A not-for-profit world beyond capitalism and economic growth?
- Publisher:
- University of Leicester, University of Essex
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Ephemera: theory and politics in organization, 2017, 17, (1), pp. 147-166
- Issue Date:
- 2017
Closed Access
| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17-1hintonmaclurcan.pdf | 199.83 kB |
Copyright Clearance Process
- Recently Added
- In Progress
- Closed Access
This item is closed access and not available.
At the heart of the failing growth-based, capitalist system is the ‘for-profit’ way of doing business. It is based on the idea that humans are mostly selfish and competitive, so the best way to motivate economic activity is to appeal to individual self-interest. Most approaches to resolve capitalism’s tendency to increasingly create socioeconomic inequality and ecological devastation entail either greater emphasis on the role of the state as the regulator or owner of industry, or, at the other end of the spectrum, voluntary market initiatives from the angle of ‘conscious capitalism’. However, there is a growing trend that points the way to an entirely different approach: not-for-profit enterprise. In this article, we first illustrate the connections between capitalism, for-profit enterprise and the growth-based economic system. We go on to explore how not-for-profit enterprise offers a way beyond the market-state dichotomy, highlighting the current trends and macroeconomic shifts that support the emergence of an entire economy based on not-for-profit enterprise. We finish with an introduction to the Not-for-Profit World economic model we have developed, exploring the hypothesis that the future of business lies with not-for-profit business models, and that such a shift, for the first time, enables a modern economy that is both socially and ecologically sustainable.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: