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All politics is local.

Tip O’Neill

People live in particular places and in particular communities, and the politics and economics of those places and communities matter hugely for the quality of their lives. These are basic, inescapable facts of human existence, but facts that are often peculiarly overlooked in discussions of social justice and economic policy. And so this is a book about public policy and the pursuit of social justice – but a book whose focus is very much on the local level.

When national governments are pursuing destructive economic policies, action at the local level can be an essential form of protection. More than that, though, and as we argue in this book, local economic policy can be a way of creating plans and models that prefigure large-scale alternatives. The local can be both a site of resistance and a laboratory for the future, often fulfilling both roles at once.

This book is about the radical potential of ‘local justice’. It is written at a time of rapid political and economic flux, when the future paths of our societies are far from certain. Its focus is necessarily on the United States and United Kingdom, the two political economies we know best and where Community Wealth Building is at its most developed – not coincidentally, also the two advanced industrial economies in which neoliberalism was first unleashed, and where its rot runs deepest. We are well aware that there are important, relevant developments in a host of other countries. But personal experience and the need to set some manageable boundaries on the scope of such a short work suggested a narrow focus on Britain and America.

Even a little book like this incurs huge debts of gratitude. Certainly, our various associations with The Democracy Collaborative – the ‘think-do tank’ based in Washington, DC and Cleveland, Ohio that has been at the forefront of the Community Wealth Building movement in the United States and internationally for two decades – have been formative in our thinking about the development of radical economic alternatives. Joe has been on the staff since 2012, currently serving as Vice President, having previously worked with the Collaborative’s principals for four years at its inception back in the early 2000s. Meanwhile Martin has become very much a friend of the TDC family. We are deeply grateful to the executives, staff (past and present), trustees, fellows, and funders of The Democracy Collaborative for their visionary work and leadership.

Gar Alperovitz is a national treasure – if it is permissible to say such a thing of one who has for so long been engaged in opposing American imperium. His decades-long work for transformative social justice and economic system change has bequeathed an intellectual and political legacy that we are only just beginning to get to grips with, now that a new left political movement is emerging. We salute Gar, and remain confident that his greatest contributions lie just around the corner. Ted Howard is an extraordinary social entrepreneur and leader who helped bring the Cleveland Model into being through sheer persistence and force of will. He is a mentor and friend, and it’s a privilege to work alongside him. Marjorie Kelly is possessed of a rapier-sharp intellect and a lifelong journalistic commitment to pursuit of the true meaning of things. Her new book with Ted, The Making of a Democratic Economy, is a major influence on our thinking. Matthew Brown, principal architect of the Preston Model, is an inspiration; we continue to wish all power to his arm.

At Polity Press, we’re grateful to George Owers for his enthusiastic reaction to the idea for this book, and for his efficiency and good judgement. Polity’s Julia Davies ably assisted in shepherding the book into existence. We’re also grateful to four anonymous referees for their helpful comments on a first draft of the manuscript. All remaining errors are ours alone.

We are also thankful to the many colleagues, friends, and comrades with whom we have been discussing ideas about Community Wealth Building – and the broader agenda for left political economy – during the period in which this book was conceived and written. Thanks in particular to Christine Berry, Juliana Bidadanure, Joe Bilsborough, Grace Blakeley, Fran Boait, Bob Borosage, Miriam Brett, Dana Brown, Adrian Bua, Matthew Butcher, Nick Campbell, Aditya Chakrabortty, Simon Clarke, Michaela Collord, Chiara Cordelli, Andy Cumbers, George Davies, Jonathan Davies, Jurgen De Wispelaere, James Doran, Leah Downey, Steve Dubb, John Duda, Ander Etxeberria, Laura Flanders, Novak Gajić, Ronnie Galvin, Pablo Gilabert, Peter Gowan, Betty Grdina, Max Harris, Angus Hebenton, Allan Henderson, James Hickson, Dan Hind, Louis-Philippe Hodgson, Cat Hobbs, Jacqui Howard, Diane Ives, Michael Jacobs, Zitto Kabwe, Satoko Kishimoto, Rachel Laurence, Mathew Lawrence, Laurie Laybourn-Langton, Laurie Macfarlane, Neil McInroy, Rory Macqueen, Emily McTernan, James Meadway, Marco Meyer, Keir Milburn, Ed Miliband, Tom Mills, Frances Northrop, Hettie O’Brien, Shin Osawa, Anthony Painter, Simon Parker, Djordje Pavićević, Jules Peck, Kate Pickett, Annie Quick, Luke Raikes, Adam Ramsay, Howard Reed, Duncan Robinson, Miriam Ronzoni, Jessica Rose, Bertie Russell, Kranti Saran, Christian Schemmel, Fabian Schuppert, Asima Shaikh, Hazel Sheffield, Marko Simendić, Clifford Singer, Carla Skandier, Tom Slater, Andrew Small, Kristin Lipke Sparding, Peter Sparding, Gus Speth, James Stafford, Lucas Stanczyk, Amy Studdart, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Alan Thomas, Katherine Trebeck, Jens van ‘t Klooster, Dan Vockins, Hilary Wainwright, Stuart White, Richard Wilkinson, Callum Williams, Madeleine Williams, Thad Williamson, Archie Woodrow, Lea Ypi, and Dave Zuckerman.

We’ve both had the honour of serving as members of the UK Labour Party’s Community Wealth Building Unit, and we are grateful to our colleagues at the unit for stimulating and comradely discussions. Thanks in particular to Mary Robertson and Maryam Eslamdoust of the office of the Leader of the Opposition for creating such a constructive venue for thinking through the potential of Community Wealth Building.

Carys Roberts kindly invited us to publish a preliminary version of parts of Chapter 2 in IPPR Progressive Review, and offered helpful comments on earlier versions. Martin is grateful to audiences at the University of Cape Town and the University of York, who gave helpful feedback to talks on ‘philosophical foundations for Community Wealth Building’.

The far-sighted funders of The Democracy Collaborative have made many things possible, and Joe is particularly grateful to the Kendeda Fund and NoVo Foundation for their generous longstanding commitments. For financial support, Martin is grateful to the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF), a wonderfully agile and imaginative research funder. A Mid-Career Fellowship during the 2017–18 academic year gave valuable space for thinking about issues of power, voice, and economic democracy. From the ISRF, Louise Braddock, Rachael Kiddey, and Stuart Wilson have been wonderfully wise and supportive. Thanks also to the ISRF and the University of York for jointly funding a stimulating conference on ‘Equality and Democracy in Local and City Government’ in York in January 2019. Parts of this book were written in the delightful Art Nouveau surroundings of the Writers’ House Residence in Tblisi. Martin is grateful to that fascinating institution for its century-old mission of providing a great venue to get some writing done.

We want to give special thanks to two comrades in arms with whom we’ve worked particularly closely. As Research Director at The Democracy Collaborative, Thomas Hanna has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the democratic economy, and is a brother in the struggle for a postcapitalist world. As Director of European Programs at The Democracy Collaborative, Sarah McKinley has taken the UK work in hand adeptly in her inimitable style, all the while insisting that we have fun – and that the only revolution worth being part of is one in which there is dancing. We’re glad to be counted among ‘McKinley’s Fusiliers’!

Last but not least, we’d like to thank our families. Martin thanks Mary Leng and Tommy, Joe, Olwen, and Rory O’Neill for being the best gang of which one could possibly be a member, and for their patience, love, and sense of fun. Joe sends love to his sister, Lisa North, whose work on the frontlines of our failing system gives her an appreciation of the need for community, and to Roux Robichaux, Peter Harvey, Barbara Harvey, Spencer Rhodes, James Rhodes, Marcia North, and Shane North. He thinks every day of his late father, Martin Guinan, and his unconquerable mind in the service of socialism and peace. And he thanks Emily Robichaux for her support along the way.

Finally, this book is dedicated with much love to our mothers, Pat Harvey and Liz O’Neill, two tough-minded, practical, egalitarian women, from whom we’ve learned more than we can say.