Nike, Amazon and Walmart are often decried as the most egregious examples of capitalism's ills. But what if they were were preparing the ground for socialism? For the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the the ultimate expressions of free market competition. Their remarkable success vindicates the old idea that our modern societies are too large, too complex and difficult, to be subjected to a plan. For good or ill, in the 21st century, only the distributed feedback systems of the market can distribute resources. And yet, as Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski argue, late capitalism already operates by central planning. The sheer economic weight of multinational, corporate giants means that the decision making of its owners decides the fate of virtually everyone else downstream of them, shaping the fortunes of much of the world. Not only is planning possible, we already have it. Except all the power is concentrated in the hands of a selfish few. Against the dictatorship of capital, The People's Republic of Walmart is a clarion call for a return to collective decision making in all matters economic. It champions economic planning, a forgotten lodestar for the Left and its vision of an alternative future. With the rise of new computational systems and new capacities for massive, collective enterprises, democratically organizing the economic in the interest of human need rather than in the interests of profit is as great as it ever has been.

Nike, Amazon and Walmart are often decried as the most egregious examples of capitalism's ills. But what if they were were preparing the ground for socialism? For the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the the ultimate expressions of free market competition. Their remarkable success vindicates the old idea that our modern societies are too large, too complex and difficult, to be subjected to a plan. For good or ill, in the 21st century, only the distributed feedback systems of the market can distribute resources. And yet, as Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski argue, late capitalism already operates by central planning. The sheer economic weight of multinational, corporate giants means that the decision making of its owners decides the fate of virtually everyone else downstream of them, shaping the fortunes of much of the world. Not only is planning possible, we already have it. Except all the power is concentrated in the hands of a selfish few. Against the dictatorship of capital, The People's Republic of Walmart is a clarion call for a return to collective decision making in all matters economic. It champions economic planning, a forgotten lodestar for the Left and its vision of an alternative future. With the rise of new computational systems and new capacities for massive, collective enterprises, democratically organizing the economic in the interest of human need rather than in the interests of profit is as great as it ever has been.

Two major themes are addressed in this book. The first one is on 'Active Civic Participation'. This is considered an increasingly important aim both for public governance and for the renewal of civil society. The contributions on this topic deepen our understanding of the reasons why civic participation is relevant as an answer to present day societal challenges. They also improve our insight in the factors that stimulate or inhibit such participation. The second theme is about 'European Citizenship and Multiple Identities'. It helps to understand the evolution of citizenship and identities in the context of European integration and enlargement, of globalisation and glocalisation, of migration, etc. The book holds a selection of papers presented at the Connections Conference, organised at the university of Leuven (Belgium) in September 2003 under the auspices of the Flemish Research Council and the Network on Active Democratic Citizenship and Adult Learning of ESREA (European Society of Research into the Education of Adults). Contents: Annette Karseras/Danny Wildemeersch/Veerle Stroobants/Michal Bron Jr: Introduction: The CREDIS Theoretical Complex - Zygmunt Bauman: An adventure named Europe - Agnieszka Bron: Demos and ethnos in European citizenship: Possible connections and challenges for adult education - Rennie Johnston: A framework for analysing and developing adult learning for active citizenship - S¿us ¿ Tuama: Learning to balance risk and opportunity: Collective decision making on science and technology - Tom Steele/Richard Taylor: Citizenship and global chaos: Education, culture and revolution - Vanessa Andreotti: 'Modernity', 'capitalism' and 'colonialism' and their effects on schooling, alterity and 'active citizen participation' - Ruud van der Veen/John Holford: A critical educational perspective on localisation, governance and citizen education - Tom Schuller/John Preston: Skills, values and networks: Evidence on the wider benefits of learning - Erja Moore/Ari Antikainen: Is a state intervention able to challenge patterns of participation in adult education? - Eithne Buchanan-Barrow/Martyn Barrett/Samantha Clausse: British children's national identification and thinking about citizenship - Liam Cairns/Peter Kemp/Bill Williamson: Young people and civil society: Lessons from a case study of active learning for active citizenship - Jim Crowther/Ian Martin: Learning democracy and activating citizens: A role for universities - Marc Craps/Edward Van Rossen/Silvia Prins/Tharsi Taillieu/Ren¿ouwen/Art Dewulf: Relational practices to make social learning happen

Nike, Amazon and Walmart are often decried as the most egregious examples of capitalism's ills. But what if they were were preparing the ground for socialism? For the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the the ultimate expressions of free market competition. Their remarkable success vindicates the old idea that our modern societies are too large, too complex and difficult, to be subjected to a plan. For good or ill, in the 21st century, only the distributed feedback systems of the market can distribute resources. And yet, as Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski argue, late capitalism already operates by central planning. The sheer economic weight of multinational, corporate giants means that the decision making of its owners decides the fate of virtually everyone else downstream of them, shaping the fortunes of much of the world. Not only is planning possible, we already have it. Except all the power is concentrated in the hands of a selfish few. Against the dictatorship of capital, The People's Republic of Walmart is a clarion call for a return to collective decision making in all matters economic. It champions economic planning, a forgotten lodestar for the Left and its vision of an alternative future. With the rise of new computational systems and new capacities for massive, collective enterprises, democratically organizing the economic in the interest of human need rather than in the interests of profit is as great as it ever has been.