Balanseng Paggugrupo ng Trabaho: Ang Bisyon ng Parecon ni Michael Albert

Abstract

This paper is a presentation of North American writer and activist Michael Albert’s vision of participatory economics, or parecon. On a first reading Albert’s ideas seems to be unrelated to the issues faced by Filipino workers. But, a closer reading reveals that Albert’s concept of “balanced job complexes” may be connected with the crises faced by our nation. The paper uses Cristina Guevarra’s “Visiting Ericson” and Chuckberry Pascual’s “Cars at the Airport,” to further buttress the assertion that Albert’s ideas are appropriate responses to our current politico-economic order. At the conclusion, two more short stories by Filipino writers, belonging to the genre of future fiction, are elaborated on as prognoses of this same politico economic order. The paper argues that because capitalism cannot just be put up with or reformed, we must begin the theoretical labor of imaging its replacement.