The Good Life Beyond Growth: New Perspectives PDF
Preview The Good Life Beyond Growth: New Perspectives
The Good Life Beyond Growth Many countries have experienced a decline of economic growth for decades, an effect that was only aggravated by the recent global financial crisis. What if in the 21st century this is no longer an exception, but the general rule? Does an economy without growth necessarily bring hardship and crises, as is often assumed? Or could it be a chance for a better life? Authors have long argued that money added to an income that already secures basic needs no longer enhances well-being. Also, ecological constraints and a sinking global absorption capacity increasingly reduce the margin of profitability on investments. Efforts to restore growth politically, however, often lead to reduced levels of social protection, reduced ecological and health standards, unfair tax burdens and rising inequalities. Thus, it is time to dissolve the link between economic growth and the good life. This book argues that a good life beyond growth is not only possible, but highly desirable. It conceptualises “the good life” as a fulfilled life that is embedded in social relations and at peace with nature, independent of a mounting availability of resources. In bringing together experts from different fields, this book opens an interdisciplinary discussion that has often been restricted to separate disciplines. Philosophers, sociologists, economists, and activists come together to discuss the political and social conditions of a good life in societies which no longer rely on economic growth and no longer call for an ever- expanding circle of extraction, consumption, pollution, waste, conflict, and psychological burnout. Read together, these essays will have a major impact on the debates about economic growth, economic and ecological justice, and the good life in times of crisis. Hartmut Rosa is Professor of Sociology at the University of Jena, Co-director of the Kolleg Postwachstumsgesellschaften in Jena (with Klaus Dörre) and Director of the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt. Christoph Henning is Junior Fellow for Philosophy at the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany. Routledge Studies in Ecological Economics For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/series/RSEE 38 Green Growth and Low Carbon Development in East Asia Edited by Fumikazu Yoshida and Akihisa Mori 39 Biodiversity in the Green Economy Edited by Alexandros Gasparatos and Katherine J. Willis 40 The Economics of Green Growth New Indicators for Sustainable Societies Edited by Shunsuke Managi 41 Green Jobs for Sustainable Development Ana-Maria Boromisa, Sanja Tišma and Anastasya Raditya Ležaić 42 Sustainability and the Political Economy of Welfare Edited by Max Koch and Oksana Mont 43 Creating Sustainable Bioeconomies The Bioscience Revolution in Europe and Africa Edited by Ivar Virgin and E. Jane Morris 44 History of the Future of Economic Growth Historical Roots of Current Debates on Sustainable Degrowth Edited by Iris Borowy and Matthias Schmelzer 45 Transformative Ecological Economics Process Philosophy, Ideology and Utopia Ove Jakobsen 46 Positional Analysis for Sustainable Development Reconsidering Policy, Economics and Accounting Judy Brown, Peter Söderbaum and Małgorzata Dereniowska 47 The Good Life Beyond Growth New Perspectives Edited by Hartmut Rosa and Christoph Henning The Good Life Beyond Growth New Perspectives Edited by Hartmut Rosa and Christoph Henning First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 selection and editorial matter, Hartmut Rosa and Christoph Henning; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Hartmut Rosa and Christoph Henning to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-68788-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-54212-6 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of figures List of tables Contributors Good life beyond growth: an introduction HARTMUT ROSA & CHRISTOPH HENNING Part I Foundations: alternative conceptions of the good life 1 The misadventures of the good life between modernity and degrowth: from happiness to GDP to Buen Vivir SERGE LATOUCHE 2 Buen Vivir: a proposal with global potential ALBERTO ACOSTA 3 Available, accessible, attainable: the mindset of growth and the resonance conception of the good life HARTMUT ROSA 4 Resonance and the romantic era: a comment on Rosa’s conception of the good life CHARLES TAYLOR Part II Beyond the growth paradigm: alternative conceptions of the economic 5 A philosophy of ecological economics MANFRED A. MAX-NEEF 6 Productivity, property, and violence: a critique of liberal justifications of growth CHRISTOPH HENNING 7 Growth regimes and visions of the good life: why capitalism will not deliver DENNIS EVERSBERG 8 Political economic conditions of a good life beyond growth ANDREW SAYER Part III The good society: alternative conceptions of social justice and well-being 9 The common good as a principle of social justice MICHAEL J. THOMPSON 10 Bread and Roses: “good work” from a union perspective NICOLE MAYER-AHUJA
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