Post Growth
Life after Capitalism
Published on 4. March 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-5095-4252-9 (ISBN)
Description
Our prevailing vision of social progress is fatally dependent on a false promise: that there will always be more and more for everyone. Forged in the crucible of capitalism, this foundational myth has come dangerously unravelled. The relentless pursuit of eternal growth has delivered ecological destruction, financial fragility, social instability and the biggest global health crisis in a century.
What should we do when our myths desert us? How are we to adjust to a new economic normal? What does life after capitalism look like?
Weaving together philosophical reflection, economic insight and social vision, Tim Jackson's provocative thesis is that a post growth society is a richer, not a poorer one. Material progress has changed our lives - in many ways for the better. But the luxury of having can too easily obscure the happiness of belonging, the satisfaction of achieving and the simple lightness of being. A genuine prosperity demands a deeper respect for relationship and meaning than capitalism allows. Jackson's far-reaching essay is both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.
What should we do when our myths desert us? How are we to adjust to a new economic normal? What does life after capitalism look like?
Weaving together philosophical reflection, economic insight and social vision, Tim Jackson's provocative thesis is that a post growth society is a richer, not a poorer one. Material progress has changed our lives - in many ways for the better. But the luxury of having can too easily obscure the happiness of belonging, the satisfaction of achieving and the simple lightness of being. A genuine prosperity demands a deeper respect for relationship and meaning than capitalism allows. Jackson's far-reaching essay is both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.
Reviews / Votes
"At a time when the oligarchy is striving to greenwash its ecocidal ways, Tim Jackson's empowering and elegiac new book takes the real fight to them, elegantly but forcefully: to flourish on a living planet, humanity must plan for life after capitalism. Not only a 'must read' but a highly enjoyable one!"Yanis Varoufakis
"Post-growth is one of the most important ideas of the 21st century, and Tim Jackson one of its most powerful proponents. Don't miss this brilliant new book."
Jason Hickel, author of The Divide and Less is More
PRAISE FOR TIM JACKSON'S PROSPERITY WITHOUT GROWTH
"I remember exactly where I was when I first read Prosperity without Growth. It cuts through the intellectual clamor with clarity, courage - and hope."
Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
"Tim Jackson's Prosperity without Growth systematizes and renders tangible an essential project few believed to be practical: recovering the dream of shared prosperity and human development through decoupling it from the bandwagon of growth. Essential reading for those refusing to succumb to a dystopic future."
Yanis Varoufakis, Professor of Economics, University of Athens
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Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2021
1st Edition
Polity Press
€71.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
03/2021
1st Edition
Wiley-Scrivener
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Tim Jackson is Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey in the UK. For over three decades, he has pioneered research on the moral, economic and social dimensions of prosperity on a finite planet. His landmark book Prosperity without Growth (2009/2017) was a Financial Times book of the year, and UnHerd's book of the decade. It appeared in 17 foreign language editions worldwide. In 2016, he was awarded the Hillary Laureate for exceptional international leadership in sustainability. In addition to his academic work, Tim is an award-winning dramatist with numerous radio-writing credits for the BBC.