Re: 3 models of global (democratic) socialism

 Gernot,  Thanks for the most interesting summary.  I think that there is at
least a 4th model--or perhaps it is that the Anarchist Model is incomplete.

My personal model would be a melding of the Anarchist Model and the Human
Rights Model--or it might be the Anarchist Model were it more fully
described.

I think that the Anarchist models presumes that the self-governance sought
is predicated on a level of "sophistication" amongst the culture in
question.  There must be certain consensual "givens" for the system to
successfully--for the longer term--meet the needs of the culture.

In my view, those "givens" would include the concerns (e.g., economic human
rights, ecological sustainability, etc.) expressed in the Human Rights
Model.

Whether this is a hybrid model--or merely a fuller description of the
Anarchist Model is my question?

Regards,
Mark


> (4) What is the prospective role of elites in something that might be
> called "global democratic socialism"? [This is a utopia-oriented question.]
> Here one could, tentatively, claim that there are three broad models of
> "global (democratic) socialism" -- each with a different view of global
> elite. The three models are sharply at odds with each other, due to the
> fact that "democracy" has three distinctly different meanings in each of
> the three models, as follows:
> (5) ANARCHIST MODEL of global democratic socialism. Here "democracy" means
> "no governmental structures". There is no government. There are no elites.
> The world is a system of self-governing workers groups.
> (6) DICTATORIAL MODEL of global (democratic) socialism. Here "democracy"
> means "dictatorship in the name of the proletariat". There is a global
> government. There is a dictatorial elite. "Democracy" is  here the same as
> dictatorship a la Lenin or Castro.
> (7) HUMAN RIGHTS MODEL of global democratic socialism. Here "democracy"
> means a process and global governance in the spirit of the Universal
> Declaration on Human Rights. There are global elites who promote human
> rights, including political rights (liberties), economic human rights (good
> standard of living for all) and ecological sustainability. This model has
> also been called "humane governance", in opposition to the present
> "inhumane (global) governance" (e.g., Richard Falk, On Humane Governance,
> 1995).
> (8) In conclusion: Did I miss any important model of global democratic
> socialism? Finally, it appears that the (leftist) "world(-)system(s)"
> movement cannot be a unified movement since there are at least three
> sharply differing (leftist) utopias for the world(-)system, roughly along
> the mind grooves of the traditional anarchist/menshevik/bolshevik split.
>
> my apologies if the above is overly simplistic.
> Gernot Kohler
> Oakville, Canada
>
>


--
Regards,
Mark Siegmund
email:  siegmund@thegrid.net
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