Public ownership of essential services creates democratic accountability and eliminates profit motives.
When we own the future, we can ensure that housing, transit, and energy serve human needs rather than corporate profits.
Book summary
Goodreads FavoriteCurrent BestsellerAward-Winner / Critically Acclaimed
We Own the Future
by Kate Aronoff, Peter Dreier, Michael Kazin
Democratic Socialism, American Style
A visionary collection of essays showing how to democratize public goods and build a democratic socialist future.
4.2(1.2k)Published 2020
Topics
Democratic SocialismPublic OwnershipMunicipal GovernanceLabor OrganizingHousing JusticeClimate PolicyRacial Justice
Reading companion
How to read We Own the Future with Readever
Read this collection essay by essay, using Readever to highlight specific policy proposals and municipal examples. Focus on understanding how each democratic ownership model works in practice. Use the AI to adapt these blueprints to your local context and create personalized action plans for your community organizing work.
Things to know before reading
- The book assumes familiarity with basic socialist concepts and municipal governance
- Each chapter focuses on a different sector (housing, transit, energy, etc.) with specific policy proposals
- Many essays include real-world examples from successful municipal experiments
- The tone is practical and solution-oriented rather than purely theoretical
Brief summary
We Own the Future in a nutshell
A curated toolkit of essays showing how cities, unions, and activists can take back power over housing, transit, and energy through democratic ownership and community control.
Key ideas overview
We Own the Future summary of 5 key ideas
The book demonstrates that democratic socialism isn't just a national project but can be built from the ground up through municipal power and community control.
Municipal socialism provides a practical pathway to build democratic power from the ground up.
Cities and towns can become laboratories for democratic socialism, testing policies that can later be scaled nationally.
Community control and participatory budgeting create genuine democratic decision-making.
Real democracy means communities having direct control over the decisions that affect their lives.
Labor organizing and community-labor coalitions are essential for building working-class power.
Unions remain the most powerful vehicle for working people to exercise collective power in the economy.
Racial justice must be central to any democratic socialist project.
A socialist future that doesn't center racial justice is no socialist future at all.
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Book summaries like We Own the Future
Discover similar journeys
Learn how to build democratic control over essential services and infrastructure.
This summary gives you practical policy blueprints for municipal socialism, showing how communities can reclaim power over housing, transit, energy, and public services. You'll learn concrete strategies for implementing democratic ownership models that serve people over profit.
Deep dive
Key ideas in We Own the Future
Key idea 1
Public ownership of essential services creates democratic accountability and eliminates profit motives.
When we own the future, we can ensure that housing, transit, and energy serve human needs rather than corporate profits.
The essays argue that democratic ownership of essential services—from housing to transit to energy—allows communities to prioritize human needs over profit. Public ownership creates accountability mechanisms that private corporations lack, ensuring services are equitable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable. The book provides concrete examples of how municipal ownership has worked in cities across the country.
Remember
- Public ownership eliminates the profit motive that drives up costs and reduces quality
- Democratic control ensures services respond to community needs rather than shareholder demands
- Municipal ownership can be implemented incrementally through existing governance structures
Key idea 2
Municipal socialism provides a practical pathway to build democratic power from the ground up.
Cities and towns can become laboratories for democratic socialism, testing policies that can later be scaled nationally.
Rather than waiting for national political transformation, the book argues that municipal governance offers immediate opportunities to implement socialist policies. Cities can experiment with public banks, community land trusts, municipal broadband, and public energy utilities. These local successes build momentum and demonstrate the viability of democratic socialism to skeptical voters.
Remember
- Municipal power allows for immediate implementation of socialist policies
- Local successes build credibility and political momentum for national change
- Cities can serve as testing grounds for innovative governance models
Key idea 3
Community control and participatory budgeting create genuine democratic decision-making.
Real democracy means communities having direct control over the decisions that affect their lives.
The book emphasizes that democratic socialism requires more than just state ownership—it requires genuine community control. Participatory budgeting, community land trusts, and neighborhood councils give residents direct say over resource allocation and policy decisions. This prevents public ownership from becoming bureaucratic and ensures it remains responsive to local needs.
Remember
- Participatory budgeting gives communities direct control over public spending
- Community land trusts prevent displacement and ensure permanent affordability
- Neighborhood councils create local democratic infrastructure
Key idea 4
Labor organizing and community-labor coalitions are essential for building working-class power.
Unions remain the most powerful vehicle for working people to exercise collective power in the economy.
The essays argue that strong labor unions and community-labor coalitions are essential components of democratic socialism. Unions provide the organizational capacity to challenge corporate power, while community-labor coalitions build broad-based movements that can win transformative policies. The book shows how these coalitions have successfully fought for public ownership and progressive reforms.
Remember
- Unions provide the organizational infrastructure for working-class power
- Community-labor coalitions build broad support for progressive policies
- Worker cooperatives offer an alternative to traditional corporate ownership
Key idea 5
Racial justice must be central to any democratic socialist project.
A socialist future that doesn't center racial justice is no socialist future at all.
The book emphasizes that democratic socialism cannot succeed without addressing systemic racism. Public ownership and community control must explicitly confront racial disparities in housing, transit, and economic opportunity. The essays show how racial justice organizing has been central to successful municipal socialist experiments and how anti-racist principles can be embedded in public institutions.
Remember
- Racial justice must be integrated into all socialist policy proposals
- Public institutions must actively work to dismantle systemic racism
- Community control helps prevent the reproduction of racial hierarchies
Context
What is We Own the Future about?
We Own the Future brings together leading organizers, scholars, and activists to map out a practical vision for democratic socialism in America. The collection moves beyond theoretical debates to provide concrete blueprints for how communities can take control of their economic futures.
The book covers a wide range of sectors where democratic ownership can be implemented, including housing through community land trusts and public housing authorities, transit through municipal ownership of transportation systems, energy through public utilities and community solar projects, and finance through public banks. Each chapter combines policy analysis with real-world examples of successful municipal experiments.
Rather than presenting a single unified theory, the book offers a toolkit of approaches that can be adapted to different local contexts. The contributors show how democratic socialism can be built incrementally through existing governance structures while maintaining a radical vision of economic democracy and community control.
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Review
We Own the Future review
We Own the Future represents a significant contribution to the growing literature on practical democratic socialism. The collection stands out for its focus on municipal governance and concrete policy proposals rather than abstract theory. The essays are consistently well-researched and grounded in real organizing experience.
The book's greatest strength is its practicality—readers come away with specific ideas they can implement in their own communities. The diversity of perspectives ensures that multiple approaches to democratic ownership are represented, from traditional public utilities to worker cooperatives to community land trusts.
Some critics note that the book could do more to address the political challenges of implementing these policies in hostile political environments. However, the overall tone is optimistic and forward-looking, providing a much-needed roadmap for building democratic socialism from the ground up.
- Provides concrete policy blueprints for municipal socialism
- Grounded in real-world organizing experience and successful experiments
- Accessible to both activists and policy makers
- Integrates racial justice and economic democracy
- Offers practical pathways rather than abstract theory
Who should read We Own the Future?
Municipal policy makers and city council members
Community organizers and activists
Labor union members and leaders
Students of political science and urban planning
Anyone interested in practical democratic socialism
About the author
Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at The New Republic covering climate and politics. She has written for The Guardian, The Intercept, and The Nation, and is a fellow at the Type Media Center. Her work focuses on the intersection of climate policy, labor organizing, and democratic socialism.
Peter Dreier is the E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College. He has written extensively about urban politics, housing policy, and social movements. His previous books include The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century and Place Matters.
Michael Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University and co-editor of Dissent magazine. He has written several books on American social movements and political history, including The Populist Persuasion and American Dreamers.
The collection includes contributions from dozens of other organizers, scholars, and activists working on the front lines of democratic socialist organizing.
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Final summary
We Own the Future provides an essential roadmap for building democratic socialism from the ground up. By focusing on municipal power and community control, the book shows how ordinary people can reclaim their economic futures and build institutions that serve human needs rather than corporate profits.
The collection's practical orientation and concrete policy proposals make it an invaluable resource for activists, organizers, and policy makers working to create a more democratic and equitable society. While the challenges are significant, the book demonstrates that democratic socialism is not just a distant ideal but a practical project that can be advanced through local organizing and municipal governance.
Inside the book
We Own the Future represents a crucial intervention in the democratic socialist movement by shifting focus from national electoral politics to municipal power and community control. The book's practical orientation makes it particularly valuable for organizers and policy makers looking to implement concrete changes in their communities.
The collection demonstrates that democratic socialism is not a single unified project but rather a diverse set of approaches that can be adapted to different local contexts. From public utilities to community land trusts to worker cooperatives, the book provides multiple pathways toward economic democracy.
What sets this collection apart is its grounding in real-world organizing experience. The contributors are not just theorists but activists and organizers who have successfully fought for democratic ownership in their communities. This practical wisdom makes the book an essential resource for anyone working to build a more democratic and equitable society.
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