Le coopérisme

Liberal democracy is in crisis around the world, unable to address urgent issues such as climate change. However, there is another way: cooperative democracy. From consumer cooperatives to credit unions, worker cooperatives to mutual insurance companies, non-profit organisations to mutual aid, countless examples prove that people working together can extend the ideals of participatory democracy and sustainability to all aspects of their lives. These forms of cooperation do not depend on electoral politics; on the contrary, they draw on the long-standing practices and values of cooperatives: self-determination, democratic participation, equity, solidarity and respect for the environment.

Bernard E. Harcourt develops transformative theory and practice based on successful global models of cooperation. He identifies the most promising forms of cooperative initiatives and then distils their lessons into an integrated framework.

A creative work of normative critical theory, Le coopérisme offers a positive vision for addressing the pressing challenges we face and shows that, by drawing on the fundamental values of cooperation and the power of people working together, a new world of cooperative democracy is within our reach.

The author of the book, Bernard E. Harcourt, is a professor of law at Columbia University, where he directs the Centre for Contemporary Critical Thought, a director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and a lawyer for death row inmates in the state of Alabama. He edited the two courses Foucault gave at the Collège de France, including Théories et institutions pénales (Penal Theories and Institutions) and La Société punitive (The Punitive Society). His writings and research lie at the intersection of critical philosophy and sociological and legal thought.

With a master's degree in philosophy and a doctorate in history, Laure Adler began her career at France Culture in 1974 as a journalist and then participated in several television programmes. In 1990, she was appointed special advisor on culture at the Elysée Palace, before becoming director of documentaries and cultural programmes at France 2 and advisor to the president of France Télévisions in 1992. Her career also took her into the publishing world, where, after working with Payot, Denoël and Plon, she joined Grasset in 1997 as head of essays and documents. As a writer, she is the author of several historical works.