Paradigm lost? Blocking the path to ecosocial welfare and post-productivism

Abstract

This chapter starts by defining an ecosocial agenda and presents post-productivism as one instance of this. It claims the synergies between social and environmental policies have barely registered to date. The chapter finds the familiar oppositions between those who favour remaining close to existing socioeconomic models, that is pro-productivism (based on GDP growth, production and consumption, and so on) and those for whom environmentalism and the ecosocial implies a greater, transformative potential. While the diminishing public sphere is again a major cause for concern here, the chapter offers some hope, by encouraging us to think less in terms of oppositions between pro-productivists and post-productivists, and more in terms of commonalities and overlaps. The struggle for sustainability is clearly evident but only by seeking alliances and common ground, as the chapter suggests, may we begin to take some of the necessary steps to resolve the social and ecological problems and challenges now facing humanity.