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Economic Transition in the Anthropocene: Ensuring a Just and Sustainable Future for Humanity

We are in a period of systemic upheaval. For the first time in the evolution of life on Earth, human dominance of the planet’s biological, chemical and geological processes is seriously disrupting our critical life support systems. Profoundly related to this, the economic orthodoxy that has dominated western politics and culture for the past 40 years is rapidly losing legitimacy. In the face of multiple crises—environmental breakdown, increased inequality of income and opportunity, growing political polarization—the ideas and assumptions behind today’s economic theory fail to adequately explain or fix what is going so wrong.

Political economic paradigms do not last forever. The evident failings of mainstream economic theory, together with our growing understanding of the economy as complex, dynamic, embedded in natural environments, and deeply influenced by human history, cultures, values and behavior, suggest that the conditions for a new and better understanding of the economy are beginning to emerge. To create the space for transition we must go beyond debates focused on incremental policy change and develop a better analysis of our economic system as it is and not as we might like it to be.

This conference will explore today’s political economy and its role in shaping the Anthropocene and our future. We’ll explore questions relating to power, such as who gets what and why, how power becomes concentrated, and how can we increase opportunity and fairness while displacing entrenched vested interests. We’ll also investigate whether and how business as usual can enable us to live safely within the boundaries of nature, the ultimate arbiter of human well-being.

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