Socialism in Process

Is it finally time for a broad-based socialist movement in the United States? More and more Americans, especially young adults, recognize that capitalism is a major source of the most urgent social problems of our time. The new energy around social change has surfaced in such movements as Occupy Wall Street, the People’s Climate March, and the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders in 2015-16. The authors of this book believe the United States desperately needs an alternative economic system that preserves democratic, pluralistic values while avoiding consumerism and wealth disparity.

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Socialism in Process?is a collection of essays envisioning just such an alternative. Drawing on classic socialist texts such as Marx’s?Capital, as well as the ecological philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, the authors explore the emerging features of a distinctively American socialism. Both theoretical foundations and practical applications are considered. In particular, the authors demonstrate the strong and tragic connection between contemporary capitalism and the global climate crisis.

Socialism in Process is indispensable reading for all who recognize the injustices of the present economic system, which adds to the wealth of the 1% at the expense of the remaining 99%. Building on the long and vital history of socialism in the United Sates, this volume plays a crucial role in the resurgence of socialism in North America today. As the authors suggest, community-based, locally grown socialist movements offer answers to many of America’s most tenacious problems.

Justin Heinzekehr is Director of Institutional Research and Assessment and Assistant Professor of Bible and Religion at Goshen College. His research interests include process philosophy, Anabaptist-Mennonite theology, and political theology. Most recently, he published Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Environmental Catastrophe with Philip Clayton.

Philip Clayton is Ingraham Professor at Claremont School of Theology and an affiliated faculty member at Claremont Graduate University. Previous positions and guest professorships include Williams College, the California State University, Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the University of Munich. Having published extensively on science and religion, Clayton has more recently focused on science and values, environmental ethics, and ecological socialism (“Organic Marxism”).