Table Of ContentPost-Growth Work
This book argues that society must rethink the notion of formal employ-
ment and instead introduce and spread the notion of “meaningful work”
so that societies can become independent of economic growth.
The excessive consumption of natural resources and the immense
emissions resulting from our growth-oriented economic system surpass
the planetary boundaries. Despite this, society and the economy still
strive for economic growth in order to generate jobs, to finance the so-
cial security system and to assure tax income. However, these expec-
tations are increasingly unrealistic, not least because technological
developments such as digitalisation and robotisation will change and
limit formal employment opportunities as well. Against this backdrop,
the book introduces the notion of meaningful activities that embrace
various kinds of work, paid and unpaid, sequential or in parallel, which
are meaningful for the worker as well as society as a whole. At the same
time, the authors argue in favour of reduced working time in formal
employment. Furthermore, the book also describes the necessary trans-
formations in companies and for consumers, for social and tax systems,
for social services and agriculture.
Innovative and timely, this book will be a key resource for profession-
als and scholars interested in sustainability, economics, work, transfor-
mation and post-growth studies.
Irmi Seidl is Head of the Research Unit Economics and Social Sciences,
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL,
Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
Angelika Zahrnt is Honorary Chair of Friends of the Earth Germany
and Fellow at the IÖW – Institute for Ecological Economy Research,
Berlin.
Post-Growth Work
Employment and Meaningful Activities
within Planetary Boundaries
Edited by
Irmi Seidl and Angelika Zahrnt
Translated from German by
Ray Cunningham
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Irmi Seidl and Angelika
Zahrnt; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Irmi Seidl and Angelika Zahrnt to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Translation from Original German Language Edition
Tätigsein in der Postwachstumsgesellschaft, 2019
Metropolis-Verlag für Ökonomie, Gesellschaft und Politik GmbH
https://www.metropolis-verlag.de
Copyright: Metropolis-Verlag, Marburg
ISBN 978-3-7316-1405-0
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Seidl, Irmi, 1962- editor. | Zahrnt, Angelika, 1944- editor.
Title: Post-growth work : employment and meaningful activities
within planetary boundaries / Irmi Seidl, Angelika Zahrnt.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021008978 (print) | LCCN 2021008979
(ebook) | ISBN 9781032034584 (hbk) | ISBN 9781032034577
(pbk) | ISBN 9781003187370 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Economic development. | Sustainable
development. | Employment (Economic theory)
Classification: LCC HD75 .P675 2021 (print) |
LCC HD75 (ebook) | DDC 331.2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008978
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008979
ISBN: 978-1-032-03458-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-03457-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-18737-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003187370
Typeset in Goudy
by codeMantra
Contents
About the contributors ix
Foreword xvii
Preface xxi
Introduction 1
1 Employment, meaningful activity and the
post-growth society 3
IRMI SEIDL AND ANGELIKA ZAHRNT
PART 1
The basics 17
2 On the historical development of work 19
ANDREA KOMLOSY
3 Value orientation and meaningful activity in the
post-growth society 33
ERNST FRITZ-SCHUBERT
4 Revaluations of work: enabling and combining a
diversity of activities 43
STEFANIE GEROLD
vi Contents
PART 2
Employment and meaningful activities: actors 55
5 The role of consumers: social participation beyond
work and the market 57
CORINNA FISCHER AND IMMANUEL STIEß
6 The role of businesses in the creation of sustainable work 72
GERRIT VON JORCK AND ULF SCHRADER
7 Employment in the tension between ecology and
distributive justice: the role of trade unions 85
NORBERT REUTER
8 Voluntary charitable activity: motivation,
requirements, accomplishments 97
THEO WEHNER
PART 3
Employment and meaningful activities: sectors 105
9 Formal and informal care work 107
JONAS HAGEDORN
10 Meaningful activities in agriculture: agro-culture as a
guiding principle 122
FRANZ-THEO GOTTWALD, IRMI SEIDL AND
ANGELIKA ZAHRNT
11 Digitalisation and concepts of extended work 134
LINDA NIERLING AND BETTINA-JOHANNA KRINGS
PART 4
The socio-economic context 147
12 Social security in the post-growth society 149
GISELA KUBON-GILKE
Contents vii
13 An employment-friendly tax system 160
ANGELA KÖPPL AND MARGIT SCHRATZENSTALLER
14 Work in low- and middle-income countries 176
GEORG STOLL
Conclusion 199
15 The prospects for practical action 201
IRMI SEIDL AND ANGELIKA ZAHRNT
Index 207
About the contributors
Corinna Fischer, Dr phil., is a senior researcher in the Products and
Material Flows Department at the Oeko-Institut e.V. – Institute
for Applied Ecology, Darmstadt, leading the research group on
sustainable products and consumption. She studied political science.
Her doctoral thesis dealt with environmental motivation and engage-
ment among young people in Eastern Germany. Before joining the
Oeko-Institut, Corinna Fischer worked on energy-efficient products
and standardisation at the Federation of German Consumer Organ-
isations (vzbv), as a research associate at the Environmental Policy
Research Centre of the Freie Universität Berlin and as a freelance
consultant, teacher and advisor to environmental activists. Her main
areas of work at present are sustainable consumption, energy saving
in private households and product policy.
Ernst Fritz-Schubert, Dr phil., is a qualified economist and system
therapist now teaching at the SRH-University Heidelberg. He is the
author of numerous publications on the subject of happiness and
well-being and runs the Fritz-Schubert-Institut named after him,
which researches and develops methods of personal development. Af-
ter studying economics and law in Heidelberg, he joined the teaching
profession. He completed his doctorate (Dr phil.) at the University of
Kassel on the subject of “Well-being as a learning goal”. From 2000
to 2011 he was Principal of the Willy-Hellpach-Schule in Heidel-
berg, where in 2007 he established Happiness as part of the school
curriculum.
Stefanie Gerold, PhD, is a research associate at the Institute of Voca-
tional Education and Work Studies of TU Berlin, in the Department
of Economic Education ans Sustainable Consumption. She holds
a BA in economics and political science, and master’s in socio-
ecological economics and policy. She received her doctorate from
the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) of the Hans Böckler
