Consumer society in the United States and other countries is receding
due to demographic ageing, rising income inequality, political
paralysis, and resource scarcity. At the same time, steady jobs that
compensate employees on a salaried or hourly basis are being replaced
by freelancing and contingent work. The rise of the so-called sharing
economy, the growth of do-it-yourself production, and the spreading
popularity of economic localization are evidence that people are
striving to find new ways to ensure livelihoods for themselves and
their families in the face of profound change. Indications are that we
are at the early stages of a transition away from a system of social
organization predicated on consumerism. These developments have
prompted some policy makers to suggest providing households with a
non-labor source of income that would enable more adequate
satisfaction of their basic needs. These proposals include a universal
basic income, a citizen's dividend, and a legal framework for
broad-based stock ownership in corporations. However, extreme
political fractiousness makes it unlikely that these recommendations
will receive prompt and widespread legislative endorsement in most
countries. In the meantime, we seem to be moving incontrovertibly
toward a twenty-first century version of feudalism. How might we chart
a different path founded on social inclusiveness and economic
security? A practicable option entails establishment of networks of
interlinked worker-consumer cooperatives that organizationally unify
production and consumer. Such modes of mutual assistance already exist
and The Future of Consumer Society profiles several successful
examples from around the world. If replicated and scaled,
worker-consumer cooperatives could smooth the transition beyond
consumer society and facilitate a future premised on sufficiency,
resiliency, and well-being.
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Prospects for Sustainability in the New Economy
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191081026
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter