Michael Albert

He is known for helping to develop the socioeconomic theory of participatory economics.

• Name — Michael Albert • Born — 8 April 1947 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — * Writer • Author • Lecturer • Education — Massachusetts Institute of Technology people

Albert was born in New York City and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. In 1965, Albert was studying physics at MIT. He objected to the US military's funding of the university. This, along with the civil rights movement, led Albert to become politically active. He became a member of Students for a Democratic Society and opposed the Vietnam War. He was expelled from MIT, in January 1970, for disruptive behaviour, although he claimed the charges were 'cooked-up'. Albert founded South End Press in 1977 along with Lydia Sargent and Juliet Schor, among others. In 1987, Albert founded Zeta Magazine with Sargent. The magazine focused on libertarian and anarchist socialist thought. It was renamed Z Magazine in 1989. In 1990–91, Albert and Robin Hahnel worked on outlining their ideas around participatory economics. They published Looking Forward and The Political Economy of Participatory Economics, with the latter including an economic model of the system. Doug Brown, writing in the Journal of Economic Issues said their alternative to markets was novel, but mainly of academic interest. By 1995, the organisation Z Magazine had branched out providing online content and media training. Along with the magazine the ventures are collectively known as Z Communications. In 2003, Parecon: Life After Capitalism was published further outlining participatory economics in a more accessible, less academic format. The book was translated into 20 languages. Reviewing the book Paul Ormerod felt Albert's criticisms of capitalism were unfounded. Albert spoke at the World Social Forum in the same year. He spoke at European Social Forum in 2004. Albert was a founding member of the International Organization for a Participatory Society, in 2012. Sean Michael Wilson created a comic book based on Albert and his ideas in 2013.

Albert identifies himself as a market abolitionist and believes markets should be replaced with participatory economics.

• Unorthodox Marxism, with R. Hahnel (1978) • Socialism Today and Tomorrow, with R. Hahnel (1981) • Marxism and Socialist Theory, with R. Hahnel (1981) • Liberating Theory, with Holly Sklar, Lydia Sargent, Mel King, Robin Hahnel, Noam Chomsky and Leslie Cagan (1986) • Talking about a Revolution: Interviews with Michael Albert, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bell Hooks, Peter Kwong, Winona LaDuke, Manning Marable, Urvashi Vaid, Howard Zinn (1998) • Quiet Revolution in Welfare Economics, with R. Hahnel (1990) Princeton University Press, • Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century, with R. Hahnel (1990) • The Political Economy of Participatory Economics, with R. Hahnel (1991) Princeton University Press,

Michael Albert is recorded as economist, activist, memoirist, editor and journalist.