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Outlines how to rethink society's economic, political, and social institutions and actions to take to build better societies.
List of contents
Introduction: the future is in our hands; Part I. Much to Worry, Reasons for Hope: 1. Looming catastrophes; 2. Globalization and technology: choices and contingencies; 3. The expanding circle of respect and dignity; 4. The big challenge; Part II. Acting for Social Progress: 5. In search of a new 'third way'; 6. Reforming capitalism; 7. From the welfare state to the emancipating state; 8. From polaritics to politics; Conclusion: mobilizing change-makers.
About the author
Marc Fleurbaey is an economist, professor at Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School and Center for Human Values) and member of Collège d'Etudes Mondiales (Paris FMSH). He is the co-author of Beyond GDP (with Didier Blanchet, 2013), A Theory of Fairness and Social Welfare (with François Maniquet, Cambridge, 2011), and the author of Fairness, Responsibility and Welfare (2008). He was a coordinating lead author for the IPCC 5th Report, and one of the initiators of the International Panel on Social Progress. He is also a member of the UN Committee on Development Policy, and of the Council for Global Problem-Solving.Olivier Bouin is an economist, director of the Réseau français des instituts d'études avancées (RFIEA) foundation that supports Institutes for Advanced Study worldwide and former director of the Collège d'Etudes Mondiales (Paris). He is the co-editor of Europe's Crises (with Manuel Castells et al, 2017) and the co-author of Economic and Political Democracy: Key Challenges Ahead (2018). He is a member of the Governing Board of the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities, and one of the initiators of the International Panel on Social Progress.Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic is a sociologist, professor and dean of the School of Management and Innovation at Sciences Po. Her research focuses on the interface between business and society – the historical transformation of capitalism, the cross-national diffusion of ideas and practices, business ethics and corporate social responsibility, transnational governance and the performative role of ideologies. She has published broadly on those issues in academic journals and books. In particular, she is the author of Exporting the American Model (1998), winner of the 2000 Max Weber Award (American Sociological Association) and, together with Sigrid Quack, of Transnational Communities: Shaping Global Economic Governance (Cambridge, 2010).Ravi Kanbur is an economist, Professor at Cornell University. He has served on the senior staff of the World Bank including as Chief Economist for Africa. He is President of the Human Development and Capabilities Association, Chair of the Board of United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research, member of the OECD High Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance, Past-President of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, past member of the High Level Advisory Council of the Climate Justice Dialogue, and past-member of the Core Group of the Commission on Global Poverty.Helga Nowotny is Professor emerita of Social Studies of Science, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich and Former President of the European Research Council, ERC. Currently she is Chair of the ERA Council Forum Austria and Visiting Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her active engagement in scientific boards includes the Walling Falls Foundation (member); Lindau Nobel Laureate meetings (Vice-President); Complexity Science Hub Vienna (Chair); among others. Her latest book publications are The Cunning of Uncertainty (2016) and An Orderly Mess (2017).Elisa Reis is a political sociology professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and chair of the Interdisciplinary Network for Social Inequalities Studies (NIED). Her research focuses on elite perceptions of poverty and inequality, and on contemporary changes in the patterns of interaction between state, market and society. She has published widely in Brazilian and foreign periodicals. She is one of the authors of the book by Michele Lamont et al. Getting Respect: Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the United States, Brazil and Israel (2016).
Summary
Amidst today's threats to the environment, human dignity, and democratic institutions, this book offers a new vision. Based on the work of over 300 social scientists, it shows how to rethink and reform society's key institutions - markets, corporations, welfare policies, democratic processes and transnational governance - to create better societies.
Additional text
Advance praise: 'Better is always possible: this is the vision of the authors of this book, and it is also the vision of our government. The book's focus on well-being and freedom, fairness, diversity and inclusion, as well as transparency and engagement provides a strong ethical and practical foundation for that vision. I commend the authors for their book's demonstration of how social science can serve the common good, and how, together, hope and hard work can lead to a better world.' The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Quebec
