in society is the effort through which communities engage in the fulfillment of human needs, with the goal of achieving a transcendental existence. As a goal, transcendence will offer a fourth bottom line which ideally would propel human society into a more peaceful, inclusive and all-round more progressive existence. Reception Prout is a relatively unknown theory. Ravi Batra was one of the first economists that used the ideas of Prout in his bestseller The Great Depression of 1990. In time, the theory attracted attention of people like Johan Galtung, founder of the UN Institute for Peace studies who claimed that "Sarkar’s theory is far superior to Adam Smith’s or that of Marx." According to a description by Terry Irving and Rowan Cahill, Prout "envisages a decentralised, community-based world economy of self-sufficiency for the poor; economic democracy; small business; and limits on the accumulation of wealth." Sohail Inayatullah stated that the philosophy "attempts to balance the need for societies to create wealth and grow with the requirements for distribution." David Skrbina characterized Prout as a "model of social development... which advocates a 'small is beautiful' approach to society." Economics instructor Mark Friedman places Sarkar's economic thought in the tradition of Monsignor John A. Ryan, E.F. Schumacher and Herman Daly in Sarkar's incorporation of spiritual values into economic goals. It has been characterized as a form of "progressive socialism" as well as a "socialist theory". Hans Despain noted, in Monthly Review, that there are similarities between Prout and the theories of David Schweickart, Gar Alperovitz and Richard D. Wolff. Particularly the focus on economic democracy and co-operatives. Political parties Some political parties support the progressive utilization theory. They are: Amra Bangali Progressive Party of Aotearoa New Zealand See also Political philosophy Indian philosophy References Sources External links PROUT Institute PROUT Institute of Venezuela prout.org ABCD of PROUT Bangarashtra (in Bengali) Living wage and optimal inequality in a Sarkarian framework on JSTOR Economic ideologies Political ideologies Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar Economic democracy Theocracy Indian political philosophy