Module 4: Having constructive conversations with those who hold different views
Finding common ground to start the conversation
Many people still assume a link between economic growth and societal wellbeing. Implicit in our political and public discourse is a belief that economic growth will increase wellbeing for all.
The good news is that those who hold those assumptions already care about wellbeing! The conversation can focus on the means to achieve the shared wellbeing goal. You may also come across people who are concerned about specific aspects of wellbeing, such as employment, health, education, or access to nature. In these cases, it may be useful to engage in conversations on how different aspects of wellbeing are interlinked and invite them to consider a more holistic understanding of wellbeing first (see Module 1). Then, delve into the assumptions around the assumed link between economic growth and wellbeing.
Points of constructive debate
There are several reasons why the assumed link between GDP growth and wellbeing does not necessarily hold:
GDP is not a good measure of societal wellbeing
A rising tide does not lift all boats equally
More is not always better
The current growth model is detrimental to wellbeing
Click on the card to find out more about each of these reasons.
Wellbeing economy avenues for exploration and collaboration
You can invite those who share the concerns on wellbeing to further explore and collaborate towards the following avenues for building a wellbeing economy:
Using holistic measures of societal progress. For example, many governments have developed dashboards of wellbeing indicators to assess progress in society that capture a wide array of economic, social, and environmental wellbeing measures. More on this in Module 6!
Valuing economic activities and behaviours by their contribution to social and ecological wellbeing, distinguishing between economic activities that highly contribute to wellbeing with limited environmental resources (e.g,. care work) and other activities that add little to wellbeing while consuming unsustainable amounts of resources (e.g., luxury goods and activities). A starting point for this is the development of green taxonomies for environmentally sustainable activities in places like Brazil, Indonesia, China (the Green Industry Guidance Catalogue), Colombia and the European Union.
Implementing deep tax systems reform so that economic activities that reduce social and environmental wellbeing are taxed more, and eventually phased out, while those that contribute to wellbeing are provided with incentives and are taxed less.
Reorienting government policies to foster human wellbeing and basic needs satisfaction in line with justice principles and environmental limits [12] [13] [14]. For example, by:
introducing universal basic services or universal basic incomes to ensure everyone’s basic needs are satisfied [15] [16];
decreasing inequalities in income and wealth through a focus on predistribution, caps on excessive income and wealth, and redistributive measures [17] [18] [19];
reducing overconsumption through sustainable pricing of goods and services and regulations on advertising in public spaces;
enabling regenerative and redistributive businesses to thrive [20]
working towards a caring society in which care for human and non-human life is valued and given status as the foundation for wellbeing, care is shared fairly, and care activities are supported with time and resources.
establishing deliberative forums that engage diverse communities to discuss and determine what is necessary for a good life, what a life in balance would look like, and what is needed to achieve this [21] [22].
References
[1] Büchs, M. & Koch, M. (2019). Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing, Futures, 105: 155-165.
[2] Fanning, A.L., O'Neill, D.W., Hickel, J., Roux, N. (2022). The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations. Nature Sustainability, 5(1): 26-36.
[3] Gough, I. (2015). Climate change and sustainable welfare: An argument for the centrality of human needs. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 39(5), 1191–1214.
[4] Coote, A., Percy, A., & Travers, A. (2020). The Case for Universal Basic Services. Polity Press.
[5] Gough, I. (2019). Universal Basic Services: A theoretical and moral framework. The Political Quarterly, 90 (3): 534-542.
[6] Buch-Hansen, H. & Koch, M. (2019). Degrowth through income and wealth caps. Ecological Economics, 160: 264-271.
[7] O'Neill, M. (2020). Power, predistribution, and social justice. Philosophy, 91 (1): 63-91.
[8] Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2010). The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. Bloomsbury Press.
[9] Sahan, E. & Schneider, N. (2023). Regenerative business rising: How policy can create an economy led by a different kind of company. Doughnut Economics Action Lab & Media Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder.
[10] Büchs, M. & Koch, M. (2019). Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing, Futures, 105: 155-165.
[11] Fuchs, D., Sahakian, M., Gumbert, T., Di Giulio, A., Maniates, M., Lorek, S., Graf, A. (2021). Consumption corridors: Living a good life within sustainable limits. library.oapen.org, https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/46919
[12] Büchs, M. & Koch, M. (2019). Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing, Futures, 105: 155-165.
[13] Fanning, A.L., O'Neill, D.W., Hickel, J., Roux, N. (2022). The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations. Nature Sustainability, 5(1): 26-36.
[14] Gough, I. (2015). Climate change and sustainable welfare: An argument for the centrality of human needs. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 39(5), 1191–1214.
[15] Coote, A., Percy, A., & Travers, A. (2020). The Case for Universal Basic Services. Polity Press.
[16] Gough, I. (2019). Universal Basic Services: A theoretical and moral framework. The Political Quarterly, 90 (3): 534-542.
[17] Buch-Hansen, H. & Koch, M. (2019). Degrowth through income and wealth caps. Ecological Economics, 160: 264-271.
[18] O'Neill, M. (2020). Power, predistribution, and social justice. Philosophy, 91 (1): 63-91.
[19] Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2010). The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. Bloomsbury Press.
[20] Sahan, E. & Schneider, N. (2023). Regenerative business rising: How policy can create an economy led by a different kind of company. Doughnut Economics Action Lab & Media Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder.
[21] Büchs, M. & Koch, M. (2019). Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing, Futures, 105: 155-165.
[22] Fuchs, D., Sahakian, M., Gumbert, T., Di Giulio, A., Maniates, M., Lorek, S., Graf, A. (2021). Consumption corridors: Living a good life within sustainable limits. library.oapen.org, https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/46919