Debate on planned economies

Simulating a Labor-Time Socialist Economy

Cybersocialism, Debate on planned economies, Events |

On August 29 at 5pm UTC, the Boston College Labor-Time Economy Working Group (BC-LTEWG) will present an agent-based computer simulation model of a labor-time socialist economy. Their project brings together ideas drawn from the Group of International Communists’ 1930 Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution, classical linear production theory, and modern cybernetics to implement […]

Simulating a Labor-Time Socialist Economy Read More »

The Absence of Mediation as Mediation?

Books, Debate on planned economies, Review, Theory, Transformation |

Stefan Meretz recently published an essay in which he responds to a critique by Hermann Lueer1 of the book he co-authored with Simon Sutterlütti, Make Capitalism History, and in doing so once again formulates a fundamental critique of the necessity of a general economic unit of measurement („unit of account“).2 Since in the last instance

The Absence of Mediation as Mediation? Read More »

Worker at assembly line puts it heart into a box

Debate: Labour-Time Accounting Here and Now?

App, Cybersocialism, Debate on planned economies, solidarity economy, Transformation |

Recently, we published a longer article on “Syndicalism and Labour-Time Accounting.” It was sharply criticized by Aníbal, a council communist writer. According to him, our approach is reformist: “In short, what IDA advocates stands in opposition to communism and particularly to two of its finest expressions: the KAPD and the GIC, council communists.” This criticism

Debate: Labour-Time Accounting Here and Now? Read More »

Syndicalism and Labour-Time Accounting

anarchism, Councils, Debate on planned economies, Socialization, Theory, Trade Union, worker collectives |

The Spanish trade union CNT has invited us to write a contribution on labour-time accounting for its theoretical journal Estudios. The new issue has just been published and covers, in three volumes, the topics of revolutionary syndicalism, ecology, and economic planning. It can be ordered HERE. We are sharing our contribution, in which we discuss

Syndicalism and Labour-Time Accounting Read More »

Private reproductive labor is social labor!

Care work, Debate on planned economies, Feminism, solidarity economy, Theory, Transformation |

Around eight weeks ago, Hermann Lueer published a critique of our text on the socialization of private reproductive labor. His article, titled “Social versus Private Reproductive Labor,” accuses us of reducing the Marxist calculation of labor time to absurdity. The starting point of this critique is our consideration of how private reproductive labor—especially in the

Private reproductive labor is social labor! Read More »

Critique of Commonism

anarchism, Books, Debate on planned economies, Review, Theory |

Simon Sutterlütti and Stefan Meretz outline in “Kapitalismus aufheben” (2018) commonism as a post-capitalist society in which commons sustain production and distribution, work is organized voluntarily, and the means of production are socialized. In his German-language review, Hermann Lueer highlights the strengths of the book while also exposing the theoretical limits of the commonist project.

Critique of Commonism Read More »

Our app is now called Workers Control

App, Debate on planned economies, Socialization, solidarity economy, Transformation, worker collectives |

We have renamed our working time calculation app – from now on it is called Workers Control! The old name “Arbeitszeit-App” was clunky and difficult for an international audience to understand. With Workers Control, we want to make it clear that the app is a tool for decentralized self-management – under the control of workers.

Our app is now called Workers Control Read More »