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Progressive utilization theory or PROUT is a socio-economic theory first mentioned in 1959 and fully outlined in 1962 by Indian philosopher and spiritual leader Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921–1990). PROUT is a social system that claims to overcome the limitations of both capitalism and communism. Among other things, progressive utilization would optimize the use of natural, industrial and human resources, based on cooperative coordination on a wide basis, ranging from local communities to larger regions and nations, and between the people of diverse geographical areas.

PROUT seeks the welfare and happiness of all. The theory is not concerned solely with economics but encompasses the whole of individual and collective existence—physical, educational, social, political, mental, cultural and spiritual—not just for human beings but for all beings.

Five fundamental principles

The founder of PROUT, P.R. Sarkar, summarized PROUT in sixteen numbered Samskrta aphorisms (see Chapter 5 of Ananda Sutram). The last five of those aphorisms are commonly referred to as the "Five Fundamental Principles of PROUT". The five aphorisms translate into English as follows:

1. There should be no accumulation of wealth without the permission of society.
2. There should be maximum utilization and rational distribution of the crude, subtle, and causal resources.
3. There should be maximum utilization of the physical, mental, and spiritual potentialities of the individual and collective beings.
4. There should be a well-balanced adjustment among the crude, subtle, and causal utilizations.
5. Utilizations vary in accordance with time, space, and form; the utilizations should be progressive.

A glimpse of these principles first appeared in Shrii Sarkar's earlier but much less authoritative work, Idea and Ideology. As Ananda Sutram has never been published with a translation of the five aphorisms corresponding to the Five Fundamental Principles of PROUT, the earlier version is often mistakenly employed.

Cooperatives

Prout’s three-tiered economic structure consists of government-owned key industries (oil industries, wind farms, etc.), worker-owned cooperatives, and privately owned enterprises. Of these three, the cooperative structure—industrial, consumer, agricultural and credit—forms the core feature of the Prout economy.

Sarkar considers cooperatives the best economic structure for human society, arguing that if individuality dominates human life, it will "adversely affect the environment, the welfare of different groups and even the continued existence of humanity".

The Prout cooperative system is based on the principle of coordinated cooperation, where free human beings with equal rights and mutual respect work together for the welfare of all. In a system of subordinated cooperation, on the other hand, people work individually or collectively but are under other peoples’ supervision. According to Sarkar, true coordinated cooperation does not exist in the present capitalist or communist systems.

According to Sarkar, cooperatives will succeed if they have ethical leadership, strong management, and the people’s whole-hearted acceptance of the cooperative system. Moreover, members must have similar interests, share a common economic structure, and demand similar necessities. Lastly, cooperatives need ready access to suppliers and markets for their goods and services.

See also

• Amra Bangalee
• Economic democracy
• Law of Social Cycle
• Other social cycle theories
• Single-party state
• The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism

References

1. Craig, Edward, ed. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Sociology of knowledge to Zaroastrianism. Routledge (Taylor & Francis). ISBN 0-415-16916-X.
2. Acarya Abhidevananda Avadhuta, PROUT Primer (1978)
3. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Idea and Ideology (1959)
   The wording of the principles that appears in Idea and Ideology is:
   1. No individual should be allowed to accumulate any physical wealth without the clear permission or approval of the collective body.
   2. There should be maximum utilization and rational distribution of all mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities of the universe.
   3. There should be maximum utilization of physical, metaphysical and spiritual potentialities of unit and collective bodies of human society.
   4. There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, metaphysical, mundane, supramundane and spiritual utilizations.
   5. The method of utilization should vary in accordance with changes in time, space and person, and the utilization should be of progressive nature.
4. Megan Nolan Ph. D. (27 November 2007). "PROUT and regulated Market Economy". OpEdNews. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
5. Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan. 1992, Proutist Economics, Calcutta, Ananda Marga Publications, p 128.
6. Sarkar, PR. 1988, Prout in a Nutshell XIV, Calcutta, Ananda Marga Publications. p 38.
7. Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan. 1992, Proutist Economics, Calcutta, Ananda Marga Publications. p 129-130.
8. Carla Dickstein, The Prout Worker Cooperatives,The Prout Worker Cooperatives

Bibliography

• Abhidevananda, Acarya Avt., PROUT Primer, 1978
• Abhidevananda, Acarya Avt., PROUT Social Analysis, 1984
• Abhidevananda, Acarya Avt., Capitalism versus PROUT, 2011
• Batra, Ravi, Progressive Utilization Theory: Prout - An Economic Solution to Poverty in The Third World, Manila: Ananda Marga Publications, 1989.
• Dickstein, Carla. "Prout Worker Cooperatives," Prout Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/05/the-prout-worker-cooperatives/ 1999.
• Dyer, Bruce. "Why Cooperatives: The New Zealand Context," PROUT Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/05/why-cooperatives-the-new-zealand-context/ 2000.
• Feldman, Jonathan, Michael, et al. ed., "From Community Economic Development and Ethnic Entrepreneurship to Economic Democracy: The Cooperative Alternative," Umea, Sweden, Partnership for Multiethnic Inclusion: 2002.
• Friedman, Mark L. "Toward an Optimal Level of Income Inequality," PROUT Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/05/toward-an-optimum-level-of-income-inequality-i/ 2001.
• Inayatullah, Sohail, "Situating Sarkar: Tantra, Macrohistory, and Alternative Futures," Maleny, Australia: Gurukula Press, 1999.
• Inayatullah, Sohail and Fitzgerald, Jennifer, Transcending Boundaries: Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar's Theories of Individual and Social Transformation, Queensland: Gurukula Press, 1999.
• Korten, David C. The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publications, 1999.
• Krtashivananda, Acarya Avt., "Democracy in Practice," PROUT Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/05/democracy-in-practice/
• Krtashivananda, Acarya Avt., "Individual Liberty and Collective Interest," PROUT Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/prout/foundations/2011/05/individual-liberty-and-collective-interest/
• Krtashivananda, Acarya Avt. Prout Manifesto, Copenhagen: Proutist Universal Publications, 1988.
• Krtashivananda, Acarya Avt. "The Historical Need for Prout," PROUT Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/06/the-historical-need-for-prout/
• Kumar, Jayanta, ed., "New Aspects of PROUT," Calcutta: Proutist Universal Publications, 1987.
• Lokesh, M.B. "Prout: And The End of Capitalism and Communism." Proutist Universal Publications. Torino, Italy. 1990.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World, Wash. D.C.: Proutist Universal Publications, 2003.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, "The Economy of Social Responsibility and Spirituality: An Interview with Dr. Marcos Arruda," New Renaissance, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1998. pp. 12–14.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, and Branch, Maria “The Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout): Alternative Economic and Social Model for the Welfare of All” (2010) in Working USA: Journal of Labor and Society.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, Dada, "A New Social Paradigm Based On Spiritual Values" on Znet.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, "The Human Costs of Economic Meltdown and its Alternative"
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, "Spirituality and Social Change"
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, “Ideal Leadership”
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, “Will Organized Religions Survive in the New Millennium?” in New Renaissance, Vol. 9, Number 3.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, “Revolutionary Consciousness: Development as transformation” in Development 46, (1 December 2003).
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, "A Personal Remembrance and Conversation with Paulo Freire, Educator of the Oppressed" in Neohumanist Educational Futures: Liberating the Pedagogical Intellect, edited by Sohail Inayatullah, Marcus Bussey and Ivana Milojević, Tapei, Tamkang University Press, 2006.
• Maheshvarananda, Dada, “Go with the Flow” (1985)
• Overland, Trond, "Beyond Collectivism and Individualism: Structural Features of the Prout Economy," World Prout Assembly, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/05/beyond-collectivism-and-individualism-structural-features-of-the-prout-economy/
• Overland, Trond, "Prout's Theory of Revolution," PROUT Gobe, http://www.proutglobe.org/2011/05/prout%e2%80%99s-theory-of-revolution/
• Prout Research Institute. "Togo: A Proutist approach For Solving The Problem of Lowered Living Standards, Unemployment, and Rural Poverty," 1991.
• Prout Research Institute. "An Introduction to Block Level Planning: A Manual for PRI Staff," PROUT Globe, http://www.proutglobe.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/BLP.pdf 1992.
• Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan, "Decentralized Economy," World Prout Assembly, http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2007/02/decentralized_e_2.html
• Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan, "Minimum Requirements and Maximum Amenities," World Prout Assembly, http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/04/minimum_require.html
• Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan, Proutist Economics, Kolkata: Ananda Marga Publications,1992.
• Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan. Problems of The Day, Kolkata: Ananda Marga Publications, 1968.
• Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan, "The Four Dimensions of Prout Economies," World Prout Assembly, http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/04/the_four_dimens.html
• Shambhushivananda, Acarya Avt. "Prout: Neo-Humanistic Economics." Dharma Verlag Publishing. West Germany, Germany. 1989.
• Tadbhavananda, Acarya Avt. Samaj: A New Dimension in Politics, New Delhi: Proutist Universal Publications, 1987.

External links

• PROUT Globe
• PROUT Films
• Venezuelan Prout Research Institute
• Movement for Economic Democracy
• Prout College
• Prout Institute of Australia
• Proutist Universal
• Prout.org
• PROUTugal - PROUT Portugal
• Proutist Universal Italia (Italian Language)
• On Proutist trade systems

• Economic ideologies
• Heterodox economics