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Social Policy and Sustainability

While welfare states and associated social policies have been successful in addressing social risks associated with the provision of capitalist growth and increasing their citizens’ wellbeing, they have also contributed to climate emergency and the ecological crisis. We carry out social-policy research of traditional themes such as labour markets, inequality or poverty, but also and particularly in the new circumstances of climate emergency.

Considering different scales from the local to the EU level, we (co-)develop relevant theoretical concepts such as ‘sustainable welfare’ and ‘degrowth/postgrowth’, conduct corresponding empirical research - for example into attitudes towards sustainable welfare and alternative forms of political mobilization. We also identify ‘eco-social’ policies capable of reembedding economy and society in planetary boundaries.

Latest publications within the area

Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)Bühlmann, F., Christesen, C. A., Co...
"What have future generations ever done for us?" Future Expectations and Present Dispositions for Social-Ecological Tran...
A sustainable welfare deal for a postgrowth EuropeKoch, M., 2025 Mar 18, JCMS Blog.Research output: Other contribution ›...
Europe in the Postgrowth Era: Towards A sustainable welfare dealKoch, M., 2025 Mar 16, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journa...
‘I feel good here’: A qualitative study on subsidised employment in a Swedish municipal labour market programmeParsland,...