Parecomic: The Story of Michael Albert and Participatory Economics

Parecomic is a graphic novel about the system we live in—what’s wrong with it, and how we might be able change it for the better. The recent upsurge in popular protest around the world shows that people are not happy with the state of capitalism and desire an alternative that will work for the 99%, not just the 1%. Parecon is one such alternative, and Parecomic brings this to life in illustrated form.

Parecomic is about Michael Albert—the visionary behind “participatory economics”—and his life’s struggle as a left-wing activist in the US, beginning with the heady days of 1960s student demos and lifestyle rebellions; following the developments of the antiwar, civil rights, woman’s, and Black Panthers movements; to the establishment of alternative media like South End Press and ZNet; and the development of the participatory economics model.

Parecomic is a graphic novel about the system we live in—what’s wrong with it, and how we might be able change it for the better. The recent upsurge in popular protest around the world shows that people are not happy with the state of capitalism and desire an alternative that will work for the 99%, not just the 1%. Parecon is one such alternative, and Parecomic brings this to life in illustrated form.

Parecomic is about Michael Albert—the visionary behind “participatory economics”—and his life’s struggle as a left-wing activist in the US, beginning with the heady days of 1960s student demos and lifestyle rebellions; following the developments of the antiwar, civil rights, woman’s, and Black Panthers movements; to the establishment of alternative media like South End Press and ZNet; and the development of the participatory economics model.

SEAN MICHAEL WILSON is a comic book writer from Scotland, currently based in Japan, who has written fourteen books of comics and manga. His work includes 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); and the documentary book Iraq: Operation Corporate Takeover (with artist Lee O’Connor).

 

CARL THOMPSON is a cartoonist based in Minneapolis. A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, he has worked with writer Sean Michael Wilson on the political comic strip “Green Benches,” published monthly in the British magazine Blue and Green Tomorrow.