community / civil society | Moral Markets?

Perspectives and Elections – Towards a Future-Proof and Valuable Society

by Katinka Abbenbroek Annemieke Nijhof | 13 Jan 2021 | opinion & ideas, climate change & sustainability, inequality & justice, community / civil society

With its recently published manifesto, Springtij wants to give a significant push to the shift towards a future-proof Netherlands. It is a political manifesto that is meant to be apolitical; Springtij points to ideas “that transcend party political positions. Ideas and solutions that do not divide society but strengthen it.” The Springtij manifesto is built around four ‘environments’: living & working environment, agricultural & natural environment, industrial environment, and great waters & sea. The changes described in the manifesto require a number of economic and social changes. A viewpoint submitted to the Future Market Consultation.

Greening the Gig

by Project Syndicate ("The World's Opinion Page") | 13 Oct 2020 | climate change & sustainability, community / civil society

“The initial hope for the digital platform-based “sharing economy” was that it would both empower workers and reduce the broader economy’s carbon footprint. Neither has happened under corporate ownership; but ample research shows that alternative cooperative models could reclaim the sector’s original promise”, writes Juliette B. Schor

Is There Sufficient Room for Local Communities in a Globalized Economy?

by Ilse Oosterlaken (Moral Markets) | 12 Oct 2020 | governments & markets, community / civil society, opinion & ideas, globalisation / free trade

In a recent dialogue economists Raghuram Rajan and Paul Collier both defended their view that local communities should be re-empowered again. Yet Collier called it ‘dumb’ to reverse globalization. But can we have our cake and eat it, Ilse Oosterlaken wonders. Would it not be necessary to make economies more local before local communities can thrive again?

Inside Markets, Outside Markets – Recording of & Report on the Live Cast Now Available

by Ilse Oosterlaken (Moral Markets) | 7 Oct 2020 | interviews, debate & dialogue, community / civil society

The recording of our live cast on ‘inside markets, outside markets’ (5 October) with economists Raghuram Rajan and Paul Collier is now available. The interview with Rajan and the interview with Collier, part of the episode, are also available as separate videos.

How Can We Develop Better Communities as the Basis for Better Economies?

by Sam de Muijnck | 6 Oct 2020 | community / civil society, column

Both professor Collier and professor Rajan argue that communities have collapsed over the last decades. […] how do we expect these new communities to develop? Or in other words, what is our theory of change? It seems to me there are three possible answers to this question, or a combination of them.

Forms of Capital and Moral Legitimation of Capitalism

by Economic Sociology and Political Economy | 28 Sep 2020 | book reviews, historical perspective, community / civil society

“All the chapters converge around that claim that, without both social and cultural capital in place, business owners are handicapped, and their enterprise cannot flourish even when money is abundant. However, the case studies also suggest that, although both resource types are still and always have been important, the balance of relative importance shifted over historic time from business-friendly ideas to business-supporting communities.”

International Trade Has Cost Americans Millions of Jobs. Investing in Communities Might Offset Those Losses

by The Conversation ("Academic Rigour, Journalistic Flair") | 3 Aug 2020 | globalisation / free trade, work - meaning & future, community / civil society

“Economists generally support ‘people-based’ over ‘place-based’ policies and investments. The rationale is that it’s more important to invest in workers rather than bolster a place where workers live. Economists would argue that directing public funds into regions doing poorly is akin to wasting money. The logical outcome of such policies is that towns that have lost their economic base are allowed to shrink while other economies take their place.”

Another Approach to Online Platforms Is Possible: Cooperation

by The Conversation ("Academic Rigour, Journalistic Flair") | 3 Nov 2019 | opinion & ideas, technology & digitalization, community / civil society

“The solution would be to adopt a cooperative model. In other words, to create platforms that are owned by their users and apply a democratic operating model, in which each co-owner has a voice, independent of their contribution of capital. In addition, an obligation to reinvest a proportion of the profit into the project, with no way of making a capital gain by selling shares, thus avoiding financial speculation. Many experiments are underway around the world.”

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Grocery Story; The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants – New on Our Bookshelf

by Ilse Oosterlaken (Moral Markets) | 28 Aug 2019 | updates general, community / civil society

Grocery Story deconstructs the food retail sector and the shadows cast by corporate giants, and makes the case for food co-ops as an alternative. It shows how co-ops spur the creation of local food-based economies and enhance low-income food access.

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The Third Pillar; How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind – New on Our Bookshelf

by Ilse Oosterlaken (Moral Markets) | 1 Jun 2019 | community / civil society

The Third Pillar offers up a big-picture framework for understanding how these three forces–the state, markets, and our communities–interact, why things begin to break down, and how we can find our way back to a more secure and stable plane.

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