This project is to design a theoretical accounting system for a type of libertarian socialist economy, called a Participatory Economy.
A libertarian socialist economy will have different values and institutions than a capitalist or state socialist economy regarding decision making, income distribution and ecological sustainability, but if a future libertarian socialist economy is to be democratic, fair, efficient and ecologically sustainable, it has to implement some kind of an accounting system that summarises and presents the required information to all decision-makers in the economy, all affected parties that is, in a transparent and accessible way.
The project is led by Anders Sandström, a trained accountant with a degree in Accounting from Uppsala University, Sweden.
The Book
The work has been published in the book Anarchist Accounting: Accounting Principles for a Democratic Economy (Routledge 2020, Anders Sandström)
A Participatory Economy Accounting System
The diagram above gives an overview of a possible accounting system, or rather of the financial transactions of flows, in a participatory economy. In our accounting system, we identify two primary categories of accounting entities whose economic activities and financial transactions are tracked and recorded to facilitate efficient and fair decisions, (A) Consumers, their councils and federations, and (B) Producers, worker councils and their federations.
Further Resources:
- An Accounting System for a Libertarian Socialist Economy, Anders Sandström (article)
- Presentation at Crisis of Nation States Conference (video)
- Podcast Interview with Anarchist Research Group (podcast)
- Chapter 11 in Anarchism, Organization and Management: Critical Perspectives for Students (Routledge 2020, Martin Parker, Konstantin Stoborod, Thomas Swann) (book)