When you look at meetings of initiatives like the Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, you find deeply committed people who are nonetheless trapped in an academic bubble. They debate post-growth theory on an abstract level while their state grants slowly dry up. But where are the people actually affected by poverty or displacement in these discussions? They are completely missing.
We cannot dictate social change from the top down. In our real-world lab in Leipzig-Plagwitz, we develop projects directly out of hands-on practice, in direct dialogue with refugee women. We need to understand the lived realities of the people we are building structures for instead of just quoting textbooks.
A few days ago I visited the Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie again in person and spoke there with Mo, among others, who told me that the association – founded in 2011 out of the circle around Leipzig University – is now already run by its third or fourth generation, and that some of the original founders are no longer active. Looking back, that explained a lot to me – and at the same time showed me why new, hands-on initiatives like System Delta and our concrete work on the ground in Leipzig matter more than ever today, to finally bring the critique of never-ending economic growth out of theory and into the middle of everyday life.
What do you take away from this thought?
Thank you. Every answer fits – take it with you into your day. Would you like to share something yourself?
