Growth fetish

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Growth fetish

Clive Hamilton

Pluto Press, 2004

  • : hbk
  • : pbk.

Available at  / 3 libraries

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Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

For decades our political leaders and opinion makers have touted higher incomes as the way to a better future. Economic growth means better lives for us all. But after many years of sustained economic growth and increased personal incomes we must confront an awful fact: we aren't any happier. This is the great contradiction of modern politics. Clive Hamilton argues that, far from being the answer to our problems, growth fetishism and the marketing society lie at the heart of our social ills. They have corrupted our social priorities and political structures, and have created a profound sense of alienation among young and old. Growth Fetish is the first serious attempt at a politics of change for rich countries dominated by sicknesses of affluence, where the real yearning is not for more money but for authentic identity, and where the future lies in creating a society that promotes the things that really do improve our well-being.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Growth fetishism The growth fetish Economists on wellbeing The great contradiction Political implications 2. Growth and wellbeing Income Personal happiness Values and meaning Alternative measures 3. Identity Having and wanting Consumption and the modern self Marketing Overconsumption 4. Progress The idea of progress Oppression and liberation Globalisation 5. Politics The Third Way The power of economic ideas Power and equality 6. Work Rethinking work The new labour market In praise of housework Work in a post-growth world 7. Environment The voraciousness of growth The conquering spirit A philosophical transition Environmentalism and social democracy 8. The post-growth society Political downshifting Eudemonism: the politics of happiness Starting the transition The post-growth economy Power and social structure

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