Participatory Economics - Albert-Hahnel Class Theory

Albert-Hahnel Class Theory

When analyzing the subject of class and how individuals stratified into them interact with each other, Albert and Hahnel came to the conclusion that Marxian class theory and views of class among capitalist economists were inadequate to assess how economies of all kinds are divided along class lines.

While both agree with many leftist theories of class that view wage-labor as resulting from the inequality of bargaining power between those who own the means of production in the economy (owner class) and those who operate them and produce wealth (working/producer class), they criticize theories which they claim fail to acknowledge a third class in-between labor and capital; the professional-managerial class or Coordinator class. The coordinator class, they claim, are neither owners of the means of production nor producers of wealth but rather "monopolizers of empowering work" who's main function is to act as middle-men between ownership and production.

The interests of the coordinator class are seen as distinct from both workers and owners; this class's ideal is neither pure capitalism or worker self-management but a managerial state. Similar to the New Class theory, it is this class Albert and Hahnel claim which usurped power in former Communist states rather than the working class and rearranged economic power-structures in their favor.