Library

Scientific paper • 2015

The proximity of nations to a socially sustainable steady-state economy

By: Daniel W. O'Neill

Keywords: Indicators; Steady-state economy; Degrowth; Resource use; Well-being

Misc • 2015

Care Revolution. Schritte in eine solidarische Gesellschaft

By: Gabriele Winker

Der Verlag: Viele Menschen geraten beim Versuch, gut für sich und andere zu sorgen, an die Grenzen ihrer Kräfte. Was als individuelles Versagen gegenüber den alltäglichen Anforderungen erscheint, ist jedoch Folge einer neoliberalen Krisenbearbeitung. Notwendig ist daher ein grundlegender Perspektivenwechsel – nicht weniger als eine Care Revolution. Gabriele Winker entwickelt Schritte in...

Scientific paper • 2015

Möglichkeitsräume - Der urbane Raum als Keimzelle des Wandels

By: Thomas Kerekes

Teaser: Möglichkeitsräume sind wahrgenommene, konzipierte und gelebte Orte, deren Funktion wandelbar, flexibel und offen bleibt. Sie lassen soziale und ökonomische Experimente zu und eröffnen den Menschen Raum für unterschiedliche Erfahrungen. Abstract: In Zeiten der Krise erweisen sich Städte als erstaunlich resilient. Sie scheinen daher mehr als die stagnierenden Nationalstaaten in der Lage,...

Art contribution • 2015

Nachhaltiger Aktivismus - a zine about sustainable activism

By: cre-act

More and more people realize we need activism for change, but how can we stay active in the long run? I made a zine exploring sustainable activism, with contributions from activists in Europe. You can read it here and download the pdf version. Dutch and English and German and English. The contributions are written in German, Dutch and English. They are not translated, so ask your friends for...

Scientific paper • 2015

Measuring rural–urban disparity with the Genuine Progress Indicator: A case study in Japan

By: Takashi Hayashi

Japan, often regarded as one of the world's most egalitarian societies, has faced increasing rural–urban disparity since the late 1980s. However, even if the wages and income levels of rural populations are lower than those of urban residents, some people will remain in the rural areas or, in some cases, return from the cities. These observations imply the necessity of measuring the...

Scientific paper • 2014

Happy for How Long? How Social Capital and GDP relate to happiness over time

By: Stefano Bartolini, Francesco Sarracino

Abstract: What does predict the evolution over time of subjective well-being? We correlate the trends of subjective well-being with the trends of social capital and/or GDP. We find that in the long and medium run social capital largely predicts the trends of subjective well-being. In the short-term this relation- ship weakens. Indeed, in the short run, changes in social capital predict a much...

Scientific paper • 2014

Do people care for a sustainable future? Evidence from happiness data.

By: Stefano Bartolini, Francesco Sarracino, Laurent Theis

Abstract: While the various streams of environmentalism agree in claiming that the current patterns of economic activity are unsustainable for natural resources, they disagree in answering the following question: who is the responsible? Two different answers have been provided: the people or the socio-economic system. The first answer claims that people are inter-temporally greedy....

Scientific paper • 2014

GREAT RECESSION AND U.S. CONSUMERS’ BULIMIA: DEEP CAUSES AND POSSIBLE WAYS OUT

By: Stefano Bartolini, Francesco Sarracino, Luigi Bonatti

hyper-consumerism; working time; negative externalities; happiness; growth rebalancing

Scientific paper • 2014

Social sustainability practice in local government

By: Mark Boulle

Abstract: This paper presents the findings from doctoral research into social sustainability practice of Australian local government. It is argued that the social pillar of sustainability has received less attention in research and practice than environmental and economic pillars of sustainability. The research contends there is a leading role for local government to play in incorporating...

Scientific paper • 2014

Income reductions, personality and well-being: Which personality types are the most psychologically resilient to the experience of income reductions?

By: Christopher Boyce

Well-being, life satisfaction, income, Big Five personality, SOEP

Scientific paper • 2014

CULTURE OF POVERTY, POPULAR CULTURE AND BUEN VIVIR

By: Thierry Brugvin

Abstract: The working class and poor can set an example to the richest in the context of their cultural practices based on voluntary simplicity. This sobriety is usually constrained in the lower classes, but it can become a way of virtuous life to personal, social and ecological buen vivir or the happy sobriety. Between the excesses that are charitable or liberal policies on the one hand and...

Scientific paper • 2014

A post-growth society for the 21st century - Does prosperity have to wait for the return of economic growth?

By: Lucas Chancel, Damien Demailly, Henri Waisman, Céline Guivarch

Abstract: A post-growth society for the 21st century - Does prosperity have to wait for the return of economic growth? To respond to this dissatisfaction with the current political and media discourse on growth, this report attempts to answer – as far as possible – the two following questions: 1. Can we have any certainty about the future of growth? 2. Assuming that the coming decades will be a...

Scientific paper • 2014

Education for well-being

By: Jochen Dallmer

Abstract: Well-being is an important concept for revisiting ideas of a what a good life is and finding pathways towards a less materialistic and hence less production/consumption oriented society. But how and where do we learn about well-being? In education the concept of well-being is almost completely absent. Singular educational concepts work on happiness and well-being and give some...

Scientific paper • 2014

Linking resource efficiency to new measurement of well-being

By: Vera Freyling

Abstract: The presentation is part of the special session “Resource efficiency Beyond GDP”. Improving resource efficiency generally means maximizing produced value, while minimizing pressures and impacts of economic production. In the GDP-era we wholly consider produced value in quantifying gains of economic activities, in other words, praising the quantities of all produced final and...

Scientific paper • 2014

WELL-BEING AS A SOCIAL MUST. BUT IS WELL-BEING HEALTHY?

By: Francesca Gardiol

Abstract: Today the frantic search for well-being seems to be a social must: living well has become the new imperative, sadness, anger, anxiety, are feelings to be deleted. Subjective well-being is actually a normative construct, that is the product of the values and core principles in a culture. In the consumer society the most important aim is a "happy life"; the necessary condition for being...

Scientific paper • 2014

Economic growth and human needs satisfaction across-socio economic groups in Peru. An illustration using the Human Scale Development Approach

By: Monica Guillen

human needs, international development, wellbeing, economic growth, values

Scientific paper • 2014

Exploring consumption-focused policy mixes for absolute decoupling of well-being from resource use and environmental impacts

By: Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers, Katharina Umpfenbach

Abstract: The overall environmental impact of consumption of resources in the EU continues to grow, requiring more biocapacity than is globally available. This appears driven by the dominant economic model putting consumerism and GDP growth at the heart of our economic system, as well as in our cultural and political systems. The paper will presents attempts of the European research project...

Scientific paper • 2014

Subjective wellbeing in Colombia

By: Alexander Krauss

subjective wellbeing, happiness, Colombia, unemployment, life satisfaction

Scientific paper • 2014

THANCS – a process to address tensions that emerge in/with a transition towards sustainable development

By: Ines Omann, Felix Rauschmayer

ustainability transition, needs, tensions, sustainable lifestyles, quality of life

Scientific paper • 2014

Bhutan: Between Happiness and Horror

By: Lorenzo Pellegrini, Luca Tasciotti

Abstract: This study juxtaposes the congratulatory rhetoric surrounding Bhutan’s efforts to promote happiness and the gross violations of human rights that coincide with the happiness project. The academic debate has not reflected on the Janus-faced nature of the Bhutanese regime and the literature is replete with references to the Bhutanese happiness search. From these acclaims, it appears...