Level 7 Resources
2025 Overview and Workbook for Level 7
"Level 7: Blueprint for a Sustainable and Equitable Future." The latest summary of Level 7 key concepts, resources, and action plan — with a section at the end of each chapter to reflect on personal notes, questions, and actionable next steps. AI tools were used to assist with organization and illustration of this document. Roughly 9K words.
Initial 2016 Essay
“Articles of Transformation for a Level 7 Political Economy.” The initial essay for Level 7 proposals and central concepts covered on this website. Originally written in October of 2016 for submission to an essay competition, with minor updates and corrections (last updated 6/13/2017). Roughly 15K words.
Real-World Test Cases of L7 Components
Worker-Owned Cooperatives: see Worker Cooperatives; “Worker Cooperatives More Productive that Normal Companies”
Semi-Direct Democracy: Switzerland
Common Pool Resource Management: Elinor Ostrom’s examples in Switzerland, Japan, Spain, the Philippines (see ”The Solution to the Tragedy of the Commons”)
Diffused Self-Governance: Municipalism (see also Rojava and municipalism in Spain); historical anarchist experiments in Spain, Korea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, etc. (see anarchist communities)
The Precautionary Principle: “Use and Abuse of the Precautionary Principle;” FAQ (with examples of application)
Examples of Left-Anarchist/Libertarian Communities & Mass Societies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anarchist_communities
Theoretical Exploration of L7 Components
Encouraging Moral Development: see “Fostering Goodness & Caring;” “Two Perspectives: On Self, Relationships & Morality;” The Moral Development Map; and Integral Lifework Developmental Correlations
Conceptions of the Commons: see The Evolution of Capital; Peer to Peer: The Commons Manifesto (also available in paperback here)
Other Websites & Online Resources
Essential organizations and movements:
The Democracy Collaborative (democracycollaborative.org)
Focuses on democratizing wealth through worker cooperatives and community ownership.
Participatory Budgeting Project (participatorybudgeting.org)
Promotes direct democracy through local participatory budgeting initiatives.
New Economy Coalition (neweconomy.net)
Supports cooperative businesses and grassroots economic alternatives.
Transition Network (transitionnetwork.org)
Guides communities in moving toward sustainable, low-carbon economies.
Cooperation Jackson (cooperationjackson.org)
Builds cooperative businesses and community self-governance models in Jackson, Mississippi.
The Center for Economic Democracy (economicdemocracy.us)
Advances economic justice through community-controlled wealth-building initiatives.
Extinction Rebellion (rebellion.global)
Promotes nonviolent civil disobedience to demand climate justice.
Degrowth Movement (degrowth.info)
Challenges the obsession with economic growth and promotes sustainable living.
The Global Ecovillage Network (ecovillage.org)
Supports intentional communities and sustainable village development.
World Social Forum (wsf2022.org)
A global network of activists working for systemic political and economic change.
Digital Tools for Decentralization and Direct Democracy:
Loomio (loomio.org)
A digital platform for group decision-making and participatory governance.
Decidim (decidim.org)
An open-source tool for participatory democracy and community organizing.
DisCO (Distributed Cooperative Organizations) (disco.coop)
A blockchain-based model for ethical cooperative enterprises.
FairCoin (fair-coin.org)
A cryptocurrency designed for ethical finance and fair economic exchange.
TimeBanks USA (timebanks.org)
A platform for alternative economies based on service exchange instead of money.
Open Collective (opencollective.com)
A financial platform for transparency in funding grassroots initiatives.
Karrot (karrot.world)
A digital tool for resource-sharing communities, promoting circular economies.
DemocracyOS (democracyos.org)
A platform for direct democracy and community decision-making.
Additional resources:
The P2P Foundation
Electoral Integrity Project
An Anarchist FAQ
The Anarchist Archives
List of Constructive Organizations (that resonate with the Level 7 framework and objectives)
Integral Lifework (multidimensional nourishment)
Books
by T.Collins Logan
True Love: Integral Lifework Theory & Practice - Read Online, DjVu download, or Purchase
Political Economy and the Unitive Principle - Read Online, DjVu download, or Purchase
Being Well: Beginning the Journey of Integral Lifework - Read Online or Purchase
Works that assist with Level 7 proposals
Essential reading:
Doughnut Economics – Kate Raworth
A groundbreaking model for balancing human prosperity with planetary health.
"The Tyranny of Structurelessness" – Jo Freeman
Essay on how informal power structures shape movements and how to avoid them.
The Shock Doctrine – Naomi Klein
Explains how neoliberal policies exploit crises to expand corporate control.
The Ecology of Freedom – Murray Bookchin
A foundational text on social ecology and decentralized governance.
The Next Revolution: Popular Assemblies and the Promise of Direct Democracy
– Murray Bookchin
A deeper dive into direct democracy’s implementation in the real world.
Small Is Beautiful – E.F. Schumacher
A critique of mass industrialization and an argument for localized, people-centered economies.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century – Thomas Piketty
A thorough examination of wealth inequality and the need for economic redistribution.
The Tao of Democracy – Tom Atlee
Explores participatory democracy models for building more inclusive societies.
Owning Our Future – Marjorie Kelly
Introduces alternative economic ownership models, such as cooperatives and community trusts.
The End of Policing – Alex S. Vitale
A critical look at modern policing and alternatives to punitive justice.
Plunder of the Commons – Guy Standing
Advocates for shared resource governance over corporate and state control.
Additional reading:
The Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisited, Alec Nove, 1992, ISBN-13: 978-0044460152
The Democratic Worker-Owned Firm, David Ellerman, 1997 (out of print - PDF available here, original MS Word file at http://www.ellerman.org/Davids-Stuff/Books/demofirm.doc)
After Capitalism (New Critical Theory), David Schweickart, 2011, ISBN 978-0742564985
Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age, Steven Hill, 2010, ISBN 978-0520261372
The ABCs of Political Economy, Robin Hahnel, 2004, ISBN 978-0691003849
Building Sustainable Communities: Tools and Concepts for Self-Reliant Economic Change, C. George Benello, Shann Turnbull & Ward Morehouse, 1997, ISBN 978-0942850369
Building Powerful Community Organizations, Michael Jacoby Brown, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0977151806
Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism, Richard D. Wolff, 2012, ISBN 978-1608462476
The Cooperative Workplace: Potentials and Dilemmas of Organizational Democracy and Participation, Joyce Rothschild & Allen Whitt, 1989, ISBN 978-0521379427
Putting Democracy to Work: A Practical Guide for Starting Worker-Owned Businesses, Frank T Adams, Gene Taback & Gary B Hansen, 1993, ISBN 978-1881052098
For All the People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America, John Curl, 2012, ISBN 978-1604865820
What Then Must We Do?, Gar Alperovitz, 2013, ISBN 978-1603585040
Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991-2011, Nato Thompson (Editor), 2012, ISBN 978-0262017343
Women's Education in Developing Countries, 1993, Elizabeth M. King & M. Anne Hill, ISBN 9780801845345
Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism
Peter Marshall, 2010, ISBN
1604860642
Essays
by T.Collins Logan
The S.A.P. Hypothesis: Restoring Prosocial Society
How Socialist Contributions to Civil Society Saved Capitalism from Itself
Private Property As Violence
Reframing Profit
Escaping the Failures of Capitalism
The Goldilocks Zone of Integral Liberty
Managing Complexity with Constructive Integralism
Growing Beyond an Egocentric Worldview
Functional Intelligence
The Stupefaction of Human Experience
Integral Communication
Other essays . . . .
Blog
Blurts & Spasms Blog (can use search facility to find relevant posts)
Podcasts
Blurts & Spasms Podcasts (must browse for relevant posts)
