Scenarios of a Quality of Life Society Summer Symposium 2016 The Hardanger Academy for Peace, Development and Environment Professor Ove Jakobsen Centre for Ecological Economics and Ethics/ Business school/Nord university

THE OVERARCHING PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT To improve the understanding of how the Norwegian post-2050 society might look like Identify global framework conditions that can be expected to become most influential, both as restrictions and enablers, in the development of the future society Identify the relationship between strategic national political choices today and the different societal states of the future

Key dimensions of the scenarios Resource base Social factors Individual factors Technology Economic system It is wrong to treat nature and human beings as objects whose price will be determined entirely by the market (Polanyi)

What is rational depends on the context Rationality is relational; rational is rational only in order to reach human ultimate ends Ex. Is it most rational to drink; Water Wine Poison It depends on your intention; Are you thirsty Do you want to get drunk Do you want to die One´s choices will depend very much upon what kind of philosophy one espouses (Næss)

Two different contexts – Green or ecological Greening the society – Standard of living Changes within the existing system (ideology - negative peace – shallow ecology) Saving the system The ecological society – Quality of life Fundamental system changes (utopia – positive peace – deep ecology) Changing the system Neither freedom nor peace could be institutionalized under market economy, since its purpose was to create profits and welfare, not peace and freedom (Polanyi)

“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see”

Thomas More (1477 - 1535) wrote the first formal utopia Thomas More (1477 - 1535) wrote the first formal utopia. He imagined a complex, self-contained world set on an island, in which communities shared a common culture and way of life. 1516

life in utopia Local production of food, wine, herbs, flowers 6 hours work As much time as possible to improve the mind, precondition for the good life Every street has a hall for meetings and conversations Always fruit after meat Virtue is living in accordance with nature There are several sorts of religion in every town The (…) utopias draw pictures of societies and ways of life expressing how people (…) would like to see the future (Næss)

IDEOLOGY Describes the present from the inside: Is important to create identity - individually and collectively Is rooted in the ideas of dominant social groups Refers to accepted common norms and values Justifies authorities Without utopia ideology becomes static, without ideology utopia becomes a mirage (Ricoeur)

UTOPIA Understands the present from outside: Is somewhere else - is geared towards the future Should not be realized, we can only approach them, to work in that direction Contributes to change, society is unfinished, dynamic, it is always underway Challenges authorities Utopia is not about the impossible, what is really impossible is to carry on as we are (Levitas 2013)

Shallow and Deep ecology Shallow Ecology Solutions for particular environmental problems Deep Ecology Eco-centric - All life has inherent value – and equal value Diversity of life are inherently good We need to change our economic, technical and industrial systems, philosophical world view, and materialistic consumerist lifestyle We can have a better life if we choose a life that is closer to nature and less materialistic There will be a profound awareness of the difference between bigness and greatness The aim is a substantial reorientation of our whole civilization (Næss)

Negative and Positive Peace Negative peace Reducing the negative symptoms such as direct and indirect violence, aggression. Positive peace Presence of harmony, well-being and social systems that serves values such as equity and fairness A shift from negative to positive peace requires changes on systems level The more pronounced I-culture at individual and collective level, the less likely positive peace, the more likely direct and structural violence (Galtung)

GREEN ECONOMY Green economy is focused on reducing the negative symptoms within the existing neo-classical economic system characterized by; Rationalism, industrialization, globalization, individualism and technological mastery of nature Green economy is an attempt to rescue the existing system by curbing the negative symptoms of the established ideology We have the economy and the economist we deserve given our social and global structures, our culture and history (Galtung)

ECONOMIC INTERNALIZATION Economy Ecology One goal is to find ways to get protection of nature into the framework of quantitative economic analysis (Næss)

ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS Instead of seeing the universe as a machine composed of elementary building blocks, the material world is more like an organism; A network of inseparable patterns of relationships, The planet as a whole is a living self-regulating system Evolution is no longer seen as a comparative struggle for existence, but rather a cooperative dance in which creativity and the constant emergence of novelty are the driving forces Diversity of organisms is good, ecological complexity is good, evolution is good, biotic diversity has intrinsic value (Næss)

ECOLOGICAL INTERNALIZATION Ecology Economy The term embeddedness expresses the idea that the economy is not autonomous, as it must be in economic theory, but subordinated to nature, politics, religion and social relations (Polanyi)

Change on different levels Worldview Individual consciousness Economic system Business practice The intention of a utopia is to change – to shatter – the present order (Ricoeur)

WORLDVIEW From a mechanical to an organic worldview The world as alive, self-developing, an integrated whole, constantly changing Human beings are integrated parts of the ecosystems To understand the world we are living in we need a holistic research model The story of ecological economics enlighten the path that leads to harmony between economic activities and the dynamic patterns and rhythms in nature

ECONOMIC SYSTEM From neo-classical economics to ecological economics The market is a cooperative network of actors The economy is dynamic and assumes continued development without increased consumption of natural resources The purpose of economy is enjoyment of life The direction is revolutionary, the steps are reformatory (Næss)

BUSINESS PRACTICE From a competitive business model to a partnership model Work has intrinsic value, personal development, reducing egocentrism Business trough self-organizing local markets Network of small businesses The true criticism of market society is not that it is based on economics, (…) but that its economy was based on self- interest (Polanyi)

INDIVIDUAL CONSCIOUSNESS From the economic man to the ecological man Instead of dominating nature we learn from nature Change the mindset from I to we We are aware of our mutual responsibility The less mental change (…) the more regulations (Næss)

THE DEVELOPMENT OF WORLD MAPS 1700 century 2100 century

Visions of the future quality of life community Some examples; Material consumption is minimized, maximize quality of life; "To be – rather than to have" Organization that promotes cooperation for the common good; "Self organized locally based, dynamic networks" Food System that safeguards soil, plants, animals and humans; "Local food for local markets" Decentralized circuit solutions for all materials; "Reduce, reuse, repair, recycle" Small-scale technology; "Technology should be in the service of people - not people in the service of technology ' Communities characterized by diversity; "Cultural diversity and biodiversity ensure resilience" The problem is not poverty – it is social injustice, human exploitation, conspicuous consumption and the loot of the natural world (Kumar)

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE The present exists where experiences from the past meets visions of the future Meaning occurs when the present is stretched out in time and space The future depends on our choices today (A.N. Whitehead) What is made by humans- can be changes by humans (Kumar)