Social Justice in the Anthropocene: From Predatory Consumption to a Politics of Humanism
The neoliberal reforms of recent decades, aimed at maximising the profits of the owners of capital at the expense of labour and based on the ideology of irresponsible consumption, have led humanity to unprecedented levels of inequality, increased conflict and radicalisation, and environmental depletion.
Contrary to some predictions, the global pandemic COVID-19 has not become a ‘great equaliser’; it has only exacerbated the already existing disparities in socio-economic development both within and across countries. Developed digital technologies, including AI, which has become popular in recent years, are also unable to lift humanity out of the crisis of inequality. In the current context, these technologies reinforce existing inequalities and create new ones, favouring the accumulation of capital in the hands of a limited number of people.
At the same time that a small group at the top of the wealth pyramid has concentrated incredible power in their hands, the majority of the world's people have found themselves virtually unarmed in the face of ever-worsening living conditions and looming challenges. The depletion of social institutions (especially trade unions) as a result of neoliberal predation has significantly reduced people's capacity both to fight against the violation of their economic rights and to confront life-threatening challenges (such as pandemic or climate change).
The solution to these problems requires a systemic approach and is possible through a transition to a fundamentally different social system, the criterion of effectiveness of which will not be the profit of the owners of corporations, but the quality of life of people and the preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity on planet Earth.