Prof. Doris Fuchs encourages thinking about a “sustainable democracy”
On April 16, ZIN spokeswoman Prof. Doris Fuchs commented on the lecture "Necessities and luxuries: how to combine redistribution with sustainable consumption" by Prof. Ian Gough. The lecture was held at the Université de Genève (Geneva) as part of a sociological forum on sustainable and ethical consumption and was also part of a three-day international workshop on consumption corridors in which the ZIN spokeswoman participated.
In his lecture, Prof. Ian Gough pointed out connections between ideas from his book "Heat, Greed and Human Need. Climate Change, Capitalism and Sustainable Wellbeing" and the concept of consumption corridors and discussed, inter alia, the extent to which the concept of "human needs" can be used to establish links between planetary boundaries and justice or equality. Subsequently, discussant Prof. Doris Fuchs reflected upon the challenge of implementing Gough's ideas in a dysfunctional democracy and called, among other things, for thinking about a "sustainable democracy" and for limiting the role of money in politics.
An audio recording of Prof. Ian Gough's lecture and Prof. Doris Fuchs' commentary is available online here.