debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Watch Jean Lambert, MEP for the UK Green Party, discuss GDP as a measures of well-being. This talk was recorded at the conference ‘From (un)economic growth to future well-being’ organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Public Service Union (EPSU) in Brussels on 15th and 16th October 2012. This video is [...]
Watch Florence Jany-Catrice of the University of Lille 1 discuss measures of well-being. This talk was recorded at the conference ‘From (un)economic growth to future well-being’ organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Public Service Union (EPSU) in Brussels on 15th and 16th October 2012. This video is part of the [...]
Watch Agnes Hubert of the Bureau of Economic Policy Advisers (BEPA) talk on the EU’s Strategic Framework for Sustainable Well-Being. This talk was recorded at the conference ‘From (un)economic growth to future well-being’ organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Public Service Union (EPSU) in Brussels on 15th and 16th October 2012. [...]
Watch Philippe Van Parijs (University of Louvain) discuss the above topic. This talk was recorded at the conference ‘From (un)economic growth to future well-being’ organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Public Service Union (EPSU) in Brussels on 15th and 16th October 2012. This video is part of the European growth strategy [...]
The king of Bhutan wants to make us all happier. Governments, he says, should aim to maximize their people’s Gross National Happiness rather than their Gross National Product. Does this new emphasis on happiness represent a shift or just a passing fad? It is easy to see why governments should de-emphasize economic growth when it is proving [...]
The international debate on progress is becoming increasingly important in a number of countries. Besides changing the way we assess societal well-being, it has a number of significant consequences for political parties. Based on indicators of social well-being they can formulate a new overarching narrative and, at the same time, communicate the core brand of [...]
“Michelle, ma belle”, sings Paul McCartney, “these are words that go together well.” Until recently, few people would have said the same of the terms “happiness” and “public policy”? But while these words may indeed lack the poetic elegance of the Beatles classic, it is our conviction that they will be inextricably linked in the [...]
The importance of social capital has become widely accepted in the social sciences. One reason for the interest in social capital (defined as networks based on reciprocity and interpersonal trust) is that, as measured in surveys, it correlates with a number of other variables that for most people are normatively highly desirable. For example, people [...]
Now that governments are beginning to think that measuring well-being through self-reports is a good idea, it’s high time to discuss how best to do this. In a recent interview for the International Journal of Wellbeing, Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman has expressed fears that governments will insert only one of the widely-used subjective well-being questions [...]
In a Good Society Debate article earlier this year, Christian Kroll argued that findings from the science of well-being should be used to inform policy-making. His argument is essentially the same as those presented by Lord Richard Layard (in Happiness: Lessons from a New Science) and Derek Bok (in The Politics of Happiness). The argument [...]
UNICEF UK’s vision is a world in which every child’s rights are fully realised. So, as the UK General Election, due to take place on May 6th, draws nearer, we are calling on politicians to pledge their support for children’s rights and policies which help to ensure these rights are fully realised. It is reassuring [...]
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