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Completing the Cycle: An Inclusive Capitalism Approach Linking Sustainable Consumption and Production

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Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume I
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Abstract

In this chapter, we present an inclusive capitalism approach, which completes the environmental-production-income and distribution-consumption cycles by treating sustainable consumption and production as two sides of the same coin. There are two divides that our approach to inclusive capitalism bridges—one between income earned from capital ownership and from wages, and the other between the human production of goods and services and the impact these activities have on the environment. We analyse different mechanisms to bridge these divides and show that our proposal—broadening the distribution of capital ownership using future earnings of capital and directing this income towards sustainable production and consumption—presents a holistic solution to growing environmental problems and income inequality. In addition, we also achieve the politically desirable goal of participatory economic life through this mechanism.

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Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the editors of the handbook Prof. Ranjula Bali Swain and Dr. Susanne Sweet, and also all the participants of the Sustainable Consumption and Production Book Workshop, held in Stockholm, 15–16 October 2019, for useful comments and feedback on an earlier version of the chapter.

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Correspondence to Shyam Ranganathan .

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Hall, R.P., Ranganathan, S. (2021). Completing the Cycle: An Inclusive Capitalism Approach Linking Sustainable Consumption and Production. In: Bali Swain, R., Sweet, S. (eds) Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56371-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56371-4_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-56370-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-56371-4

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