ABOUT THIS BOOK

A powerful vision for reimagining prosperity for the twenty-first century.

Prosperity in the Twenty-First Century sets out a new vision for prosperity in the twenty-first century and how it can be achieved for all. The volume challenges orthodox understandings of economic models but goes beyond contemporary debates to show how social innovation drives economic value. Drawing on substantive research in the UK, Lebanon, and Kenya, it develops new concepts, frameworks, models, and metrics for prosperity across a wide range of contexts, emphasizing commonalities and differences. Departing from general propositions about post-growth to delineate pathways to prosperity, the volume emphasizes that visions of the good life are diverse and require empirical work co-designed with local communities and stakeholders to drive change. It will be essential reading for policymakers who are stuck, local government officers who need new tools, activists who wonder what is next, academics in need of refreshment, and students and people of all ages who want a way forward.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Henrietta L. Moore is the founder and director of the Institute for Global Prosperity and the Chair in Culture Philosophy and Design at UCL. Matthew Davies is deputy director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. Nikolay Mintchev is senior research associate at the Institute for Global Prosperity at UCL and the RELIEF Centre. Saffron Woodcraft is principal research fellow at the Institute for Global Prosperity at UCL.

REVIEWS

‘A timely collection of thoughtful essays, addressing one of the most vital questions of our time. From London to the Lebanon and beyond, Moore and her team ask what prosperity can possibly mean – not in the abstract, but as lived experience – within the finite limits of planet Earth.’ – Tim Jackson, author of *Prosperity without Growth *

‘This is an important and powerful account of how public policy formulation should be reconceived to promote shared prosperity beyond conventional economic performance. It demonstrates that this approach can be applied in an array of localities facing very different challenges from London to Kenya and Lebanon. It is of profound significance for policymakers and practitioners around the world.’ – Colin Mayer, University of Oxford

‘This is a book for our time. It comes at a moment of protracted global recession and environmental crisis, and a broadening recognition that conventional economic instruments are failing to protect people and our planet. It offers authoritative analysis, transformative pathways and reason to hope. Above all, it shows how prosperity, differently understood, resides in the people who live it.’ – Jo Beall, London School of Economics and Political Science

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of figures List of tables Notes on contributors List of abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction: prosperity in the twenty-first century Henrietta. L. Moore 1 What is prosperity? Henrietta L. Moore and Nikolay Mintchev 2 The discourse of prosperity: metaphors, transformations and pathways Nikolay Mintchev and Henrietta L. Moore 3 Local meanings and ‘sticky’ measures of the good life: redefining prosperity with and for communities in east London Henrietta L. Moore and Saffron Woodcraft 4 Rethinking livelihood security: why addressing the democratic deficit in economic policy making opens up new pathways to prosperity Saffron Woodcraft, Hannah Collins and Iona McArdle 5 Building co-designed infrastructures in Lebanon’s spaces of displacement Hanna Baumann, Joana Dabaj, Nikolay Mintchev, Henrietta L. Moore and Andrea Rigon 6 Decentralised renewable energy: A pathway to prosperity for Lebanon? Henrietta L. Moore, Hannah Collins and Diala Makki 7 Prosperity in crisis in the longue durée in Africa Henrietta L. Moore 8 Emergent prosperity, time and design: Farming in Marakwet, Kenya Matthew Davies, Samuel Lunn- Rockliffe, Timothy Kipkeu Kiprutto and Wilson Kipkore Epilogue Henrietta L. Moore Index