S03E51 - Aaron Benanav | Beyond Capitalism II

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


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/


---


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