roles for state institutions and for citizens in shaping
the way capitalism operates and how it delivers. It
also requires a role for other kinds of values which are
not those of the market and which are not necessarily
those of capitalist dynamics around profit. It makes
space for ideas of sufficiency, of “enough”, of solidarity, for a view of development that is progressive, for
social change as well as economic change, for a change
that actually seeks to reduce inequalities and finally
for more inclusive and safe societies for people at the
same time as addressing sustainability.
Ultimately we need to find solutions to environmental
problems in the way people and production and consumption systems relate to nature, not just by market
fixes to move them around.
Can you “design” the kinds of alternatives you support? Or will it come from a change in people behaviours or from how people relate to each other, meaning
that you might not find answers in more top-down
designed policies?
Bram Büscher was also invited to IOB as a guest
lecturer. He currently serves as Professor and Chair at
the Sociology of Development and Change group at
Wageningen University. His main concerns are around
the links between neoliberalism, conservation and
development, the politics of energy and the current
‘green econom x