Stephen A. Marglin is a prominent economist and social critic whose work challenges the foundations of mainstream economics. Throughout his career, Marglin has critiqued the ways in which economic thinking erodes community, increases inequality, and fosters instability. However, his approach has predominantly focused on managing the dysfunctions of capitalism rather than advocating for moving beyond it. Marglin’s work engages deeply with issues of economic control, power dynamics, and inequality, but his solutions largely involve reforms within the capitalist framework, drawing heavily from Keynesian economics.
Marglin has written extensively on economic issues, particularly on how capitalism might be reformed to address its shortcomings. His most notable works include:
Books
Articles
Throughout his career, Marglin has primarily advocated for reforms that aim to mitigate the inherent dysfunctions of capitalism—such as inequality, instability, and the erosion of community values. Rather than promoting radical alternatives like limits to growth, degrowth, or capitalist erosion, Marglin's work has focused on policies and interventions that address the flaws of capitalism while leaving its fundamental structures intact.
In The Dismal Science, Marglin critiques the individualism at the heart of modern economics, arguing that it weakens the social bonds necessary for a functioning community. He contends that by prioritizing efficiency and self-interest, modern economic thinking erodes trust and reciprocity. However, his proposed solutions in this work focus on reforms that would restore community values within the broader framework of capitalism, such as fostering local economies and rebuilding social trust.
In What Do Bosses Do?, Marglin critiques the role of management in capitalist production systems, showing that hierarchies are often implemented not for efficiency but for exerting control over labor. His analysis reveals the power dynamics at play in capitalist workplaces, but his focus remains on critiquing these dynamics rather than advocating for a wholesale rejection of capitalist systems.
Knowledge and Power explores how the centralization of knowledge serves to reinforce power structures within capitalist economies. Marglin critiques the unequal distribution of knowledge and argues for more equitable access. However, his solutions again revolve around managing these inequalities through policy reforms rather than dismantling the capitalist system that generates them.
In Raising Keynes, Marglin revisits and expands upon Keynesian economics, arguing for policies that could stabilize capitalism and address its crises. Marglin’s solutions in this work focus on government intervention to ensure full employment, reduce inequality, and manage economic instability. While critical of the neoliberal abandonment of Keynesian principles, Marglin’s proposals are aimed at reforming capitalism rather than replacing it. His emphasis is on “saving capitalism from itself” through effective governance and policy, rather than exploring post-capitalist alternatives like limits to growth or degrowth.
- Control vs. Efficiency: Marglin critiques the assumption that hierarchies and management are purely for efficiency, showing how they often serve to maintain control within capitalist systems.
- Power and Knowledge: Marglin’s writings consistently highlight the role of power in shaping economic outcomes, especially in the control of knowledge and decision-making processes.
- Inequality and Instability: While Marglin critiques the inequalities and instabilities generated by capitalism, his solutions primarily focus on policies that manage these dysfunctions within the existing system.
Marglin’s approach to managing the dysfunctions of capitalism through reform resonates with certain aspects of the Symbiotic Intelligence Framework (SIF) and the Communitarium Project. However, these frameworks differ from Marglin in that they seek to push beyond the limitations of capitalism, advocating for a more profound transformation in how communities and systems are organized.
The Communitarium Project, for example, explores alternative forms of collective action and community-building that challenge the competitive and individualistic structures of capitalism. While Marglin emphasizes the need for reforms that stabilize capitalism, the SIF and Communitarium go further by proposing more radical reconfigurations of social and economic relations to foster symbiosis, ecological intelligence, and collective well-being.