Imagining a Just and Sustainable Society: A Critique of Alternative Economic Models in the Global Justice Movement

Abstract

This article examines diverse visions of an alternative society articulated by individuals and groups in the Global Justice Movement (GJM). It finds that many dissenters of globalization tend to converge on the idea that localization, economic descaling and political devolution would foster social conditions favourable to a just and sustainable society. Critiquing this idea, this article identifies a number of foreseeable problems associated with a descaled, localized economy with a decentralized political structure. With a notable silence on the issue of the movement of people, local-centred economic models may provide an ecological ground for anti-immigration and trade protectionism of the rich countries. Small-scale farming and small scale eco-technology are far too inadequate to meet the food and energy needs of the populace in huge urban areas. Given the fast growing rate of urbanization globally, localizers must address the issue of how to go about restructuring the economy without infringing on people's occupational aspirations and their preference for certain modes of living (rural or urban). In short, the presumed positive correlation between a descaled local economy and social justice is challenged throughout the article.

An Analysis of Emerging Renewable Hydrogen Policy through an Energy Democracy Lens: The Case of Australia

“…This could be in the form of encouraging smaller-scale projects for hydrogen production and consumption to service and benefit local communities. While community-owned and -led initiatives are not without critique (see [79]), the current Australian strategy landscape excludes-or at minimum is not imagining-alternative conceptualisations to hydrogen ownership, project topology, or governance. This is surprising given that, increasingly, the renewable energies' sector is delivered through community-owned and -governed projects [9], which provide transferrable models for renewable hydrogen projects for the future.…”

Social Institutions and Sustainability: A Transdisciplinary Research Agenda

“…This Symposium is the culmination of that realization. As speaker after speaker at the 2015 conference discussed their research, we realized that sustainability was conceived in multiple ways by different disciplines—as long-term viability, as environmental preservation, as the adoption of innovative technologies and processes, as social equity and local organizing in marginalized communities, and as cultural regeneration, to list but a few (e.g., Kurian et al, 2014; Mitra, 2016; Moldavanova, 2016; Park, 2012; Prasad and Elmes, 2005; Sharfman et al, 2000). While these diverse conceptions largely held true to the underlying social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability—defined by the World Council for Economic Development (WCED, 1987) as development that meets present socioeconomic needs without jeopardizing future generations—less studied is the crucial role of social collectives, groups, agencies, and organizations, or what we term “social institutions,” in deliberating policy and enacting practices on the ground to ensure a more sustainable future.…”

The local dimension in the degrowth literature. A critical discussion

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