Donnie Maclurcan

At the heart of the failing growth-based, capitalist system is the ‘for-profit’ way of doing business. It is based on the idea that humans are mostly selfish and competitive, so the best way to motivate economic activity is to appeal to individual self-interest.

Most approaches to resolve capitalism’s tendency to increasingly create socioeconomic inequality and ecological devastation entail either greater emphasis on the role of the state as the regulator or owner of industry, or, at… Mostrar más

At the heart of the failing growth-based, capitalist system is the ‘for-profit’ way of doing business. It is based on the idea that humans are mostly selfish and competitive, so the best way to motivate economic activity is to appeal to individual self-interest.

Most approaches to resolve capitalism’s tendency to increasingly create socioeconomic inequality and ecological devastation entail either greater emphasis on the role of the state as the regulator or owner of industry, or, at the other end of the spectrum, voluntary market initiatives from the angle of ‘conscious capitalism’. However, there is a growing trend that points the way to an entirely different approach: not-for-profit enterprise.

In this article, we first illustrate the connections between capitalism, for-profit enterprise and the growth-based economic system. We go on to explore how not-for-profit enterprise offers a way beyond the market-state dichotomy, highlighting the current trends and macroeconomic shifts that the emergence of an entire economy based on not-for-profit enterprise. We finish with an introduction to the Not-for-Profit World economic model we have developed, exploring the hypothesis that the future of business lies with not-for-profit business models, and that such a shift, for the first time, enables a modern economy that is both socially and ecologically sustainable. Mostrar menos

For-profit capitalism has created social and economic inequality; successful not-for-profit businesses including Mozilla and the Big Issue point to an alternative path

In 2010, we at the Post Growth Institute discovered one incredibly productive, flexible and democratic means of virtual collaboration: our monthly meetings are held in silence. We to Skype—as we would for voice and/or video conferencing—but thenWhy Si our whole meeting is conducted via typed exchanges (as is possible with other chat-based platforms, such as Yammer). Two years into holding silent meetings, the benefits just keep appearing.

This book is the world’s first comprehensive assessment of nanotechnology’s foreseen implications for global development and provides important groundwork for subsequent research. The book places nanotechnology’s emergence within a broad historical and contemporary global context, while developing and testing an interpretive framework through which to assess nanotechnology’s claims. It establishes great clarity about the nature of global engagement with nanotechnology research and development… Mostrar más

This book is the world’s first comprehensive assessment of nanotechnology’s foreseen implications for global development and provides important groundwork for subsequent research. The book places nanotechnology’s emergence within a broad historical and contemporary global context, while developing and testing an interpretive framework through which to assess nanotechnology’s claims. It establishes great clarity about the nature of global engagement with nanotechnology research and development, revealing surprising scenarios, unacknowledged by most mainstream commentators. The book concludes by exploring a range of perspectives from Thailand and Australia about nanotechnology’s foreseen implications for global inequity, thereby providing important ground for reflection. Mostrar menos

Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability uses nanotechnology—the product of applied scientific knowledge to control and utilize matter at atomic and molecular scales—as a lens through which to explore the interrelationship between innovation, politics, economy, and sustainability. This groundbreaking book addresses how stakeholders can actively reshape agendas to create positive and sustainable futures through this latest controversial, cross-sectoral technology. It moves beyond issues of… Mostrar más

Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability uses nanotechnology—the product of applied scientific knowledge to control and utilize matter at atomic and molecular scales—as a lens through which to explore the interrelationship between innovation, politics, economy, and sustainability. This groundbreaking book addresses how stakeholders can actively reshape agendas to create positive and sustainable futures through this latest controversial, cross-sectoral technology. It moves beyond issues of efficiency, productivity, and utility, exploring the insights of 22 contributors from around the world, whose work spans the disciplines of science and the humanities. Their combined knowledge, reinforced with various case studies, introduces an exciting prospect—how we can innovate without economic growth. Mostrar menos

Thousands of things are happening around the world that are defining a new story independent of economic growth.