[URPE] The Economic Crisis and the Case for a Solidarity Economy: Online Course

[Amit Basole]

Hello URPE members
I will be teaching the following online course for the Center for Popular
Economics this Summer. Last year's course had a great mix of traditional
students and activists. Do circulate this email to folks you think might be
interested. Questions may be directed to me at abasole at gmail.com

Thanks,
Amit

PLEASE CIRCULATE! THANKS.

If you have ever asked yourself...
        Whats really behind the current crisis and is the answer more
regulation by the government?
        Why does our economy periodically suffer from such crises?
        What should a well-functioning economy do?
        What's the connection behind lower wages for ordinary workers and
large Wall Street bonuses?
        How do we build a more just and sustainable economy?
        ...then this course is for you!
*The Economic Crisis and the Case for a Solidarity Economy
*An Online Course offered by the Center for Popular Economics
Summer Session I (June 1 - July 9, 2009)
Course Fee: $900 for THREE Univ. of Massachusetts Credits or $400 for
non-credit students.
40-60 Professional Development Points (in MA)  or 3.6 Continuing Education
Credits (outside MA) available.
Scholarships are available for non-credit students.
The Center for Popular Economics, in collaboration with the Forum on Social
Wealth and the Political Economy Research Institute at Univ. of
Massachusetts, Amherst is offering a special topics 3-credit online course
(Econ 197) this Summer. The course runs from Monday, June 1st till Thursday
July 9th, 2009. No background in Economics is required. The course is suited
for students as well as activists and community members who want to learn
more about the current economic crises, its causes and its solutions. Please
see attached flyer and visit
http://www.populareconomics.org/online_course_2009.html for more
information. You can also contact Amit Basole at abasole at gmail.com or Emily
Kawano at emily at populareconomics.org for more details on registering for the
course.
Overview: The current economics crisis has once again raised the question
with great urgency: what purpose do we want our economy to fulfill? Is it
fulfilling this purpose today? If not, what can we do about it? In this
course we will place special emphasis on the ongoing economic and financial
crisis and its long-term and short-term causes and consequences. We will
also discuss various alternative economic models rooted in principles of
economic democracy, cooperation and sustainability. Finally, we will talk
about a vast store of wealth that communities everywhere possess and on
which they can draw for constructing alternatives.
The course is comprised of two main parts. Part One takes a look at how 30
years of neoliberal economic policy created the conditions for the present
crisis, which threatens to be the most severe since the Great Depression.
Falling or stagnant wages for the majority of Americans, rising and
unsustainable levels of debt in the economy, and a poorly regulated
financial sector all played a part in precipitating the crisis. We will also
go beyond the crisis and attempt fo understand how our economic model has
allowed unprecedented accumulation of wealth by a few and while bringing low
wages, longer work hours, and rising healthcare and education costs for the
many, in addition to a deterioration of our natural and social environment.
We start with a look at the historical roots of neoliberalism and then try
to understand the economics behind it.
In Part Two, we will talk about how some of the things that we saw going
wrong in Part One can be set right. Building a just economy that is not
prone to repeated crises depends on the efforts we make. In the midst of
growing inequality and corporate power, many grassroots economic
alternatives have been springing up throughout the U.S. as well as the rest
of the world. This is the new "Solidarity Economy." Grounded in principles
of economic democracy, social solidarity, cooperation, egalitarianism, and
sustainability, this is an alternative to the Neoliberal vision of the
economy. In this part of the course we will look at some examples of such
alternatives, including alternatives to the current financial system, as
well as understand the economics behind them. We will also see how an
economy organized around solidarity principles can tap into reservoirs of
social wealth, assets that all communities possess; our cultural and
ecological commons and our capacity to work for those we care.

-- 
Amit Basole
Department of Economics
Thompson Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Phone: 413-665-2463
http://www.people.umass.edu/abasole/
blog: http://thenoondaysun.blogspot.com/
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