Introduction by Noam Chomsky
Parecomic is a graphic novel about something that affects us all: the system we live in—what's wrong with it, and how we might be able change it for the better. Written by Sean Michael Wilson, and drawn by Carl Thompson, Parecomic is about Michael Albert—the visionary behind "participatory economics"—and his life's struggle as a left-wing activist in the US.
Proposed as an alternative to capitalism, participatory economics (parecon, for short) values equity, solidarity, diversity, and participatory self-management. In Albert's vision, workers and consumer councils use self-managed decision-making, balanced job complexes, remuneration according to duration, intensity, and onerousness of socially valued labor; and participatory planning.
Parecomic will guide readers through this anarchist-influenced economic system, alongside the biography that led to its development—beginning with the heady days of 1960s student demos and lifestyle rebellions; following the developments of the antiwar, civil rights, women's, and Black Panthers movements; to the establishment of alternative media like South End Press and ZNet.
The recent upsurge in popular protest in the US and around the world shows that people are not happy with the state of capitalism. The Occupy movement, particularly, makes plain the desire for a better system, a model that will work for the 99%, not just the 1%. Parecon is one such model, and Parecomic brings this to life in illustrated form.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sean Michael Wilson has written fourteen books of comics and manga, including a version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (with artist Mike Collins); Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; Oscar Wilde's A Canterville Ghost; The Japanese Drawing Room (with RING horror manga artist Sakura Mizuki); Sweeney Todd (with artist Declan Shalvey); and the documentary book Iraq: Operation Corporate Takeover (with artist Lee O'Connor). He edited the second volume of the critically acclaimed series AX: Alternative Manga. Wilson has received several grants from both the English arts council and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation in support of his Japan-related publications. He lives in Japan.
