Universal basic services and sustainable consumption

Coote, Anna

doi:10.1080/15487733.2020.1843854

Cited by 27 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…But to achieve such an aim, creating the societal conditions for reduced work time would need to be considered along with the provision of public services, such as access to renewable energy in more energy efficient homes, and adequate public transport services, but also the provision of childcare and elderly care. The concept of basic universal services covers this ambition of meeting human needs through the collective (Coote, 2021). We cannot prove that high levels of consumption do not also yield high levels of well-being: this is where social justice becomes a central issue, as an excessively affluent lifestyle by the few prevents many people from living a good life (Fuchs et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The societal conditions for achieving sufficiency through voluntary work time reduction: Results of a pilot study in Western Switzerland

Sahakian

Rossier

2022

Front. Sustain.

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Can the voluntary reduction of working hours as a sufficiency practice promote more environmentally sustainable forms of consumption along with human well-being? In this exploratory study conducted at the end of 2018 in Western Switzerland, we use the social practices and systems of provision approaches and a definition of well-being based on human need satisfaction to answer this question in the context of an affluent country where women typically work-part-time after the arrival of children due to limited family policies. In-depth interviews with people in couples, with families, where men have also voluntarily engaged in work time reduction (WTR) (n = 14), indicate that some do indeed simultaneously enjoy a high level of well-being, while limiting consumption and ecological impact. However, these are almost exclusively couples with high cultural and social capital who have adopted non-consumerist and gender egalitarian norms, despite the “culture of affluence” that dominates in Swiss society. Moreover, truly resource-sufficient lifestyles seem to be possible only for people who live in settings that offer ecological options by default, thus emphasizing the importance of systems of provision that make some forms of consumption and well-being more probable and possible than others. The article therefore argues that sufficiency as a practice must go beyond personal motivations to consider the societal conditions that support sustainable well-being.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The societal conditions for achieving sufficiency through voluntary work time reduction: Results of a pilot study in Western Switzerland

Sahakian

Rossier

2022

Front. Sustain.

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“…This can only be done after ensuring the basic needs of people are met. Thus, we propose a universal basic income or services which according to the literature, are considered pro-equality policy measures (Coote 2020;Gough 2019). Based on the ndings of this study, the latter one is proposed since assessments of possible policy interventions report on the adverse environmental impact of redistribution of income.…”

Section: Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four economic principles of just sustainability transition

Dombi

Fahid

Harazin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Equitable income distribution is desirable for moral, economic, and social reasons. Recent studies, however, indicate that improved income allocation will result in increased environmental impacts due to our socio-economic system's current settings. Therefore, we explored the key aspects of a system that can more evenly reallocate natural and economic resources while reducing negative environmental impacts. We found that the capital is extremely important as a means of material flows and stocks. Thus, effective policy interventions should target mechanisms at this very market. Based on a comprehensive literature review and statistical analyses at various levels, we proposed a four-step policy framework that includes reducing and targeted savings, reshaping governments' spatial decisions and role in the housing market, and changing the rates of depreciation in income tax legislation used globally. Author summary Over the last decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on economic inequality in the sustainability discourse. Inequality in wealth and earnings evokes social tensions and keeps holding back the efforts towards a just and sustainable society. However, recent studies show, that we cannot reach an aim of a more equal society and decreased pollution and natural resource use in the same time. We discovered that the capital market is extremely important with regard to the connections between the society and its effect on Nature. As a result, a fundamental intervention should attempt to considerably reshape this laxer of the economy in order to address the various problems of our ecological crisis and the inequality issue that it entails. However, a disruption in the capital market would cause substantial social damage, such as shortage on the housing market or through the discontinuation of innovations. The aim, then, is to identify selective yet market-oriented regulatory instruments. Our findings propose a four-step policy framework which fits the requirements above.

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“…One type of approach that is not equally prominent in the debate focuses more on negotiating and regulating the use of bundles made of resources (both natural and social) and infrastructures (including systems of provisioning). Such approaches are, for instance, a need area approach (Bed€ urfnisfeld-Ansatz, e.g., Mogalle 2000;Beschorner et al 2005), an approach proceeding from rights of use and institutional resource regimes (e.g., Gerber et al 2009), or the universal basic services approach (e.g., Coote 2021;Coote and Percy 2020;Froud and Williams 2018;Bohnenberger 2020). Such approaches are promising, because they incorporate both resources and satisfiers (in terms of consumer goods and acts of consumption).…”

Section: Determining Corridors Of Consumption: Theoretical Challenges To Addressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building the bridge between Protected Needs and consumption corridors

Giulio

Defila

2021

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

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The concept of consumption corridors (CC) provides a fundament for developing sustainable consumption policies. It suggests to determine minima and maxima of consumption. Its implementation would lead to numerous policies covering a broad range of dimensions of consumption. To serve this purpose, the concept must proceed from a broad conceptualization of consumption that convincingly links a human-action lens and a natural-environment lens. The concept of CC is informed by the goal of ensuring quality of life for every human being living now and in the future. Accordingly, quality of life should be the criterion used to justify and determine corridors of consumption. This necessitates firmly linking consumption and a salutogenic definition of quality of life. This article explores how the theory of Protected Needs (PN), a quality-of-life-theory that has been specifically developed for the context of sustainability, contributes to advancing the concept of CC. In addition, drawing on the results of a Swiss survey, we show that embracing the existence of universal and incontestable human needs and endorsing the idea of limiting consumption might be part of the same worldview. The article concludes by identifying conceptual challenges to approach with a view to building a robust bridge from needs to lower and upper limits of consumption.

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Universal basic services and sustainable consumption

Cited by 27 publications

References 26 publications

The societal conditions for achieving sufficiency through voluntary work time reduction: Results of a pilot study in Western Switzerland

The societal conditions for achieving sufficiency through voluntary work time reduction: Results of a pilot study in Western Switzerland

Four economic principles of just sustainability transition

Building the bridge between Protected Needs and consumption corridors

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