Human needs, steady-state economics and sustainable welfare

This chapter explains the contribution towards a systematic consideration of basic human needs in the political economy of sustainable welfare. The steady-state economy is the currently most developed vision of a non-growing economic system that functions within ecological boundaries. This makes it a logical entry point for reflections on human needs and sustainable welfare. Reaching an agreement on a steady-state economy that includes a sustainable welfare component as one of its institutional pillars will be far from easy. The apparently unsurmountable structural obstacles for such a transition include the hegemony of the growth discourse and the ensuing lack of political will, the widespread and deeply ingrained consumer culture in the rich countries and a massive concentration of economic resources and power in the hands of organizations and individuals who profit from a continuation of the current growth model.