Präfigurative Konzepte einer libertär-sozialistischen Transformation. Partizipatorische Ökonomie, Anarcho-Syndikalismus und Libertärer Munizipalismus

The advancing climate catastrophe, periodic economic crises, a growing gap between rich and poor, wars and massive refugee movements: The multiple crises of our time demand radical, emancipatory answers – or to put it with the slogan of the climate movement; a profound system change. But what does this mean? Although old and (seemingly) new approaches are currently being discussed again, which seek to counter the dogma of the lack of alternatives with – more or less concrete – designs for an alternative social order and alternative ways of re/production, central questions regarding the path and goal of the desired transformation often remain unanswered. In order to counter this problem, a critical transformation-research has recently been formed, which aims to critically analyze mistakes as well as problems of past transformation efforts and movements and, moreover, to theoretically systematize central aspects regarding utopia (goal) as well as transformational transition or strategy (path). By means of these utopia- and transformation-theoretical insights, it is intended to contribute to the sustainable success of an emancipatory, socio-ecological transformation in practice. As much as these efforts and tendencies are to be welcomed, this discourse often neglects the fact that many of these seemingly new insights are by no means really new wisdom, but rather old wine in new bottles: Embryonic practices, prefigurative politics, intersectionally organized agency, decentralized bottom-up structures, post-capitalist economic democracy – all of these have been a core part of the history of libertarian-socialist ideas for about 150 years, but they are seldom received in academic discourse, and if at all, then often distorted. A contemporary theory of transformation that takes its task seriously, however, must not ignore the manifold insights of this evolved line of tradition – its approaches, failures, successes and resulting fruitful learning experiences – but must reflect on them thoroughly in terms of their manifold stimuli and potentials. With regard to the concrete vision of a post-capitalist economic order, the concept of a Participatory Economy (Parecon) represents an elaborate approach from the broad stock of libertarian-socialist theorizing. Thoughts on a non-authoritarian, egalitarian, democratic-self-governing, federal and rationally organized economic democracy are systematically formulated into a comprehensive utopian concept. Far from market-based processes and the accompanying compulsions to capital-accumulation, this model of a decentralized-democratically based planned economy is intended to enable people to organize their economic affairs consciously, cooperatively, ecologically, in solidarity and participatively, by joining together in consumption and production councils while the means of production are socially owned, thus efficiently arranging – both at the micro level (individual workplaces and neighborhoods) and at the macro level (industrial federations and consumption federations) – the democratic planning of economic organization. The question arises, however, as to how such a goal – if it were deemed desirable and feasible – could be realized today. Regarding complementary libertarian-socialist transformation strategies, Murray Bookchin's concept of a Libertarian Municipalism as well as the long-established movement of Anarcho-Syndicalism are of interest: On the one hand, because fragments of both models are implicitly reflected in the Parecon-concept. On the other hand, they also claim – analogously to today's transformation theories – to be able to root in the existing, i.e. to build up alternative structures already in the here and now, which prefigure a future emancipatory social order and generate sufficient transformational leverage or agency to bring about change. Moreover, both models have manifested themselves in practical projects and experiments – some of the largest to date in the libertarian-socialist tradition – which allows for the comparison of theory and empiricism. Yet they also offer sufficient differences among themselves for a fruitful comparative analysis. The study therefore focuses on the question of what suggestions libertarian-socialist theory and practice offer for a contemporary critical theory of transformation, what a viable alternative vision of a future emancipatory economic and social order might look like from a libertarian-socialist perspective, and what transformation strategies might be conducive to the realization of such a vision.