science

Michael Albert

Michael Albert is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Michael Albert rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Albert (born April 8, 1947) is an American economist, speaker, writer, and political critic. Since the late 1970s, he has published on a variety of subjects.

Key takeaways

Michael Albert belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Michael Albert to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael Albert from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael Albert (born April 8, 1947) is an American economist, speaker, writer, and political critic. Since the late 1970s, he has published on a variety of subjects. He has set up his own media outfits, magazines, and podcasts. He is known for helping to develop the socioeconomic theory of participatory economics.

Biography Albert was born in New York City and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. In 1965, Albert was studying physics at MIT. He objected to the US military's funding of the university. This, along with the civil rights movement, led Albert to become politically active. He became a member of Students for a Democratic Society and opposed the Vietnam War. He was expelled from MIT, in January 1970, for disruptive behaviour, although he claimed the charges were 'cooked-up'. Albert founded South End Press in 1977 along with Lydia Sargent and Juliet Schor, among others. In 1987, Albert founded Zeta Magazine with Sargent. The magazine focused on libertarian and anarchist socialist thought. It was renamed Z Magazine in 1989. In 1990–91, Albert and Robin Hahnel worked on outlining their ideas around participatory economics. They published Looking Forward and The Political Economy of Participatory Economics, with the latter including an economic model of the system. Doug Brown, writing in the Journal of Economic Issues said their alternative to markets was novel, but mainly of academic interest. By 1995, the organisation Z Magazine had branched out providing online content and media training. Along with the magazine the ventures are collectively known as Z Communications. In 2003, Parecon: Life After Capitalism was published further outlining participatory economics in a more accessible, less academic format. The book was translated into 20 languages. Reviewing the book Paul Ormerod felt Albert's criticisms of capitalism were unfounded. Albert spoke at the World Social Forum in the same year. He spoke at European Social Forum in 2004. Albert was a founding member of the International Organization for a Participatory Society, in 2012. Sean Michael Wilson created a comic book based on Albert and his ideas in 2013.

Beliefs Albert identifies himself as a market abolitionist and believes markets should be replaced with participatory economics.

Criticism In 2006, David Schweickart wrote a detailed critique of participatory economics called Nonsense on Stilts: Michael Albert's Parecon. He claimed three fundamental features of the economic system are flawed.

Bibliography What Is To Be Undone?, (1974) Stop the Killing Train: Radical Visions for Radical Change, (1994) Thinking Forward: Learning To Conceptualize Economic Vision, (1997) Moving Forward: Program for a Participatory Economy, (2001) The Trajectory of Change: Activist Strategies for Social Transformation, (2002) Parecon: Life After Capitalism, (2003) Verso ISBN 978-1844675050 Thought Dreams: Radical Theory for the 21st Century, (2003) Verso Realizing Hope: Life beyond Capitalism, (2006) Remembering Tomorrow: From SDS to Life After Capitalism, A Memoir, (2007) Seven Stories Press ISBN 978-1583227428 Occupy Theory (2013) Occupy Vision (2013) Occupy Strategy (2013) Practical Utopia: Strategies for a Desirable Society, preface by Noam Chomsky (2017) PM Press/Kairos ISBN 978-1629633817 No bosses (2021)

Co-authored Unorthodox Marxism, with R. Hahnel (1978) Socialism Today and Tomorrow, with R. Hahnel (1981) Marxism and Socialist Theory, with R. Hahnel (1981) Liberating Theory, with Holly Sklar, Lydia Sargent, Mel King, Robin Hahnel, Noam Chomsky and Leslie Cagan (1986) Talking about a Revolution: Interviews with Michael Albert, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bell Hooks, Peter Kwong, Winona LaDuke, Manning Marable, Urvashi Vaid, Howard Zinn (1998) Quiet Revolution in Welfare Economics, with R. Hahnel (1990) Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691604510 Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century, with R. Hahnel (1990) The Political Economy of Participatory Economics, with R. Hahnel (1991) Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691003849

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Albert

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael Albert claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Michael Albert before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Michael Albert ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Michael Albert

In research: Michael Albert appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Michael Albert in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Michael Albert is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, 20th-century American economists, 20th-century American male writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Albert outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Michael Albert in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael Albert means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Michael Albert out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Albert in simple terms?

Michael Albert (born April 8, 1947) is an American economist, speaker, writer, and political critic. Since the late 1970s, he has published on a variety of subjects.

Why does Michael Albert matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Michael Albert?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Michael Albert.