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At this time when many have lost hope amidst conflicts, terrorism, environmental destruction, economic inequality and the breakdown of democracy, this beautifully written book outlines how to rethink and reform our key institutions - markets, corporations, welfare policies, democratic processes and transnational governance - to create better societies based on core principles of human dignity, sustainability, and justice. This new vision is based on the findings of over 300 social scientists involved in the collaborative, interdisciplinary International Panel on Social Progress. Relying on state-of-the-art scholarship, these social scientists reviewed the desirability and possibility of all relevant forms of long-term social change, explored current challenges, and synthesized their knowledge on the principles, possibilities, and methods for improving the main institutions of modern societies. Their common finding is that a better society is indeed possible, its contours can be broadly described, and all we need is to gather forces toward realizing this vision.
Social progress in the future will depend more on bottom-up initiatives and grassroots transformations than on top-down state interventions. Everyone can start the movement toward a better society by taking initiatives in the family, in the community, at work, and in the capacity of a parent, spouse, worker, employer, investor, consumer, voter, volunteer.
While global successes can be registered in terms of economic development and health, important threats are becoming more pressing, with the potential to disrupt social and ecological systems.
The welfare state is a key pillar of social cohesion but is under stress in the globalized economy. It must be reformed in order to focus its attention on making the economic sphere more sustainable and less conducive to inequalities in the first place, thereby reducing the need for redistribution. By granting better economic and social rights to citizens, the state can play a more emancipatory role.
The looming threats impose the need to simultaneously make progress on the fronts of equity, democracy, and sustainability. Any scenario that fails on one of these fronts ultimately fails on the others.
Globalization and technology are key drivers of the current social trends, but they are actually determined by institutions and policies which can be altered to render them more friendly to the less advantaged social groups.
Markets, corporations, and financial systems are essential to thriving economies but need to be regulated in order to serve the common good. In particular, the currently dominant form of the corporation needs a double reform of its purpose and its governance.
The search for a better society must shed old ideological divisions (such as socialism versus capitalism) and embrace the complexity of economic, political, and social mechanisms, where the distribution of resources, power, and status interfere and determine inequalities.
Long-term trends in cultures and social norms tend to make societies more inclusive and to improve the respect enjoyed by ethnic groups, genders, and people with various sexual orientations, even if there are some setbacks and reversals at some places and times.
Politics has taken a strong polarizing direction and democracy is under attack, or in doubt, almost everywhere. Simple measures can restore the power of the citizenry and make the political process more responsive to the population’s needs and values.