A real movement for social change must have real democracy, co-operation and mutuals at its heart, says EDGAR PARNELL

The role and nature of the state has become a central feature of British political argument – should it be an ‘EasyJet state’ or a ‘John Lewis state’? Should the state give way for the arrival of the ‘big society’, or forms of mutualism or associationalism?
In the context of deficit reduction and austerity politics the [...]

STEVE THOMPSON commends the grassroots movements seeking alternatives to economic growth
The current edition of New Internationalist (NI434. July/August 2010) tackles what I consider  to be one of the most crucial problems we face today, perhaps the most crucial. Headlined ‘Life beyond growth’, it deals with the conundrum that economic growth is not environmentally sustainable and [...]

Steve Thompson traces the history of the co-operative movement and argues that this is a decisive moment in its renaissance.
There is an alternative to capitalism, it’s called the co-operative commonwealth. It’s a way of living and trading with business which is run democratically for the benefit of the members and communities who use the services. [...]

JONATHAN TIMBERS searches for the soul of social enterprise but finds a rather worrying state of mind
This event was billed as ‘social enterprise solutions to 21st century challenges’. It was held in the upmarket Manchester International Convention Centre in late January 2005. I attended the conference in the hope that by the end I would [...]

WILL BROWN examines two welcome contributions to debates on democratic renewal and progressive social change
The need to extend democratic practices within society, beyond the confines of the parliamentary system, has been widely recognised on the political left for some time. However, in a context of rising political apathy and a perceived ‘crisis’ of democracy, the [...]

ANDY HANSFORD wonders whether foundation hospitals will be a fig leaf for privatisation of the NHS.
The Tories tried to reform the National Health Service by setting up an ‘internal market’. The result was a failure, with a massive increase in accountants to count debits and credits in a whole new layer of contracts. Services were [...]

The headlong rush towards social enterprise could undermine any prospects of a genuine social economy, says STEVE SCHOFIELD
Social enterprise is very much the flavour of the month, or even, possibly, the next big thing. Its proponents put forward an ambitious agenda of creating jobs, providing training and developing local services in areas of serious and [...]

BARRY WINTER reviews Anti-Capitalism: The social economy alternative, by Chris Hill, and considers the role of the social economy in creating change, as well as sustaining socialism.
This is an intriguing book. Written and, indeed, published by a former, long-standing member of Militant and, at the time of writing, a member of one of its offspring, [...]

PATRICK GRAY argues that the Co-operative Party has been fooled into supporting foundation hospitals.
I fear that cooperators will come to regret that the Co-operative  Party has been fooled into lending respectability to the government’s wrong-headed plans for foundation hospitals.
The will o’ the wisp promise of community control is completely meaningless. Mutuality may well be applicable [...]