Coordinatorism is an economic system in which control is held neither by people who own capital, nor by the workers, but instead is held by an intervening class of coordinators, typically in the roles of managers, administrators, engineers, university intellectuals, doctors, lawyers. The coordinators carry out conceptual and administrative tasks, and they also decide what tasks the ordinary workers should carry out. An economic system is a mechanism which deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in a particular society. ... Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ...

Although coordinatorism is commonly associated with the economic practices of communist states during the twentieth century, where the allocation of production and consumption was highly centralised, it may also occur where allocation happens through the market. A Communist state is a state governed by a single political party which declares its allegiance to the principles of Marxism-Leninism. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The allocation of production and consumption is a key element of any model of economics. ... The allocation of production and consumption is a key element of any model of economics. ... A physical marketplace in Portugal enables buyers and sellers of produce to do business with each other. ...

The use of the term coordinatorism helps clarify the difference between several distinct economic systems that are sometimes described using the term "socialism". The name "socialism" can be set aside for systems which give control over the means of production to the workers themselves, while "coordinatorism" can be used for systems which give control over the means of production to managers and administrators, despite the fact that the workers (or someone else) nominally "own" those means of production. Thus, the issue of real control is separated from that of nominal ownership. Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... The means of production are physical, non-human, inputs used in production. ...

Criticisms of coordinatorism

From a capitalist perspective, coordinatorism violates private property rights, i.e. the rights of those who own vast amounts of capital to control production, consumption and allocation of goods, services and roles. This is of course not the case when the coordinators are employed inside a capitalist organisation by the (in capitalist terms) rightful owner of that organisation. Capitalism has been defined in various, but similar, ways by different theorists. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with consumption (economics). ... The allocation of production and consumption is a key element of any model of economics. ...

From a human rights perspective, coordinatorism can be considered to violate Article 21.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, since coordinatorist systems have typically violated the right of ordinary workers to participate in government, and also Article 23.1 of the same declaration, since free choice of employment is not possible if employees cannot participate in decisions about what work should be carried out, how it should be carried out and coordinated, etc. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (also UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris), outlining the organizations view on the human... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

From a socialist perspective, coordinatorism suffers from the same problems as capitalism, and fosters the same injustice, since a small group of powerful individuals controls the means of production and the allocation of resources, while the vast majority of the population (the workers) is not involved in the economic decision-making process. Coordinatorism may also lead to severe inequalities (for example, the special treatment and superior products received by Party members in the Soviet Union and elsewhere), which socialists strongly oppose. Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ...

From a Marxist and communist perspective, coordinatorism replaces one ruling class with another, by placing the coordinators in the same positions that were once occupied by the capitalists, and thus the exploitation of the workers remains the same and coordinatorism is viewed as being essentially identical to capitalism. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ...

Groups opposed to coordinatorism (as well as capitalism)

Groups in the social justice, environmental rights and peace movements mostly consist of volunteers. Although many of these groups reject capitalism, either partially or totally, their attitude to coordinatorism is much more ambiguous. The NGO side of the spectrum tends to accept coordinatorism, with salaried coordinators who work on behalf of others rather than transferring their skills; while the more radical, anarchist side of the spectrum tends to reject any form of coordinatorism, at least in its rhetoric; most groups lie somewhere in between. Social Justice is a philosophical definition of the justice found operating in any given societys systems of social control. ... Environmentalism is activism aimed at improving the environment, particularly nature. ... Widely-recognized peace symbol Peace is commonly understood to mean the Other definitions include freedom from disputes, harmonious relations and the absence of mental stress or anxiety, as the meaning of the word changes with context. ... Capitalism has been defined in various, but similar, ways by different theorists. ... A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. ... Anarchism is derived from the Greek αναρχία (without archons (ruler, chief, king)). Anarchism as a political philosophy, is the belief that all forms of social coercion, such as governments and social hierarchies are undesireable. ... Rhetoric from Greek ρήτωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is the art or technique of persuasion, usually through the use of language. ...

Practical methods for minimising coordinatorism include consensus decision making, radical transparency, rotation of facilitation roles and day-to-day work roles among individuals, and giving the least experienced in coordination skills full encouragement and time to learn these skills. Consensus decision-making is a decision process that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also to resolve or mitigate the objections of the minority to achieve the most agreeable decision. ... Radical transparency is a management method where nearly all decision making is carried out publicly. ...

The radical economist Robin Hahnel and a co-founder of Z-Magazine, Michael Albert, have recently developed a new economic system which rejects both coordinatorism and capitalism, and tries to give every person as much say in decisions as they are affected by them. They call it Participatory economics. Robin Hahnel is a Professor of Economics at American University. ... Categories: Stub | 1947 births | 20th Century philosophers | U.S. philosophers ... Participatory economics, often abbreviated parecon, is a proposed economic system that uses participatory decision making as a economic mechanism to guide the allocation of resources and consumption in a given society. ...

See also

Economic theories of the composition of the soviet-style societies: new class, state socialism, state capitalism, bureaucratic collectivism, degenerated workers state and deformed workers state. The new class is a term to describe the privileged ruling class of bureaucrats and Communist party functionaries which typically arises in a Stalinist communist state. ... State socialism, broadly speaking, is any variety of socialism which relies on ownership of the means of production by the state. ... There are multiple definitions of the term state capitalism. ... Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. ... In Trotskyist political theory, degenerated workers states are states where capitalism has been overthrown through social revolution and the property forms have changed into a collectivized planned economy, but where the working class has lost its political power and socialist democracy has been replaced by a form of dictatorship. ... In Trotskyist political theory, deformed workers states are states where capitalism has been overthrown through social revolution and the property forms have changed into a collectivized planned economy, but where the working class has never held political power (as it did in Russia shortly after the Russian Revolution). ...

External links

• General discussion of coordinatorism, from Z-Magazine
• Coordinatorism compared to socialism, from Z-Magazine