ABSTRACT

As the global economy seeks to recover from the financial crisis and warnings about the consequences of climate change abound, it is clear that we need a fundamentally new approach to tackle these issues. This innovative book offers a unique perspective, stressing the necessity of both ecological and social change as it discusses how to create a "red-green" or "eco-socialist" society.

Examining the current crises of welfare capitalism as well as the challenges and conflicts of an eco-socialist society, the book proposes a new social order that would combine the ideals of egalitarianism and of environmental sustainability. It analyses the key social and ecological issues related to the welfare state, including green Keynesianism, ecological Marxism, the limits of growth and no-growth, capitalist barriers to a renewable energy transition, proposals for a universal basic income and the role of technology. Finally, the book outlines possible paths of transformation towards creating an eco-socialist society, drawing out lessons that can be applied internationally.

This book will be of great interest to students and researchers in economics, environmental studies and political science.

part 1|53 pages

The scene

chapter 2|19 pages

The sustainability of welfare capitalism

Redefining institutions and agency

chapter 3|13 pages

Politics in a world of scarcity

part 2|68 pages

The challenge

chapter 5|18 pages

A renewable energy transition

Capitalist barriers, socialist enticements

chapter 7|19 pages

Commons against capitalism

part 3|69 pages

Strategy and agency

chapter 8|11 pages

Universal basic income

A cornerstone of the new economic order

chapter 9|15 pages

Out of the frying pan

People on the move in a warmer world and how to receive them

chapter 10|17 pages

Climate jobs as tipping point

Norwegian grassroots challenging the oil and climate change hegemony

chapter 11|15 pages

Socialism or barbecue, war communism or geoengineering

Some thoughts on choices in a time of emergency

chapter |9 pages

Afterword

The making of Scandinavian ecosocialism