We live in a time in which one crisis follows the next: Pandemic, war, poverty, flight, climate crisis or even the collapse of the financial system. How can we still not lose sight of our dreams and utopias, take action and what can give us orientation?
"We leave the familiar world with a compass that shows us the direction we have taken and an odometer that shows us how far we have travelled from the starting point, but without a map that shows us the entire route from the starting point to the destination. (...) We can't know in advance how far we can go, but we can know if we're moving in the right direction."
Erik Olin Wright (2017): Real Utopias. Ways out of capitalism, Berlin, p. 171
With this compass, let's take a look into the year 2048. We don't (yet) know what the world will look like then. But we do know which direction it should take: we want a social, ecological, democratic society in which a good life is possible for everyone.
An outline of a society that has already undergone a socio-ecological transformation is the so-called solidary mode of living. This serves as an alternative to the imperial way of life and production (external link, opens in a new window). Many criticisms and proposals you can also find in "Exiting the Crisis" have found its way into this outline in order to make another world imaginable. This is not about a master plan, but rather a contribution to the debate that can motivate us, that we can challenge ourselves with and that encourages us to exchange ideas.
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This article is part of the series Exiting the Crises! - Understanding Crises and Paths to Global Justice, which was produced in cooperation with Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie (external link, opens in a new window). Online Editing by Alina Kopp. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0 (external link, opens in a new window)! Share, use or adapt it for your educational work. Don't forget to republish it under the same conditions and mention L!NX and the authors.
Why is the world the way it is? In the following you'll find an introduction to selected socio-ecological crises. It highlights the connections between the climate crisis, the ecological crisis, gender relations, abundance, privileges and unjust global power relations. You will learn about the connections between capitalism and historically evolved global structures of exploitation.
Modern world trade has its roots in colonialism and is determined by the economic interests of powerful governments and transnational corporations. Free trade is a trade policy that is supposed to bring more growth and prosperity for everyone involved. But who really benefits from it and at what cost? We examine how and why free trade came about, how trade could be made fairer and highlight movements that oppose the current world trade order.
As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, transportation is a driving factor for the climate crisis. Find out what politicians are doing about it, why these plans are being criticised by Chile's population and why workers' struggles and climate struggles go together. Afterwards, chat with Maxi from the future and find out how things could be done differently.
In the name of aid, progress, growth, empowerment or sustainability, development has always had the sense of being something "good" or "positive". But poverty and inequality are outcomes of the systematic and unequal integration of "poorer" countries into the global economic structures. Learn more about this with a timeline of western development politics, its criticism and movements fighting for alternative concepts to improve and change the world.
Anyone who deals with the topic of agriculture and climate will realize that agriculture is both the cause and the victim of the climate crisis. However, agriculture cannot simply be abolished or replaced. But can it be made more climate-resistant and climate-friendly?
The destructive effects of capitalism on the environment are supposed to be transformed through the use of new technologies or ecological business models. But this cannot ensure genuine socio-ecological change and a good life for all. We need a system change based on the principles of solidarity and care.
Who runs the household when all the adult members of a family work eight hours a day? Coming home, picking up the children on the way and quickly doing some errands before cooking and tidying up - where is the time left for leisure, relationships or political work? You can find out here who still has this time, who doesn't and how things can be done differently.
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