Take Back the Economy

Abstract

If the Global Finance Crisis has taught us anything, it’s that economics as we know it is not working. If global warming means anything, it’s that we have to rethink how we live on this shared planet. Take Back the Economy is about making the economy work for people and the planet. It is intended for academic researchers, activists, students, community members and citizens interested in how they can contribute to a more just, sustainable and equitable world. The book reframes the idea that the economy is a thing, separate from us and best understood by experts. The economy is presented as a human creation and therefore open to ethical intervention and political imagination. This book explores the actions that people are taking to build ethical economies, and it presents these actions in terms of shared ethical concerns. What’s necessary for human survival? What do we do with the extra or surplus that’s produced over and above what we need to survive? What relationships do we have with other people and with the environments that help to satisfy our needs? What do we use up and consume in the process of satisfying our needs? How do we maintain and replenish the gifts of nature and intellect that all humans rely on? How can we invest in a future worth living in? There are no easy answers to these questions, but across the globe people are responding in novel ways that take into account people and planetary wellbeing. Take Back the Economy features these novel responses and it introduces a series of tools that readers can use to explore the ethical thinking that underpins the responses. It shows readers how they can take back the economy from where they are and using what they have at hand.