Jobs of Our Own: Building a Stake Holder Society / Race Matthews

“An exciting, informative and visionary book... a scholarly study which reads as easily as a novel.” Rev. Peter Thomson

There is little enthusiasm today for massive state ownership, and no trust in the alternative of unbounded capitalism. Third Way proposals to date have too often turned out to be no less sterile. Veteran Labor thinker Race Mathews argues for distributism – the belief that ownership should be widely distributed rather than concentrated in the hands of the state or wealthy minorities.

Jobs of Our Own draws on the legacies of Christian socialism, social Catholicism, mutualism, associative democracy and civil society for a new vision of society: evolved distributism. Mathews sees common ground between distributism and mutualist bodies such as mutual assurance societies, building societies, co-operatives and credit unions.

Race Mathews also warns that the conversion of mutuals into conventional companies is robbing the community of assets which are needed for social reconstruction. He points to evolved distributism on the model of the great employee-owned co-operatives complex at Mondragon in Spain as an authentic Third Way.

 “....places Distributism in the international context of the Antigonish Movement in Nova Scotia and the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation in the Basque region of Spain.” Fr. Ian Boyd, Editor, The Chesterton Review

 “...a fascinating and unexpected linkage between these apparently unconnected reform movements.” Fr. Greg MacLeod, Tompkins Institute, University College of Cape Breton

 "...penetrates to the heart of the Mondragon Co-operative Experience.” Sr. Jesus Larrañaga, Mondragon

The Hon. Dr. Race Mathews has been an academic, federal M.P., state M.P., and minister and municipal councillor. He was Chief of Staff to Gough Whitlam as Opposition Leader in the Australian Parliament 1967-1972, and to Opposition Leaders in the Victorian Parliament 1976-1979. He has written and spoken widely on aspects of politics and public policy, including distributism and mutualism. He is currently undertaking a church history doctoral study of distributism in Australia.