Critical Theory and the Critique of Alternative Societies: Co Operatives, Mutual Aid Universal Basic Income

This book turns to the ideas of the early Frankfurt School to critically engage with key developments within anti-capitalist activism. Instead of planning for the revolutionary overthrow of the state, or mobilising in mass political parties, anti-capitalist activists increasingly embrace ‘Alternative Societies’; nominally non-capitalist spaces which can exist within the here and now. Consider the spread of mutual aid groups and workers’ co-operative firms during the COVID-19 pandemic, or the rise of interest in Universal Basic Income trials. Developing insights from the early Frankfurt School, Harris poses an alarming and hitherto under-explored question: what if these purportedly radical ‘non-capitalist’ projects are actually stabilising component parts of neoliberalism? To what extent are today’s anti-capitalists serving to sustain the systems they despise?‘The time has come to take the excesses of left political theory to critical task. In this bold new book, one of the most important new voices in the Critical Theory tradition does just that. Harris confronts the advocates of pre-figurative politics and those that glibly assert that capitalism can be transformed from within. He shows how deeply powerful capitalism as a social system is and how a new critical theory is needed to cultivate a more muscular and politically relevant movement politics capable of genuine social transformation.’— Michael J. Thompson, Professor of Political Theory, William Paterson University‘This very important and challenging book draws on early critical theory in a sustained and nuanced evaluation of post-capitalist projects.’— William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University.‘In this erudite and compelling book, Harris analyses purportedly emancipatory forces in debates over capitalism’s future and alternative societies. Focusing on mutual aid groups, workers’ co-operatives and universal basic income, he offers a detailed examination of the strengths and weaknesses of progressive activisms. But the refreshingly sceptical feel to the analysis is no mere exercise in exposing wishful thinking. Rather, it is a sustained and accessible attempt to apply insights from the ‘first generation’ of Frankfurt School critical thinking to contemporary challenges of social transformation. This is a significant contribution to the political sociology of large-scale, long-term social change.’— Barrie Axford, Emeritus Professor in Politics, Oxford Brookes University Anti-capitalist activism has taken a wrong direction and social and political theoretical theorists have failed to realise this. The trend for building, what has become called, ‘Alternative Societies’, spaces such as mutual aid groups and workers’ co-operatives, failed to grasp the true power of the capitalist totality. Drawing on the work of the early Frankfurt School, this book argues that such anti-capitalist strategies are deeply mistaken and must be urgently reconsidered.