Fergal Finnegan Dublin-based community educator and a lecturer and researcher at the De- partment of Adult and Community Education, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland. email: Fergal.Finnegan@nuim.ie doi:10.1093/cdj/bss003 Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital John Restakis, New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, Canada, 2010, 295 pages, CAD 19.95. Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital by John Restakis is an excellent, easily accessible read, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the movement towards an alternative and equitable economy. Restakis, the Executive Director for the British Columbia Co-operative As- sociation, is a researcher and educator on international cooperative econ- omies and is highly regarded as a pioneer for economic democracy in Canada and abroad. His book provides a rich and well-researched account of the failures and inhumane realities of the dominant capitalist economy and how communities are forging together in the vision for eco- nomic justice in advanced industrial societies as well as in developing coun- tries. Humanizing the Economy is a timely and urgently needed contribution to the field of Social Economy, participatory democracy, civic engagement and social justice. It is particularly timely, given the recent global economic crisis, near-collapse of the global financial system and the lack of any con- sequential debate on capitalism. Despite some recent theoretical discussion on this issue, there has been limited documentation of real alternatives on the ground. Restakis demonstrates the durability of co-operatives in this challenging time, in their ability to continue generating ‘livelihoods and es- sential services in the very places where multinationals are shedding workers and shuttering plants’ (p. 3). This book is indeed a breath of fresh air in the way Restakis revives an important debate around 306 Book reviews