The principles of the Great Transition

Themes : An alternative vision of the economy

In response to the destructive effects of predatory globalization in social, human and ecological terms, there is a clear need for a new economy that would bring with it new social relations and an improved relationship with the planet. A number of authors refer to a transition from a unique global model, based on economic growth, increased debt and the plundering of natural resources, to a decentralized federation of social and ecological economies.

What are the key principles that would guide this transition? It represents the most challenging of democratic processes, wherein opinions from both North and South need to converge. A number of central ideas have emerged from the literature, including: a sufficiency economy rather than a growth economy; questioning of the concepts of wealth and indicators, the real barometer for a society seeking a new direction; decentralized currencies that call a halt to usurious interest rates and act as tools to relocalize the economy; financing for the social good; local food systems, solidarity-based chains of production and collaborative markets; energy solutions that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and introduce geolocalized systems that produce greater autonomy and resilience at the local and regional levels; social justice, and collective management of common goods. Human development, endogenous, democratic, united, sustainable, plural are just some of the terms used to define not a doctrinaire and materialist model but complex solutions in step with complex societies. Solidarity, collaboration, sharing, responsibility, co-participation, co-construction, social utility and social cohesion are the values that underpin the construction of this new economy, once again centred on humans and the planet.

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