Sustainable Welfare - Theme, Pufendorf IAS

Theme at the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies

Welfare is commonly conceptualized in socio-economic terms of equity, highlighting distributive issues within growing economies. While GDP, income growth and rising material standards of living are normally not questioned as priorities in welfare theories and policy making, there is growing evidence that Western welfare standards are not generalizable to the rest of the planet if environmental concerns, such as resource depletion or climate change, are considered. The Theme therefore asks what it takes to make social welfare environmentally sustainable.