A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

� Rethinking solidarity: commitment to the common weal must no
longer be allowed to redound to the disadvantage of individuals, while
others just see to their own well-being. Instead, the design of institutions,
bonuses and sanctions must especially recognize the success of
individuals when that contributes to the overall development of communities
and the welfare of others;
� The expansion of decentralized fields of activity: self-regulation and
renewal from below is the elixir of emancipatory transformation pro -
cesses. Experiments in political change will only be successful if citizens
are able “to set up not just one but several governing authorities at various
levels” instead of having to subordinate themselves to a central authority
or the market mechanism (Ostrom, 2005: 242).
Bearing these considerations in mind the art of transformational politics
might lie in combining four dimensions of a transformation process: (1)
the outlines of a convincing and feasible alternative social project as a
framework of solidarity-based democratic development; (2) the permanent
renewal of the capacity for transformation on the part of social,
democratic and ecological actors by making them realize that a society
based on solidarity or democratic socialism will only arise out of the rich
variety of struggles and experiences of very different forces; (3) the detailing
of concrete individual policies up to the first steps of their realization
as initial projects in transformation processes; and (4) working on
alternative options for achieving political power through broad civil-society
alliances and cross-over processes in the leftist party spectrum as
well as arrangements for Centre-Left alliances with sections of the ruling
classes.
Double transformation – in capitalism and beyond
Under the necessary condition of a radical leftward shift in the balance
of power, we may assume that an initial transformation within capitalism
could be won on the basis of an eco-social reform alternative. In such a
post-neoliberal form of capitalism the dominance of profit would be
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