domination by experts.

ALBIGENSIANS, see CATHARS

ALTERNATIVE GEOPOLITICS A term first used by the French geographer Yves Lacoste after the 1968 student demonstrations in Paris. Lacoste used it as part of his advocacy of the use of geography for purposes other than the support of the authority of the state and the making of war. This, he claimed, had been its principal use in the past. Lacoste revived the term 'geopolitics' which had become highly suspect as a result of its use to justify the territorial expansionism of the Third Reich. He and other French geographers turned to an examination of the work of early twentieth century ANARCHISTS such as Peter KROPOTKIN and Elisée Reclus, who had seen the subject as having the potential to liberate the peoples of the world from their oppressors. This alternative geopolitics centred on the use of the world's resources for the benefit of its peoples rather than the wealth and power of the few. It entailed putting in place alternative structures of government to those that had been associated with power and domination.

The new schools of geopolitics in the Anglo-Saxon countries which rose in the later twentieth century were more concerned with peace than with war. However, even when concerned with the prevention of conflict such thinking did not fundamentally challenge the existing state system. All the evidence suggests that, left to themselves, the existing territorial states are unlikely to change their behaviour to any really significant extent. During the last half-century they have shown that they remain wedded to the use of force in pursuit of their own interests and that their policies reflect an underlying nationalism and xenophobia. The alternative geopolitics seeks to bring radical change to this situation by replacing the existing system of territorial states with a new one. This entails the replacement of the present components of the world system by alternatives that are likely to prove more amenable to the establishment of genuinely COOPERATIVE structures. Such possible alternative components of the world system include CITY STATES, SMALL STATES and regions.

Because of their small size, limited power and natural interdependence, such alternative states are more likely to see it as in their interest to become willing participants of an inter-state order. An example of an alternative process with a successful outcome was the Hanseatic League, which came into being in the transition period between the decline of the medieval empires and the rise of the modern state powers. Its component city states were highly successful in facilitating trade over large areas and establishing both economic and political internal order. In a similar way, following the First World War, the small nations of Eastern Europe gained a brief independence before they were once more incorporated into a new quasi-imperial structure. After the Second World War, the German lander were resurrected and proved to be highly successful forms of autonomous administration within a state. Subsequently, the desire to recreate the pre-national world of the Renaissance city states has produced political parties devoted to greater autonomy for regions such as the Basque country or Lombardy.

The European Union is the principal heir to earlier ideas of inter-state cooperation. Fundamental to the ideas of its founder Jean Monnet was the transfer of power away from the existing territorial states and the underlying philosophy of the EU is thus basically UTOPIAN. The idea of subsidiarity contained in the Maastricht Treaty is in accord with the FEDERALISM implicit in alternative geopolitics. However, by the beginning of the twenty-first century it had become evident that some of the more powerful member states, which had formerly been great powers, had increasing reservations about the continuation of integration and showed signs of wishing to revert to the assertion of their own political and economic power. The extent to which the alternative geopolitics will continue to make progress is now open to question. The great powers have demonstrated their propensity to act unilaterally and the latest crop of small nations, which emerged following the collapse of the SOVIET UNION, have yet to make much impact. Despite this, there is evidence of the continued existence of the alternative geopolitical process in the form of small states, non-state nations, city states and regions. There are also continued devolutionary tendencies within the existing states that give some indication of the steady erosion of their power from within. This all demonstrates the continued existence of the alternative geopolitics and the possibilities that it holds. (GP)

ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY, see APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

AMANA COLONIES, see AMISH, ANABAPTISTS

AMAZONS A tribe of brave female warriors whose existence is first described in print by Sir John Mandeville in 1357, and later by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1596 (see also EL DORADO). The Amazons treat men with contempt, using them for reproduction once a year, and then emasculating them and using them as slaves. Boy children are expelled. They are said to cut one of their breasts off in order to draw their bows more easily. The legend of Amazonia now often functions as a FEMINIST myth, perhaps of a matriarchal GOLDEN AGE, and has certainly been influential in the construction of (usually ARCADIAN) separatist FEMINIST UTOPIAS (see, for example, HERLAND).

AMERICA In this context 'America' means what is now the 'United States of America', and not primarily Canada, and certainly not Central or South America. As an idea, the 'American Dream', it has been both the inspiration and tragedy of much alternative and UTOPIAN thinking. As a place, it has been the site for many alternatives, and the most successful MARKET economy ever created. From the seventeenth century onwards, many NON-CONFORMIST and DISSENTING migrant groups left Europe for the 'New World', in an attempt to escape poverty or persecution (see ANABAPTISTS; AMISH). The MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY was established by Puritans fleeing from England, and begins a story of colonization in which previous inhabitants are notable by their absence. Like the protagonists of so many utopian romances, the Puritans set sail for lands over the sea, hoping to begin again. In 1776, the United States was established with ringing declarations of 'liberty and justice for all', the separation of church and state, an independent judiciary and so on. Compared to the cramped and divided societies they left behind, the wide-open spaces of North America offered seemingly boundless opportunity and natural resources. This idea of America as ARCADIA made a great deal of sense to authors such as Thoreau (see WALDEN), for whom the journey Westwards (towards the sunset) expressed a deep human need for exploration.

The many alternative communities that were established in the nineteenth century were often inspired by European ideas — Robert OWEN's 'New Harmony', ONEIDA, the SHAKERS, the Zoarites, Rappites, Moravians, Fruitlanders, Ephratans, Nashobans and so on — but increasingly required separation from the emerging capitalist economy in order to survive. It is the version of America with capitalism retained at its core that has become both utopia and DYSTOPIA. A land of social and geographical mobility, of unlimited resources and gigantic plates of food (see COCKAIGNE), of towering cities, free speech and democratic institutions. While all these aspects of America clearly organize a global imaginary, so does a mirror image which is echoed in many twentieth-century dystopian fictions. This is the America founded on the genocide of the first people and currently policing a Pax Americana in which resistance is met by overwhelming military force. An America in which the homeless sleep on the doorsteps of the wealthiest people on the planet, the MAFIA really run things, and forms of religious fundamentalism divide the deserving from the undeserving, both within America and the rest of the world. American exceptionalism has been the dominant theme in the way it has been imagined by European commentators for centuries. Hegel, in his 1837 Philosophy of History, suggested that America 'is the land of the future.... It is a land of desire for all those who are weary of the historical lumber-room of old Europe.' Alexis de Tocqueville, in his Democracy in America (1840) acknowledged that the Puritan influence was central to the busy-ness of America, but worried about the paradoxical extremes of individualism and centralization that resulted from democratic liberalism. Friedrich Engels felt that the collapse of capitalism was most likely on the 'more favoured soil of America, where no mediaeval ruins bar the way' (from the US edition of The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1887). More recently Jean Baudrillard has commented that America 'is an utopia which has behaved from the very beginning as though it were already achieved'. It is 'built on the idea that is the realization of everything that others have dreamt of — justice, plenty, rule of law, wealth, freedom: it knows this, it believes in it, and in the end, the others have come to believe in it too'.

When compared with the other major actually existing utopia of the twentieth century, COMMUNISM, it is difficult not to accept that American market managerialism was the winner, both ideologically and practically. However, if we narrow down the choice of alternatives to two, then it is hardly any choice at all. As this dictionary suggests, there are many different ways to imagine alternative organization and utopia. To assume that the end of history is represented by McTopia, or Disney's town of Celebration, might be to sell the very idea of America too cheaply.

AMISH An enduring group of Christian NON-CONFORMIST communities mostly concentrated in the US states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, well known for their 'plain' lifestyle and suspicion of modern technology. Derived from the Mennonite section of the ANABAPTISTS, the Swiss followers of Jacob Amman distinguished themselves in the seventeenth century by their strict adherence to shunning deviant members ('Meidung') and washing the feet of others to demonstrate humility. Many emigrated to the US in the eighteenth century, along with many other similar religious sects such as the Amana Communities. All were particularly attracted by the tolerance implied in the separation of church and state, but the Amish were among the most successful and they currently number about 150,000 people. Depending on the conservatism of the particular Amish community, new technologies are assessed for their potential use or complication, and may be permitted in a limited form. Most groups would avoid the use of motor vehicles and modern fabrics, but there might be one communal telephone, or limited voltage electricity might be used if it is produced by Amish-owned generators. More traditional groups refuse to use buttons or belts, but all would share a fundamentalist view of the Bible and the avoidance of an evangelical mission to convert outsiders.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Dictionary of Alternatives by Martin Parker, Valérie Fournier, Patrick Reedy. Copyright © 2007 Martin Parker, Valérie Fournier, Patrick Reedy. Excerpted by permission of Zed Books Ltd.
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Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Zed Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 184277333X
• ISBN 13: 9781842773338
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Lingua: Inglese
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 338
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile