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Independent Radical Publishing

The Structure and Governance of Pluto Press

Pluto Press is a worker-led, independent publishing house. Since our founding in 1969, we have operated outside of corporate publishing structures, and in recent years, we have taken significant steps to formalise that independence.

Ownership Model

In 2010, Pluto established the Pluto Educational Trust, a not-for-profit body designed to protect the political integrity and independence of the press. The Trust ensures that Pluto can’t be sold or taken over by commercial publishers. It acts as a guardian of the press’s radical mission and values.

In 2018, Pluto took this even further through a restructure of the ownership. Pluto is owned by 3 groups:

  • The Pluto Educational Trust (PET) – 60%, 2 board votes and directors
  • The Other Shareholders (OS) – 30%, 1 board vote and director. The Other Shareholders consist of three individuals who are previous employees and advisors.
  • The Cooperative of Pluto Employees (CoPE) – 10%, 1 board vote and director. All staff are eligible for membership of CoPE after 1 year of service.

Those who work at Pluto help shape strategic decisions and share responsibility for the press’s direction and sustainability. It is a rare structure in the publishing world, aligning Pluto’s internal organisation with the anti-hierarchical and democratic values we promote through our publishing.

Board and Governance

Pluto has a board of directors made up of representatives from each of the shareholder groups and independent non-executives. The board is responsible for high-level strategic oversight and ensuring the press stays true to its founding principles. Day-to-day decisions are made collaboratively by the management team, with a flat, non-hierarchical structure encouraging collective input and accountability.

Editorial Independence

While the press is politically committed, its editorial decisions are not dictated by outside funders, shareholders, political parties, or even our own board of directors. Our weekly contract meetings – where we decide which books to publish – are open to all staff. The team retains full autonomy in deciding what to publish, grounded in Pluto’s radical ethos.

Financial Structure

Pluto is not-for-profit in practice, reinvesting all surplus back into its publishing programme, staff, infrastructure, and outreach work. Its revenue comes from:

  • Book sales (including trade and academic markets)
  • Direct to consumer sales through our website
  • Licensing and rights deals
  • Some grant and foundation support (for specific open access or outreach projects)

This structure ensures that Pluto is not just publishing radical books—it is run by radical principles. We offer a model of how a publishing house can be ethical, collectively governed, and sustainable while staying fiercely political.

Our Mission

Independent. Pluto was founded in 1969 as an independent publisher. We will remain independent of any political party, organisation, or corporation.

Radical. Pluto is committed to radical social, political and economic transformation of the current global order, and an end to all forms of exploitation and oppression. Our publishing draws upon and critically engages with traditions including Marxism, feminism, anti-imperialism, socialism, anti-racism, and anarchism. Our work illuminates, explains and critically analyses those injustices that exist, and contributes meaningfully to the development of alternative visions for a better world.

Internationalist. Our solidarities are global. Our publishing crosses borders not only in subject matter and perspective, but also in terms of the authors we work with, the partnerships that we form, and the readerships we reach. Our vision of politics is one where the fate of each individual is bound up in the lives of all others.

Rigorous. We adhere to the highest standards of intellectual rigour, critical thinking and scholarly integrity, publishing cutting-edge and engaging work from inside and outside the academy. We strive to achieve this in a way that does not reproduce or reinforce oppressive hierarchies of knowledge production, and that generates knowledge which is of practical use both to scholars and to the movements with which we are aligned.