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Free Economy! On 3628800 Alternatives Of And To Capitalism, Steffen Roth Dec 2014

Free Economy! On 3628800 Alternatives Of And To Capitalism, Steffen Roth

Prof. Dr. Dr. Steffen Roth

Even the sharpest problem focus cannot help but sharpen the problem. Thus, the key to our understanding of alternatives to capitalism and alternative forms of capitalism is not in the ongoing problematization of the dominance of the economic principle. Rather, the question addressed in the present form theoretical argument is about which distinctions we need to draw in order to be able to observe capitalism. Answering this question, we show that the form capitalism can only be unfolded in the medium of functional differentiation. In resituating the economy as only one out of ten function systems, we demonstrate that both …


Innovation And Degrowth, Steffen Roth, Miguel Perez-Valls, Jari Kaivo-Oja Dec 2014

Innovation And Degrowth, Steffen Roth, Miguel Perez-Valls, Jari Kaivo-Oja

Prof. Dr. Dr. Steffen Roth

Innovation is essential for economic growth. The dominant view therefore is that innovation and human development are inseparable. However, ecological economists have argued that an insatiable appetite for the creative destruction leads to the self-destruction of humankind. The key component of the growth engine (Jackson, 2011), innovation, constantly renovates the iron cage of consumerism that eventually consumes the planet to excess (Urry, 2010), while popular attempts to link innovation and sustainability constantly fail to green the economy as they do not challenge the overall functionality of the growth engine (Schneider et al., 2010; van Griethuysen, 2010). Innovation is therefore considered …