DC Launch: Gar Alperovitz presents “Principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth”

Join Gar Alperovitz and the Democracy Collaborative on June 1st at 7pm at Busboys and Poets 14th and V for the launch of Gar’s new book: Principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth.

In this time of deepening political, economic, and ecological crisis, it’s more important than ever to not only resist the current political threats, but also build a new system—the world we hope to live in. Gar Alperovitz, co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative, co-chair of the Next System Project, and former Lionel Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, sees our dark times as the potential prehistory of a period of fundamental and transformative systemic change. In the new book, he outlines his vision of the “Pluralist Commonwealth,” a new political-economy that moves beyond both corporate capitalism and state socialism. The book is designed as a small, easy to use handbook with short entries on the key elements of a next system, and is packed with concrete and hopeful examples of what can be done locally to build a new truly democratic political economy from the ground up.

In response to the swell of organizing that has taken place in recent months, the book will be released online for free to make it available for use by the greatest number of activists, organizers, and practitioners working at the grassroots level. However, limited-edition print copies of the book will be available at the Busboys and Poets launch event and at other resistance gatherings throughout 2017.

Introducing Gar on June 1st will be Robert Borosage, the founder and president of the Institute for America’s Future and co-director of its sister organization, the Campaign for America’s Future.