Content deleted Content added
m →top: Copyedit (minor) |
m →History |
||
| (9 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) | |||
Line 8:
== History ==
[[File:PRSarkar GentlemanPhoto 3.jpg|thumb|P.R. Sarkar, propounder of PROUT]]
{{Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (sidebar)}}
In 1959, [[Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar|Sarkar]] started to develop the ideas of Prout. In 1961, the theory was formally outlined in his book ''Ananda Sutram'', published under his spiritual name Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti.{{r|Irving}}
Line 62 ⟶ 63:
In relation to democracy, Prout argues that political democracy is not enough to free society from exploitation and what it considers extreme income inequality.<ref name=":17">{{Cite web|url=http://www.online.southcentral.edu/students/instructors/MFMyROSEarticle.pdf|title=Living Wage and Optimal Inequality in a Sarkarian Framework|last=Friedman|first=Mark|date=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308014454/http://online.southcentral.edu/students/instructors/MFMyROSEarticle.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-08|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> As [[Roar Bjonnes]], a known Proutist, states, "Unless we have deeper structural change – what we refer to as economic-systems change – we will never be able to solve such global and systemic problems as the environmental and inequality crises. History has demonstrated that political democracy is not enough."<ref name=":5" />
Prout, therefore, advocates an [[economic democracy]] where the decision-making power for the economic future of a community is given to its inhabitants. Economic democracy is not a new term, but Sarkar reinvents it by setting four requirements for what he considers a successful one.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite book|title=Proutist Economics: Discourses on Economic Liberation|last=Sarkar|first=Prabhat Ranjan|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|year=1992|isbn=9788172520038}}</ref> The first and foremost requirement is guaranteeing the minimum requirements of life to all members of society. Secondly, and following one of the five fundamental principles, Prout argues that there should be an increasing purchasing capacity for each individual, stating that local people will have to hold economic power over their socio-economic region.<ref name=":10" /> Still, on this regard, Sarkar theorizes that, unlike [[capitalism]], where the production and distribution of goods are mainly decided by market competition, in a Proutistic society it should be based on necessity.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" /> The third requirement of economic democracy is the [[decentralization]] of power, giving the freedom to make economic decisions to its stakeholders.<ref name=":10" /> That can be accomplished by adopting a worker-owned cooperative system <ref>{{Cite book|title=Worker and Community: Response to Industrialization in a Nineteenth Century American City, Albany, New York, 1850-1884|last=Greenberg|first=Brian|year=1985|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-88706-046-5}}</ref> and by the use of local resources (raw materials and other natural resources) for the development of the region and not merely for export.<ref name=":10" /> In summary, Prout advocates a decentralized economy where self-sufficient economic zones are created and organized according to a set of predetermined conditions (see socio-economic units).<ref name=":5" />
Prout claims this requirement does not express xenophobic feelings, it solely claims to be the realization that there should not be a constant outflow of local capital, where natural resources are explored by foreign investment companies that extract assets and money out of the community.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Small Is Beautiful|last=Schumacher|first=E.F.|publisher=HarperCollins|year=1973|isbn=978-0-06-091630-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/smallisbeautifu000schu}}</ref> From a [[Neohumanism|Neohumanist]] perspective, all people are free to choose where they wish to live, as long as they merge their economic interests with the ones of the local people.
Line 87 ⟶ 88:
[[Ravi Batra]] was one of the first economists that used the ideas of Prout in his bestseller ''[[The Great Depression of 1990]]''. In time, the theory attracted attention of people like [[Johan Galtung]], founder of the UN Institute for Peace studies who claimed that ''"Sarkar’s theory is far superior to [[Adam Smith|Adam Smith’s]] or that of [[Karl Marx|Marx]]."'' <ref name=":16" />
According to a description by Terry Irving and [[Rowan Cahill]], Prout "envisages a decentralised, community-based world economy of self-sufficiency for the poor; economic democracy; small business; and limits on the accumulation of wealth."<ref name=Irving/> [[Sohail Inayatullah]] stated that the philosophy "attempts to balance the need for societies to create wealth and grow with the requirements for distribution."<ref name=Inayatullah /> [[David Skrbina]] characterized Prout as a "model of social development... which advocates a 'small is beautiful' approach to society."<ref name=Skrbina /> Economics instructor Mark Friedman places Sarkar's economic thought in the tradition of Monsignor [[John A. Ryan]], [[E. F. Schumacher]] and [[Herman Daly]] in Sarkar's incorporation of spiritual values into economic goals.<ref name=Friedman />
It has been characterized as a form of "progressive socialism"<ref name=Ellwood /> as well as a "socialist theory".<ref name=Crovetto2008/>
Line 96 ⟶ 97:
Some political parties support the progressive utilization theory. They are:
* [[Amra Bangali]]
* [[Human World (political party)|Human World]]
* [[Progressive Party of Aotearoa New Zealand]]
Line 113 ⟶ 115:
<ref name=Crovetto2008>{{cite journal|last=Crovetto|first=Helen|title=Ananda Marga and the Use of Force|journal=Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |date=August 2008|volume=12|issue=1|pages=26–56 |doi=10.1525/nr.2008.12.1.toc|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|jstor=10.1525/nr.2008.12.1.26}}</ref>
<ref name=Crovetto2011>{{cite book |year=2011 |last=Crovetto |first=Helen |editor-last=Lewis |
<ref name=Ellwood>{{cite book|last=Ellwood|first=Robert S.|title=Islands of the Dawn: The Story of Alternative Spirituality in New Zealand|year=1993|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn=9780824814878|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmwK3xu4PAgC|page=230|access-date=January 12, 2013|chapter=Appendix 2: The 1960s and After}}</ref>
Line 146 ⟶ 148:
[[Category:Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar]]
[[Category:Economic democracy]]
[[Category:Indian political philosophy]]
| |||