Reimagining Prosperity
Toward a New Imaginary of Law and Political Economy in the EU

The European Union today, the book argues, can and must articulate and institute a new imaginary of prosperity.

Marija Bartl (Author)

9781009236171, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 November 2024

254 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.4 cm, 0.37 kg

'Marija Bartl skilfully explores the interaction between three views of prosperity in the changing EU context: the privatised prosperity of neoliberalism, the sharing prosperity of the social economy, and exclusionary tribalist imaginaries. She advocates how the sharing imaginary can respond to crises and entrench democracy and solidarity.' Bob Jessop, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK

The historic task of the European Union (EU) today, this book argues, is to articulate and institute a new imaginary of prosperity. Imaginaries of prosperity integrate societies around the shared pursuit of a prosperous future, rendering 'political-economic' questions as the main preoccupation of politics. The new imaginary of prosperity in the EU must be able to provide answers to contemporary societal challenges while also conjuring a world in which people want to live. Through analyses of several policy fields, the book shows that the EU has already made modest strides in fostering more caring consumption, circular products and technologies, sustainable industry, and fairer corporate activity. But the EU must go further and faster if it hopes to respond effectively to Europe's problems, while arresting another descent into tribalism. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

1. Introduction
2. Imaginaries of prosperity
3. Reimagining consumption
4. Designing technology
5. Reinventing industrial policy
6. Transforming the corporation
7. Conclusion: toward a new imaginary of prosperity in the EU.

Subject Areas: International economic & trade law [LBBM]