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After Occupy: Economic Democracy for the 21st Century
These days, it is easy to be cynical about democracy. Even though there are more democratic societies now (119 and counting) than ever before, skeptics can point to low turnouts in national elections, the degree to which money corrupts the process, and the difficulties of mass participation in complex systems as just a few reasons why the system is flawed. The Occupy movement in 2011 proved that there is an emphatic dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, particularly with the economy, but, ultimately, it failed to produce any coherent vision for social change. So what should progressives be working toward? What should the economic vision be for the 21st century?
After Occupy boldly argues that democracy should not just be a feature of political institutions, but of economic institutions as well. In fact, despite the importance of the economy in democratic societies, there is very little about it that is democratic. Questioning whether the lack of democracy in the economy might be unjust, Tom Malleson scrutinizes workplaces, the market, and financial and investment institutions to consider the pros and cons of democratizing each. He considers examples of successful efforts toward economic democracy enacted across the globe, from worker cooperatives in Spain to credit unions and participatory budgeting measures in Brazil and questions the feasibility of expanding each. The book offers the first comprehensive and radical vision for democracy in the economy, but it is far from utopian. Ultimately, After Occupy offers possibility, demonstrating in a remarkably tangible way that when political democracy evolves to include economic democracy, our
societies will have a chance of meaningful equality for all.
After Occupy boldly argues that democracy should not just be a feature of political institutions, but of economic institutions as well. In fact, despite the importance of the economy in democratic societies, there is very little about it that is democratic. Questioning whether the lack of democracy in the economy might be unjust, Tom Malleson scrutinizes workplaces, the market, and financial and investment institutions to consider the pros and cons of democratizing each. He considers examples of successful efforts toward economic democracy enacted across the globe, from worker cooperatives in Spain to credit unions and participatory budgeting measures in Brazil and questions the feasibility of expanding each. The book offers the first comprehensive and radical vision for democracy in the economy, but it is far from utopian. Ultimately, After Occupy offers possibility, demonstrating in a remarkably tangible way that when political democracy evolves to include economic democracy, our
societies will have a chance of meaningful equality for all.
302 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4, 2014
3 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
Tom Malleson
7 books10 followersI was born in London, England, and grew up in Canada. I received a PhD in Political Theory and Political Economy from the University of Toronto in 2012. I am currently Assistant Professor in the Social Justice and Peace Studies program at King's University College at Western University.
My research interests are interdisciplinary, crisscrossing contemporary political theory, feminist theory, political economy, philosophy, and sociology. One strand of research revolves around the study of Real Utopias, which are institutions designed to be both normatively emancipatory and empirically grounded. My interests in this area include economic democracy, the solidarity economy, basic income, participatory budgeting, carbon taxes, universal caregiving, and so on. Another strand of research focuses on contemporary debates over distributive justice, with interest in questions of egalitarianism, economic desert, autonomy, time sovereignty, and the culture of consumerism.
I am also a longtime anti-authoritarian social justice activist and organizer, and have been active for over ten years with migrant justice, anti-poverty, global justice, anti-war, and solidarity economy groups.
My research interests are interdisciplinary, crisscrossing contemporary political theory, feminist theory, political economy, philosophy, and sociology. One strand of research revolves around the study of Real Utopias, which are institutions designed to be both normatively emancipatory and empirically grounded. My interests in this area include economic democracy, the solidarity economy, basic income, participatory budgeting, carbon taxes, universal caregiving, and so on. Another strand of research focuses on contemporary debates over distributive justice, with interest in questions of egalitarianism, economic desert, autonomy, time sovereignty, and the culture of consumerism.
I am also a longtime anti-authoritarian social justice activist and organizer, and have been active for over ten years with migrant justice, anti-poverty, global justice, anti-war, and solidarity economy groups.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 16, 2016
It wasn't that I particularity disagreed with his position. He makes a compelling argument and presents plenty of evidence to back it up. Simply it was too long, too wordy, and a little dry. I was hoping for a powerful call to action but he simply ended with a call for "thinking" on actions and operating without pessimism towards the possibility of a utopia. It is as if he has a passion for economic democracy but shrugs his shoulders when asked what is to be done about it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2025
This has got to be the best book I've read so far about post-capitalist economics and one of my top three books I've read this year that I found the most intriguing, along with "Socialist Reconstruction" and Yanis Varoufakis' "Talking to My Daughter About Economics."
In "After Occupy," Malleson's main argument is that our economic system is marked by a grossly unequal distribution of wealth. This uneven wealth distribution translates into unequal access to decision-making power. The power of owners and managers to organize work, the market, the power of financiers to provide or restrict credit, and businesses' power to invest or divest in certain projects all directly affect the freedom of the citizens of a nation (ESPECIALLY finance and investment -- Malleson talks about how finance is kind of like a post office or a water system, without it the economy collapses). They also state that it is absurd since the economy is so important to the allocation of resources for us to flourish but that decision-making power around the economy is concentrated in the hands of the few, which often leads to poverty and inequality. Social democratic countries (like the Nordic countries) tend to be better off in this regard -- however, most decision-making around investment is made by the state rather than the larger population. For these reasons, Malleson makes the case that we should democratize the economy so that it can more equally and efficiently allocate resources and lead to more just opportunities and outcomes. They specifically focus on the realms of the workplace, finance, and investment.
One of the best aspects of this book is that Malleson's vision is not just pie-in-the-sky utopianism; they back up their assertions with solid empirical evidence and substantial reviews of the literature related to features of their proposed system, which they call Economic Democracy. These include worker cooperatives and how they avoid degeneration into capitalist enterprise structures, highly regulated and co-op friendly market systems, capital controls, cap-and-trade systems, participatory budgeting, and public banking.
I don't write many reviews as often as I used to, but I was compelled to write this one after seeing that this well-crafted, well-argued book (at least in my opinion) only had a lone, one-star review. I don't have anything against the reviewer personally, but I have an issue with their argument that the author is passionate about the notion of this system but "shrugs his shoulders when asked what is to be done about it [the proposed system of Economic Democracy]." I think the reviewer may have missed some important parts in the book because Malleson DOES talk at length about possible ways we could transition to economic democracy (e.g. through short-term means like implementing taxes on short-term speculative movements on capital or democratizing pension funds, and through long-term means such as establishing an "Incremental Democratization Plan", whereby profits from private banks are placed under the control of what he calls "public community banks" and whereby profits from private firms are placed under the control of a workers' trust).
I would give "After Occupy" a solid 4.7/5. The only problem that I found with this book has to do with Malleson's overly rosy comments about the future of Venezuela under Chavez, which have aged rather poorly.
In "After Occupy," Malleson's main argument is that our economic system is marked by a grossly unequal distribution of wealth. This uneven wealth distribution translates into unequal access to decision-making power. The power of owners and managers to organize work, the market, the power of financiers to provide or restrict credit, and businesses' power to invest or divest in certain projects all directly affect the freedom of the citizens of a nation (ESPECIALLY finance and investment -- Malleson talks about how finance is kind of like a post office or a water system, without it the economy collapses). They also state that it is absurd since the economy is so important to the allocation of resources for us to flourish but that decision-making power around the economy is concentrated in the hands of the few, which often leads to poverty and inequality. Social democratic countries (like the Nordic countries) tend to be better off in this regard -- however, most decision-making around investment is made by the state rather than the larger population. For these reasons, Malleson makes the case that we should democratize the economy so that it can more equally and efficiently allocate resources and lead to more just opportunities and outcomes. They specifically focus on the realms of the workplace, finance, and investment.
One of the best aspects of this book is that Malleson's vision is not just pie-in-the-sky utopianism; they back up their assertions with solid empirical evidence and substantial reviews of the literature related to features of their proposed system, which they call Economic Democracy. These include worker cooperatives and how they avoid degeneration into capitalist enterprise structures, highly regulated and co-op friendly market systems, capital controls, cap-and-trade systems, participatory budgeting, and public banking.
I don't write many reviews as often as I used to, but I was compelled to write this one after seeing that this well-crafted, well-argued book (at least in my opinion) only had a lone, one-star review. I don't have anything against the reviewer personally, but I have an issue with their argument that the author is passionate about the notion of this system but "shrugs his shoulders when asked what is to be done about it [the proposed system of Economic Democracy]." I think the reviewer may have missed some important parts in the book because Malleson DOES talk at length about possible ways we could transition to economic democracy (e.g. through short-term means like implementing taxes on short-term speculative movements on capital or democratizing pension funds, and through long-term means such as establishing an "Incremental Democratization Plan", whereby profits from private banks are placed under the control of what he calls "public community banks" and whereby profits from private firms are placed under the control of a workers' trust).
I would give "After Occupy" a solid 4.7/5. The only problem that I found with this book has to do with Malleson's overly rosy comments about the future of Venezuela under Chavez, which have aged rather poorly.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews