debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
The sustainability question needs to be answered. In this phase of economic development, its impacts on a number of domains need to be considered. Environmental problems, both in the form of global warming and also economic and social issues, are the primary concern. The political implications are also crucial. Both domains have specific and common [...]
The heart of the sustainability debate is not philosophical but scientific. There is a massive body of evidence about climate change, pollution, resource depletion and other negative effects that stem directly and indirectly from human activity – more specifically, from much of conventional economic activity. (See, for example, New Scientist’s basic introduction). It is impossible [...]
In European countries like Germany and Sweden the social democrats and the greens are traditionally more in favour of red green political alliances than blue green coalitions with centre-right parties. Unfortunately, this has not been the case in Finland. Over the last years the Finnish Green League has preferred primarily to build political coalitions with [...]
Let’s knock down the three pillars of sustainable development! This wholly misleading picture, promoted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, is still around. The 2012 Rio conference is an opportunity to replace it with a very different picture. The “three pillars” obscure the real relationship between the economic, the social, and the environmental. They are [...]
To some it will be simple and obvious, while for others more complicated and perhaps even novel. But the point still has to be made: we will not achieve economic and social sustainability unless we see an end to financialisation and the emergence of a new economic (growth) model. Today, the predominance of finance and [...]
Here it is – the much celebrated age of knowledge. There are only a few dark spots in our known world, any ingenious idea has been turned over many times, has been written and expressed in a thousand ways. The so called noosphere (de Chardin, McLuhan), the natural home to a world full of knowledge, [...]
Earth´s population has recently passed 7 billion, a clear reminder that we need to re-evaluate how earth´s resources are divided amongst its inhabitants. In 2008 for the first time in human history, about as many people lived in urban areas as in rural settings. Predictions show that in 2050 as much as 70% of the [...]
Three pillars are essential to developing sustainable policies: economic, environmental and social. True progressive sustainability requires a balance of these three pillars which, in turn, allows for sustainable development in each area. Economic development is most commonly measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and its growth or regression is predominantly expressed in percentage [...]
This year, the Global Footprint Network has declared September 27th as “World Overshoot Day”. It was only September, yet all of the Earth’s natural resources for the year had already been used up. Our planet’s clock is ticking. Today, we are using 1.5 times the amount the planet has to offer. But, there remain people [...]
Going green is not enough for social democrats to keep up the spirit of change and progress. Although social democrats are suffering from the mismanagement of the economic crisis in many European countries we should make no mistake. Social democrats have lost the confidence of their voters not because they have done too much but [...]
Environmentalism is the tree that grew in the shade. When the modern environmental movement first flowered in the early 1970s, its intellectual genesis was soon overshadowed by a profound convulsion in the political economies of western democracies. The breakdown of the Keynesian consensus ushered in a much more free-market variant of capitalism – ironically, at [...]
It sometimes appears that politicians’ concerns about global warming overheating is inversely proportional to scientists’ fears. Even committed political players appear increasingly resigned to largely letting things run their course. They do so even though there are veritable doomsday scenarios associated with global warming, and even the more standard scientific fare predicts a significant decline [...]
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