Transforming work towards social-ecological sustainability: a capability perspective

Abstract

Research on sustainable work remains split between social and ecological approaches. That also applies to related policy concepts, such as ‘decent work’, ‘job quality’ or ‘green jobs’. The article argues that to overcome the gap between the social and ecological agendas, we need to reconceptualise work within a normative framework different from the preference-based one that drives capitalist economies. To this end, we explore the potential and implications of the ‘capability’ framework, derived from the capability approach developed by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen. With its focus on justice and deliberative democracy, it makes the political participation of all stakeholders, starting with workers, key to integrating social and ecological sustainability. It requires us to rethink work not only in terms of its means but also its ends, and to revise our understanding of workers and their role in society. On this basis, the article develops a definition of sustainable work and outlines some first elements for its practical operationalisation in an index.