Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Europe is once more confronted with profound turmoil, characterised by intersecting environmental, geopolitical, demographic and socio-economic crises. This polycrisis reflects a broader societal demand to redefine what economic progress means and how it is distributed, highlighting the inherent precarity of our social and economic systems, and the pressing need for an equitable and sustainable future. At this critical juncture, the question is not if we will transition to a greener economy but rather when and how we can ensure that everyone benefits from it. Over the past few years, catchphrases like ‘build back better’ during the pandemic and ‘leaving no one behind’ with the rollout of the European Green Deal (EGD) gained prominence, but lofty rhetoric has not led to real change. We were all expecting some progress in human history, with labour receiving renewed recognition and a fair share of the fruits of change. But this has not happened. Instead, there is a clear sense that promises have been broken and that we are regressing to ‘the old ways’. Such growing inequities remind us that superficial fixes do not repair structural cracks in the economy. And all too often, labour is treated as a commodity – something to be cost-minimised and optimised – overlooking workers’ agency and the deeper social value that work brings to our lives and communities. To build a fairer future, we urgently need systemic and transformative solutions, not temporary relief measures, that address environmental imperatives and promote social justice (Arabadjieva et al., 2023).
Source: Global Social Policy
Institutions: European Trade Union Institute, KU Leuven
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4407141003