Proprietism is an
economic system composed of a vast network of
sole-proprietorships.
Origins
The rise of an independent workforce was documented by
Daniel H. Pink in his 2001 book ''Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself''. Depending on the precise definition of an independent worker, reports on the topic estimate this type of worker to be somewhere between thirty and forty percent of the entire workforce in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and analysis of the data reveals the trend to be rising. The ideology and term proprietism originated in the
blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can pu ...
, initially in 2012 by Nick Wilson of proprietist.com and then was further developed from 2013 onward by Paul Kurke of proprietism.com.
Sara Horowitz
Sara Horowitz (born January 13, 1963) is a founder of the Freelancers Union and a proponent of mutualism. She has been working for unions since age 18, when she held a summer internship at the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. She h ...
has also acknowledged the rise of independent contract workers, and has encouraged the movement by creating the
Freelancers Union
Freelancers Union is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that provides advocacy, programming and curated insurance benefits for freelancers through partnerships. The organization dessiminates information through monthly meetings. Rafa ...
, a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
for free agents.
Core Concepts
As in
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
, the resources of a proprietist system are allocated through
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
forces, though proprietism differs from capitalism because the structure implies a more decentralized ownership of capital, similar to that of a company with an
employee stock ownership plan
Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...
. According to Kurke, proprietism has the potential to resolve the
principal-agent problem by structurally realigning productivity and innovation with compensation, assuming advances in
information systems
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...
continue. Kurke argues that proprietism already exists in the
zeitgeist
In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.
Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. ...
, especially among
millennials.
"Millennials and Proprietism"
"Proprietism". Retrieved 19 July 2015.
See also
* Distributism
Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated.
Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching pri ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
Economic ideologies
Economic systems