Article

 

Liberalism, rationality and the transition to capitalism 
 
by
 
Guglielmo Carchedi, University of Amsterdam
 
JEL classification : P100, P200
 
Abstract
Despite the fact that recent historical developments have almost destroyed the credibility of democratic planning in a self-managed economy and society, the problem is to truly democratize the planning of production, distribution and consumption in such a way that everybody will be given equal and maximum opportunities for the unfolding of their human potentiality and all round development. The challenges facing this project are immense. One of the conditions for overcoming them is the realization that privatization, the market, and the capitalist rationality they introduce cannot be conjugated with this project. In its turn, this awareness presupposes that the above mentioned theoretical faults inherent in neo-liberalism be exposed. At the same time, these errors delimit the capitalist’s view of reality which cannot go further than the rationalization of their own interests.