Globalization Reimagined
The critical analysis of capitalism reveals the necessity of a more democratic economic model, and the study of modern solidarity economy demonstrates the emerging possibilities for a global economy centered on cooperation and community.
Capitalism, the defining system of our time, features a small percentage of the population governing industry and a vast majority working for a wage. This dynamic expanded to create a complex web of unprecedented production and consumption spanning the entire globe. The flaws of modern globalization largely derive from the authoritarian aspects of capitalism, demanding a democratic alternative when imagining the desired future of global economic relations.
Mondragon Corporation, a federation of cooperatives in the Basque region of Spain, reveals how businesses can operate democratically on an international scale. Cooperation Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi is another example of workers moving beyond capitalism through economic democracy. Similar values of cooperation, solidarity, and democracy enable these movements to flourish. Globalization depends on the labor of the international working class, and workers can achieve a more democratic economy by organizing with creativity and solidarity.
Dylan Hatch completed this thesis in May 2022 as a student of Social Thought & Political Economy and the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.