aeo This book critically confronts the new orthodoxy of a the end of socialisma , and offers a systematic critique of leading models of socialist thought focusing, in particular, on market socialism. aeo The author assesses the place of socialism in the future, and defends a vigorous new conception of socialist politics.

Preface. Introduction. Part I: The Death of Socialism? . 1. Socialism's Disappearing Social Base. 2. The Declining Political Economy of Socialism. 3. The Ideological and Epistemological Crises of Socialism at 'The End of History'. Part II: The Case For Market Socialism. . 4. A Model of Market Socialism. Part III: Market Socialism Assessed. . 5. Market Socialism: 'A Contradiction in Terms'?. 6. The Political Economy of Labour Management. 7. Democracy and State under Market Socialism. 8. Feasible Socialism?. Conclusion. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

In the wake of the transformation of Eastern Europe in 1989, there has been a wealth of testimony, long on rhetoric but a little lighter on evidence, which has insisted that socialism, in all its forms and invocations, is a spent force. This volume explicitly confronts the new orthodoxy of "the end of socialism". In Part I of the book, Pierson assesses the evidence that underpins this position. What he discovers is not so much terminal decline but rather a whole series of deep-seated challenges to traditional forms of socialist and social democratic thinking. The most pressing of these problems are to be found in the political economy of social democracy and, above all, in its commitment to incremental change in the context of an increasingly globalized market economy. Parts II and III are devoted to an assessment of market socialism, one of the most vigorous and innovative attempts to seek to recast socialist aspirations under these changed circumstances. In essence, market socialism represents an attempt to reconcile new forms of social ownership with the seeming ubiquity of the market. Having outlined this position in some detail, Pierson subjects it to a careful and systematic critique and, in the process, develops a set of distinctive arguments about the nature of social ownership, the potential of the labour-managed economy and the appropriate forms for an extension of economic democracy. The final chapter explicitly confronts the question of whether any form of socialism can any longer be thought to be "feasible".

"This is an agnostic book and it is all the more credible for that. It clears a great deal of intellectual rubbish out of the way and establishes that the real questions for socialists now are precisely the ones occluded by the new Clause 4." New Statesman and Society "A valuable source for the more advanced undergraduate student of contemporary politics and for those exercised by debates over socialism's future." Aslib Book Guide "This is an excellent book. It is rare that one has the opportunity to review a work that is comprehensive in its scope of analysis and also written in an extremely readable style. Christopher Pierson reviews debates about market socialism, in terms of its various features and practical feasibility, in a manner that academics and non-academics, specialists and non-specialists will find easy to understand. This is essential reading for all those with an interest in the potential of socialism in modern society." British Journal of Sociology