Solving the Crisis of Capitalism and Democracy

Book Release: June 20, 2025

Can Democracy and Capitalism Survive? A Bold New Solution for a World in Crisis

Inequality is rising. Populism is surging. Economic stagnation and political extremism threaten the very foundations of democratic capitalism. As institutions fail to respond effectively, Systematic Coordinated Interorganizational Networks (SCIONs) offer a transformative path forward.

In this groundbreaking book, leading sociologists reveal how SCIONs—a new model of societal coordination—can foster innovation, enhance workforce adaptability, manage welfare costs, and restore balance between law and order. By bridging the gaps between markets and government agencies, SCIONs create the platforms needed for compromise, collaboration, and real solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.

A must-read for policymakers, business leaders, academics, and engaged citizens, this book provides a roadmap to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable future.

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Jerald Hage is a distinguished sociologist and organizational theorist whose groundbreaking research has shaped our understanding of democracy, capitalism, institutional coordination, and innovation. With a prolific career spanning decades, Jerald has authored and edited 20 influential books and numerous highly cited papers that have profoundly impacted organizational theory, policy studies, and social change.

His research has tackled some of the most pressing challenges of our time, including rising inequality, economic stagnation, and the failures of institutional coordination. In his latest work, he furthers his research into Systematic Coordinated Interorganizational Networks (SCIONs)—a transformative approach to overcoming systemic inefficiencies in markets and government agencies.

Jerald has held prestigious academic positions and collaborated with leading scholars worldwide. His book Organizational Innovation and Organizational Change remains one of the most widely read papers in sociology, with nearly 28,000 total reads. His research has been translated into multiple languages, demonstrating its global impact.

With a career dedicated to advancing knowledge, shaping policy, and developing solutions for institutional resilience, Jerrald continues to be a thought leader in the fields of sociology, public policy, and innovation. His work is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and anyone concerned with the future of democratic capitalism.

BOOKS

Discover a collection of thought-provoking books that challenge conventional thinking and inspire progressive ideas. His books aim to ignite conversations, spark change, and broaden perspectives.

CAREER

Saving Societies From Within Innovation and Equity Through Inter-Organizational Networks

Moving beyond existing models from economics and political science, this book shows how crises in capitalism and democracy can be solved with Systemic coordinated inter-organizational networks.

It offers a new model of societal coordination that builds cooperation and trust while solving today’s modern and complex practical problems: Systemic coordinated inter-organizational networks (SCIONs). It details how SCIONs can quickly catalyze organizational change among interorganizational network members while providing a general framework for characterizing individual and organizational change. The chapters apply these theoretical ideas in an epic case study of the rebuilding of the health care system in rural Nicaragua after a major natural disaster (Hurricane Mitch). They provide lessons for public health program managers while contributing to the literatures on modes of coordination and on social capital.

The book is a vital text for upper-division courses on management, inter-organizational collaboration, crisis management and public health.

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Knowledge Evolution and Societal Transformations

Action Theory to Solve Adaptive Problems

By Jerald Hage
Foreword by Michael Quinn Patton

Paperback, 418 Pages

ISBN:9781839982354

May 2022

Knowledge Evolution and Societal Transformation proposes a new paradigm based on the evolution of knowledge that synthesizes existing social science theories at three analytical levels. A central theme is how knowledge causes new problems and explains growing inequality. To solve these problems, systemic networks in education, economy, and political system are suggested.

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Restoring the Innovative Edge

Driving the Evolution of Science and Technology

Jerald Hage

Imprint: Stanford Business Books

May 2011

328 Pages

Considerable evidence indicates that the U.S. is falling behind when it comes to innovation. In part, this shift stems from the globalization of research and the advancement of other nations. But, it also arises from a widespread failure to adapt to the competitive environment generated by the evolution of science and technology.

The objective of this book is to provide possible remedies for eight key obstacles that the U.S. faces in restoring its innovative edge. Understanding that these remedies are complex, each chapter also discusses the dilemmas and impediments that make change a challenge. Unlike other books that suggest simple fixes to the U.S. innovation crisis, this book argues that the management of innovation requires multiple interventions at four different levels: in research teams, organizations, economic and non-economic sectors, and society at large.

Restoring the Innovative Edge offers specific recommendations for new forms of data collection, fresh ideas about cooperation between the public and the private sectors in manufacturing research, and a policy evaluation model that measures technical progress—and obstacles to it—in real time. Moreover, the book's multi-level perspective allows for the integration of a number of specialties within Sociology and Management around the theme of a new socio-economic paradigm, built on ideas of evolution and failed evolution.