Aaron Benanav discusses the first part of his ‘Beyond Capitalism’ essay series in the New Left Review. In this part he lays the groundwork for his proposal of a multi-criterial economy.

SASE - Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics:

https://sase.org/

SASE Network I: Alternatives to Capitalism (including CfP):

https://sase.org/networks/i-alternatives-to-capitalism/

Shownotes

Aaron at Cornell University:

https://cals.cornell.edu/people/aaron-benanav

Aaron’s personal website:

https://www.aaronbenanav.com/

Access to Aaron's paywalled publications:

https://www.aaronbenanav.com/papers

Mailing List to join the Movement for Multi-Dimensional Economics:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUF7MZ2jQJXY_wHKn5xSIo-_L0tkMO-SG079sa5lGhRJTgqg/viewform

Benanav, A. (2025). Beyond Capitalism—1. New Left Review, Issue 153, 65–128.

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii153/articles/aaron-benanav-beyond-capitalism-1

Benanav, A. (2025). Beyond Capitalism—2. New Left Review, Issue 154, 97–143.

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii154/articles/aaron-benanav-beyond-capitalism-2

Benanv, A. (2020). Automation and the Future of Work. Verso.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/2682-automation-and-the-future-of-work

on economic stagnation, see especially chapter 3, “In the Shadow of Stagnation”.

on Marx’s concept of the Value-Form:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/appendix.htm

Moore, J.W. & Patel, R. (2020). A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things. A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. Verso.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/817-a-history-of-the-world-in-seven-cheap-things

on the abstract domination of capitalism:

Postone, M. (1993). Time, Labor and Social Domination. A Reinterpretation of Marx’s Critical Theory. Cambridge University Press.

https://files.libcom.org/files/Moishe%20Postone%20-%20Time,%20Labor,%20and%20Social%20Domination.pdf

Mau, S. (2023). Mute Compulsion. A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital. Verso.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/2759-mute-compulsion

Leipold, B. (2024). Citizen Marx. Republicanism and the Formation of Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought. Princeton University Press.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691205236/citizen-marx

on GDP (Gross Domestic Product):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product

on the Five-Year Plans in the Soviet Union:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-year_plans_of_the_Soviet_Union

Katsenelinboigen, A. (1977). Coloured Markets in the Soviet Union. Soviet Studies. Vol. 29, No.1. 62-85.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/150728

Uvalić, M. (2018). The Rise and Fall of Market Socialism in Yugoslavia.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331223694_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Market_Socialism_in_Yugoslavia

on Friedrich Hayek:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek

Hayek, F. A. (1945). The Use of Knowledge in Society. The American Economic Review, 35(4), 519–530.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1809376

on the Pareto Optimum:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_efficiency

on Rational Choice Theory:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_choice_model

on Behavioral Economics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics

on Otto Neurath:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Neurath

on Neurath’s technocratic tendencies:

https://jacobin.com/2023/02/technocratic-socialism-otto-neurath-utopianism-capitalism

on Joseph Raz:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Raz

on Utilitarianism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism

on the Capability Approach by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach

on the Human Development Index (HDI):

https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI

on the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs):

https://sdgs.un.org/goals

on Multi-Objective Optimization:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-objective_optimization

Saros, D. E. (2014). Information Technology and Socialist Construction. The End of Capital and the Transition to Socialism. Routledge.

https://www.routledge.com/Information-Technology-and-Socialist-Construction-The-End-of-Capital-and-the-Transition-to-Socialism/Saros/p/book/9780415742924

on Neoclassical Economics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_economics

on Citizen Assemblies and Sortition:

https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/

on John Stuart Mill:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill

Mill, J. S. (2011). On Liberty. Cambridge University Press.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/on-liberty/62EC27F1E66E2BCBA29DDCD5294B3DE0

McCabe, H. (2021). John Stuart Mill, Socialist. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

https://www.mqup.ca/john-stuart-mill--socialist-products-9780228005742.php

on Degrowth:

https://degrowth.info/

on Nick Land and Right Accelerationism:

https://youtu.be/lrOVKHg_PJQ?si=Q4oFbaM1p4fhcWP0

on Left Accelerationism:

https://criticallegalthinking.com/2013/05/14/accelerate-manifesto-for-an-accelerationist-politics/

Devine, P. (2002). Participatory Planning through Negotiated Coordination. Science & Society, Vol. 66, No. 1, 72-85.

https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/siso.66.1.72.21001?journalCode=siso

on Oskar R. Lange:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_R._Lange

on Lange’s neoclassical approach to Socialism:

https://jacobin.com/2022/10/oskar-lange-neoclassical-marxism-limits-of-capitalism-economic-theory

Kowalik, T. (1990). Lange-Lerner Mechanism. In: Eatwell, J., Milgate, M., Newman, P. (eds). Problems of the Planned Economy. Palgrave Macmillan.

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-20863-0_21

on Joseph Schumpeters concept of Creative Destruction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction

Shaikh, A. (2016). Capitalism. Competition, Conflict, Crises. Oxford Academic.

https://academic.oup.com/book/1464

Kornai, J. (1980). “Hard” and “Soft” Budget Constraint. Acta Oeconomica, 25(3/4), 231–245.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40728773

on the Cobb-Douglas Production Function:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb%E2%80%93Douglas_production_function

on Adam Smith:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith

Lutosch, H. (2025). Embracing the Small Stuff. Caring for Children in a Liberated Society. In: Groos, J., & Sorg, C. (Eds.). (2025). Creative Construction. Democratic Planning in the 21st Century and Beyond. Bristol University Press.

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/creative-construction

Hahnel, R. (2021). Democratic Economic Planning. Routledge.

https://www.routledge.com/Democratic-Economic-Planning/Hahnel/p/book/9781032003320

Cockshott, P. & Cottrell, A. (1993). Towards a New Socialism. Spokesman.

https://users.wfu.edu/cottrell/socialism_book/new_socialism.pdf

on Universal Basic Services (UBS):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_basic_services

https://autonomy.work/ubs-hub/

Fraser, N. & Sorg, C. (2025). Socialism, Planning and the Relativity of Dirt. In: Groos, J., & Sorg, C. (Eds.). (2025). Creative Construction. Democratic Planning in the 21st Century and Beyond. Bristol University Press.

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/creative-construction

on Milton Friedman:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman

on John Maynard Keynes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes

Aaron on what to learn from radical Keynesianism for a transitionary Program:

Benanav, A. & Henwood, D. (2025). Behind the News. Beyond the Capitalist Economy w/ Aaron Benanav.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2diIiFkkM4x7MoZhi9e0tx

on Socializing Finance:

McCarthy, M. A. (2025). The Master's Tools. How Finance Wrecked Democracy (And a Radical Plan to Rebuild It). Verso.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/755-the-master-s-tools

Future Histories Episodes on Related Topics

S3E47 | Jason W. Moore on Socialism in the Web of Life

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s03/e47-jason-w-moore-on-socialism-in-the-web-of-life/

S03E29 | Nancy Fraser on Alternatives to Capitalism

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s03/e29-nancy-fraser-on-alternatives-to-capitalism/

S03E04 | Tim Platenkamp on Republican Socialism, General Planning and Parametric Control

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s03/e04-tim-platenkamp-on-republican-socialism-general-planning-and-parametric-control/

S02E33 | Pat Devine on Negotiated Coordination

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s02/e33-pat-devine-on-negotiated-coordination/

S03E10 | Aaron Benanav on Associational Socialism and Democratic Planning

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s02/e10-aaron-benanav-on-associational-socialism-and-democratic-planning/

S01E32 | Daniel E. Saros on Digital Socialism and the Abolition of Capital (Part 2)

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s01/e32-daniel-e-saros-on-digital-socialism-and-the-abolition-of-capital-part-2/

S02E31 | Daniel E. Saros on Digital Socialism and the Abolition of Capital (Part 1)

https://www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blog/s01/e31-daniel-e-saros-on-digital-socialism-and-the-abolition-of-capital-part-1/

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If you are interested in democratic economic planning, these resources might be of help:

Democratic planning – an information website

https://www.democratic-planning.com/

Sorg, C. & Groos, J. (eds.)(2025). Rethinking Economic Planning. Competition & Change Special Issue Volume 29 Issue 1.

https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/ccha/29/1

Groos, J. & Sorg, C. (2025). Creative Construction - Democratic Planning in the 21st Century and Beyond. Bristol University Press. [for a review copy, please contact: amber.lanfranchi[at]bristol.ac.uk]

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/creative-construction

International Network for Democratic Economic Planning

https://www.indep.network/

Democratic Planning Research Platform:

https://www.planningresearch.net/

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Episode Keywords

#AaronBenanav, #JanGroos, #Interview, #FutureHistories, #FutureHistoriesInternational, #futurehistoriesinternational, #Transition, #DemocraticPlanning, #Keynes, #Efficiency, #Economics, #NeoclassicalEconomics, #NeoclassicalSocialism, #OttoNeurath, #DemocraticEconomicPlanning, #Capitalism, #Economics, #Socialism, #Socialisation, #Investment, #Degrowth, #UniversalBasicServices, #CareWork

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