The MCA will be an intellectually rigorous alternative to the infamous Masters in Business Administration that turns it on its head. The world doesn’t need more ‘business leaders’: privileged individuals who have the latest jargon and are all about contributing to – and benefiting from – capitalism. It does need thinkers and doers and collaborators who are prepared to challenge and think differently. So we are offering world-class thinking and ideas. Just not the ones that would be offered by a conventional business school.

With that in mind, we have brought together scholars, activists and organisers – commoners all – to offer a learning opportunity that will be the equivalent of a Masters degree. It is aimed at anyone who thinks critically about the world around us and who wishes to develop and deepen their understanding.

The MCA will provide space, tools and intellectual resources that will enable participants to reflect on their own practice and experiences, to learn from those of others and to explore approaches they may not have previously considered. The short course covered by this proposal will allow us to develop, test and adapt course materials and learning approaches.

The MCA will be hosted independently of any university. Although universities are the site of intense struggles we believe that higher education, at least in the UK, has become too subservient to the needs of money and capital with a predictably polluting effect on the learning environment, not to mention that inaccessibility to many of that environment. We wish instead to open up a space in which curiosity, the joy of discovery and the collective exploration of ideas can flourish.

In June 2022, we trialled our first taster course for the MCA. In January 2023, we will be running a second taster course for anyone who wants to find out more.