A study on the environmental issue from historical, anthropological, social, psychological, philosophical, economic, political and juridical perspectives

1. 137
which joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic
archipelago, following the most Northern route8
.
Peissel from his satellite phone on the evening of 29th
August 2012 declared:
“There is no reason why we should have succeeded”. The 35-year-old skipper,
together with his cousin and another Swedish sailor, undertook the adventure with a
goal: to show how the ice of the Arctic has never been so little. “The glacial ice-cap
contains millions and millions of fresh water which are about to be lost in the oceans,
and the melting is responsible for the increase of the sea level the world is
experiencing”, Peissel remembered. He also pointed out that the Arctic is like the
canary miners used to bring deep down into mines, which signalled with his death
the danger of poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide present in the subterranean
tunnels9
.
A natural route among the once permanent ices the Northwest Passage opened for
the first time in August 2007, revealed by the European Space Agency in the very
year in which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change launched a scientific
red alarm for the consequences on global warming. The route is a crucial
commercial interest, since the ships coming from Europe and the Far East would
save thousands and thousands of miles by using it as alternative to the Panama
Chanel. It was 1539 when Hernan Cortes organised the first expedition in search of
the Northwest Passage, but other four centuries were needed before the maritime
route among the ices would be conquered. To accomplish the effort in 1906 was
Norwegian Roald Amundsen, escaping from creditors on board of a fishing boat.
Now the route of the Northwest Passage, which is subject of a territorial dispute
between Canada and the United States (the first one considers it within its territorial
waters, while the latter claims that it lies within international waters) is every year
easier to be crossed. The only ones to gain from this seem, alas, commercial goods.
In other words, it seems that we have been noticing for years an increase of the
level of entropy of the planet. To maintain the state of equilibrium of the biosphere
8
The Beelzebub II had been at sea for three months. With winds of 55 km/h and four meter waves the
boat first crossed Parry Chanel, hence arriving in front of the McClure Strait, the most Northern
passage, closed between the last stripes of land before the Beaufort Sea. It was at that point that the
boat received an alert from the Canadian competent authorities: do not try to cross it. The crew
thanked the authorities and communicated them that they were aware of the risks. The boat managed
to slip through the McClure Strait and sailed in the waters of the Beaufort Sea, up to Alaska. Refer to
http://www.corriere.it/ambiente/12_settembre_01/polo-nord-ghiaccio-sciogliemento-barca-a-
vela_d59a3980-f426-11e1-8223-8f87a48260f4.shtml
9
Ibidem

2. 138
seems more and more difficult, and to each wrong action which puts into
disequilibrium a part or region of the biosphere sooner or later an appropriate
reaction within the biosphere might arise. Since the quantity of energy needed at any
further state of transformation to maintain a system in equilibrium is ever increasing,
the huge phenomena to which we are getting used to could not surprise.
Quantum physics might perhaps represent the new frontier for the study of
infinitely small matter and energy10
. For instance with regard to the recent
experiments conducted at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research of
Geneva, Switzerland, thermodynamics is the discipline which tries to explain the
relations within the biosphere of matter and energy, on the smallest scales11
. The
investigation is one that involves micro-relations which occur within organisms and
their structures. Meso-relations which characterise our planet, including climate
change and any phenomenon, involve the environment, are those analysed by
thermodynamics. Finally, astrophysics is another branch of physics, which is instead
concerned with the macro-relations of matter and energy which occur beyond the
biosphere12
. Astrophysics is concerned with recent discoveries and studies such as
the investigation of Mars and other planets, as well as other astronomical objects like
star and planetary systems as well as the dark matter.
By analogy with the ecobiopsychological paradigm, the links at the micro, meso
and macro level seem inseparable, and this could perhaps mean that our daily actions
have an impact which propagates within the universe, at all levels. This might seem
fundamental both in scientific and ethical terms.
10
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/486231/quantum-mechanics
11
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/591572/thermodynamics
12
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40107/astrophysics

3. 139
Quantum Physics matter/energy relations within beings
Thermodynamics matter/energy relations within the biosphere
Astrophysics matter/energy relations beyond the biosphere
Table 7. 1 Classification of Sciences According to their Field of Investigation in Regard to
Matter-Energy Relations – Quantum physics is a science which investigates matter-energy relations
within living beings and elements; thermodynamics is a science which investigates matter-energy
relations within the biosphere; astrophysics is a science which investigates matter-energy relations of
sidereal space and objects beyond our biosphere
The Buddhist concept of anatta indicates that there is no individual and permanent
soul or self. Similarly to traditional civilisation, man, and all the elements and
subjects of the biosphere are part of a unity, and are different from each other only in
the sense that they are different aspects and expressions of reality13
.
One could perhaps claim that meaning and importance might be accorded to links,
relations, the system as a network of bonds among all of the subjects, which are
related to each other. The system and its equilibrium, rather than the individual, in
such paradigm, appear prominent.
A pantheistic vision, in the sense that nature and all that is in it is made by the
same primordial and absolute substance (the Hindu concept of atman14
). This might
be helpful to become aware (at all levels) that it may be that all subjects in the
biosphere are linked, in an intrinsic and intimate way, one with another.
Such philosophical concept is the centre of a culture which pays attention to the
needs and dangers to which everyone, not only humans, is subject to. The attention
thus shifts from the individuality of the human being toward the totality of the
biosphere.
Since culture might be thought of as the fundamental pillar from which every
other aspect of life originates, it might be reasonable to claim that every action which
is in accordance to such a cultural paradigm would necessarily affect every sphere
accordingly: the anthropological, sociological, economic, political, juridical one, to
cite but a few. A shift toward paradigms more aware and sensitive to the respect of
nature and the subjects which inhabit it15
.
13
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/23116/anatta
14
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/41350/atman
15
Dalla Casa believes that it could be interesting to remember how the majority of the first speeches
by Jesus of Nazareth seem to have been centred on pantheism and Buddhism and seemed very little

4. 140
References:
- Anatta
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/23116/anatta
- Astrophysics
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40107/astrophysics
- Atman
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/41350/atman
- Dalla Casa, Guido (2011) Ecologia Profonda – Lineamenti Per una Nuova
Visione del Mondo Mimesis
- Ecobiopsychology
http://www.aneb.it/filosofia
- Ice Melting
http://www.corriere.it/ambiente/12_settembre_01/polo-nord-ghiaccio-
sciogliemento-barca-a-vela_d59a3980-f426-11e1-8223-8f87a48260f4.shtml
- Illich, Ivan (1993) Tools For Conviviality Harper / La Convivialità Red
- Pusceddu, Maria (2010) Gioco di Specchi – Riflessioni Tra Natura e Psiche
Persiani
anthropocentric. Also because of this, the author claims, he was perhaps firstly sentenced to death by
Judaic culture and then censored by the Christian one in the following centuries through several more
or less thorough censorships and mystifications both in the different ecclesiastical councils and
practice and development of modern Christian religion. Refer to Dalla Casa, Guido (2011) Ecologia
Profonda – Lineamenti Per una Nuova Visione del Mondo Mimesis, p. 66

5. 141
- Quantum Mechanics
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/486231/qua
ntum-mechanics
- Thermodynamics
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/531511/second-law-of-
thermodynamics
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/591572/thermodynamics
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/591572/thermodynamics/25854
1/The-first-law-of-thermodynamics

6. 142

7. 143
8. JOYFUL AUSTERITY
To have children today is an ecological crime
Pier Paolo Pasolini
From Productivity To Conviviality
The ecological and social crisis, according to Illich, is fundamentally due to the
substitution of the human aspect with science and technique, perceived as the unique
dogmas to be considered as paradigmatic in each aspect of life. The scholar claims:
“The great project to substitute rational and anonymous satisfaction to the occasional
and personal answer has been transformed in an implacable process of enslavement
to producers and intoxication of consumers”. The relation of man with society or the
system, Illich continues, has become a relation from the system to man. The idea of
making the system work for man and that of educating man to serve the system has
been enhanced, according to the author. The conclusion to which we have arrived
seems however that at a certain point the system does not work, man together with
nature seem not able to adapt to its demands, serve it forever. The author believes
that only by overturning the deep structure which regulates the relationship between
man and the system, science and technique might appropriately being used. With the

8. 144
term joyful austerity (or conviviality) Illich means the exact opposite of the concept
of productivity. Everyone defines himself in relation to the others and the
environment in which he lives, the scholar claims. The shift from productivity to
conviviality, according to the author, is “a shift from repetition of need to the
spontaneity of gift”1
.
When a society represses conviviality below a certain level, it might become prey
of the lack of needs induced by the system. No production, even if taken to the
maximum levels, could perhaps ever be sufficient to satisfy the needs created and
artificially multiplied.
The scale of limit to human needs could be human, not artificial. If we look at
today’s society, there seem to arise a threshold of need in all fields which is often
above natural human needs’ one. Such limit might be represented by a situation in
which, for instance, too much education becomes counter-productive for educational
needs, too much health system harmful for health needs, too much transportation
yields to more traffic than before and so on. In this sense institutionalisation, as for
instance compulsory schooling, and excessive hospitalisation, just to cite a few,
might perhaps create more negative than positive effects to the individual than lower
levels of schooling and hospitalisation. Too high levels might therefore be basically
not suitable for man. They seem to perhaps prove suitable for the system.
But it is on the scale of man, that is, of nature, that society’s decisions could be
instead based, not vice versa. Once one discovers himself dependent on institutions,
bureaucracy, energy, transportation, one might perhaps become aware of the fact that
he actually depends all and all from the system. In traditional societies, education,
medicine, transportation, the use of energy and all other human needs might often be
reached or activated by a single man, which usually might not need the support of
any type of structure or person.
In this sense the existence of a society which takes its decisions and choices at the
most decentralised level as possible might prove positive. Not through delegated
authorities, but by trying to follow a more natural scale based on man, indigenous
and local communities, might perhaps decide how to govern and which type of
system to adopt, in most aspects of life.
1
Illich, Ivan (1993) Tools For Conviviality Harper / La Convivialità Red, p. 27-28

9. 145
This scale might be the suitable as well as natural one which better fits man and
the biosphere’s needs. It might seem evident that the shift to such a paradigm could
require meaningful losses in terms of production of goods and services which we are
today used to, however there could result an adequate compensation in terms of
social and environmental positive effects. The shift here appears to be from a society
of well having to one of well being.
In this sense one could try and change the underling cultural approach. A cultural
shift in favour of relational goods to the detriment of commercial goods might prove
a key aspect to get closer to a cultural, social, economic, political and juridical
paradigm similar to the concept of joyful austerity or conviviality which Illich
proposes.
Relational vs. Commercial Goods
Relational goods are all the forms of goods produced by relations: goods which can
only be produced and utilised together with the participants of a determined action or
event. They are neither strictly public, nor private goods, but belong to the social
area, the so called civil economics’2
.
Italian economist Stefano Zamagni, in an interview on the popular Italian
magazine Christian Family on 11th
November 2010 describes the concept of
relational goods, as well as that of joyful austerity or conviviality which decades
before Illich enquired. “Easterlin [prominent American economics professor]
highlighted that happiness of people does not depend on income variations. Or
better: he observed that with the increase of income, thus of economic well being,
2
They cannot be fractioned, nor conceived as the sum of individual goods. They are typical of
informal networks (primary relational goods) and of associative ones (secondary relational goods).
They are social relations, basically, not individual contributions of a collective reality from which they
originate as derived consequence or effect. The fundamental characteristic of relational goods is that
they require a form of voluntary sharing as necessary requirement (even if not sufficient) which
becomes sufficient if the reciprocity becomes total. Relational goods can be divided into primary if
concerned with primary relations, as for example those typical of family and friends, secondary if
concerned with secondary ones, such as associative but not impersonal groups, such as private social
intermediate formations (movements, committees, associations for example). Refer to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_goods

10. 146
happiness increases up to a certain point, and the starts to decrease, while
unhappiness indexes start to rise. The truth is that, above a certain level, to possess
more goods does not add anything, on the contrary. Because happiness is much
more linked to relational goods than to commercial ones”3
.
Figure 8. 1 Relation Between Disposable Wealth and Level of Happiness For an Individual –
The diagram shows how up to a certain point there arises a positive relation between an individual’s
disposable wealth and his total level of happiness, that is, the more wealth increases, the more his
happiness grows; however, at a certain point, an increase in wealth does not yield to an increase in
happiness, but beyond a certain amount of wealth happiness actually starts to decrease.
Zamagni continues “Today there are more and more people occupied in generating
income: if you dedicate more time to the production of goods you become richer, but
this does not enable you to consume relational goods which are those that provide
happiness, because, as Aristotle claimed, there must be at least two persons for
happiness to be perceived. Alone one can maximise profit, but cannot be happy.
While the production of goods accomplished the goal of decreasing time-related
problems through telecommunication and information technology, the time factor for
3
http://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/stefano-zamagni-piu-tempo-per-la-famiglia.aspx
Level of
Happiness
Disposable Wealth

11. 147
personal relations is fundamental. Such relations are surely an effort, somehow. I
very well remember, being a grandfather. When grandchildren were little one would
passionately longed for Mondays, since they would fill our weekend with questions.
But are we really sure that we can live without such hassle? The youngsters are
those who ask us what is the meaning of today’s paradigm, and in which direction
are we going. Kids are huge users of relational goods”4
.
Zamagni points out that it is absurd to work four jobs and then buy extra toys to
our children. He argues that the child needs to relate in order to discover his identity.
Even in his country of origin, Italy, the term firm welfare has started to become
common. He continues “Are we really sure we want to entrust our sons’ education
to the compassionate conservatorism, as they call it in the United States? Families
do not have anything to say? Should they just delegate? The family is the place
where the maximum production of relational goods occurs, as is repeated
everywhere, but in Italy there is an unbalance between theory and reality. Entire
libraries are dedicated to its role and importance, but the attention of policies is
inversely proportionate”. The economist then, by referring to a question on possible
solutions thought for the Italian society argued “We must remember that
psychologists, sociologists, jurists, (who are precious) but never economists are
concerned with this issue. They could intervene and explain how it is extremely
wrong that families continue to be considered a place where only consumption and
not production occurs5
.
4
Zamagni argues that another problem is that the issue of family in Italy has always been a social
shock absorber which has been used to finance the state, a form of upside down subsidiarity, outcome
of the compromise according to which the father had a stable job and an adequate income to maintain
his wife and sons. The author believes that the problem is of a cultural nature, connected to gender
relations and that idea according to which the woman stays at home and takes care of the children.
Zamagni argues that is is like trying to buy one’s freedom with money, to make commercial what is
not by nature, like having children. Today we know for sure that the best way to improve the fertility
rate is to favour the freedom of decision and management of working and family hours, he claims.
The example comes from abroad, like the case of Volvo in Sweden: there one can go to work between
8 and 10 and going away with the same flexibility. How easier would it be for fathers and mothers to
better organise the children’s timetable? In England a woman can stay away from the job for a
maximum of 5 years in the period in which she thinks is more helpful for her and make up in the
future. But even in Italy something starts to move. There are interesting examples accomplished by
enlightened entrepreneurs and managers, but such policies could be extended to wider fields, such as
councils, shires. This is the problem of problems, according to the author. If we do not solve it, the
dignity of the family will not be acknowledged”. Zamagni concludes: “People can have children only
in a certain period in life, so it is evident that this system is against women. The scholar concludes
that tools of productivity could be used, instead of those for building cars (thus increasing
consumerism) to allow families to chose their own life plan and thus the future of our children and
society”. Ibidem
5
Ibidem

12. 148
Macro and Micro
Even if he is recognised as prominent sociologist, American George Ritzer has never
gained a proper degree in sociology. Ritzer found out that not having followed an
orthodox education in the field proved an advantage rather than a deficit, simply
because, he claims, his way of reasoning has not been limited by a particular
theoretical perspective. The concept of McDonaldisation he developed is an
extension of the classical Weberian theory on modern society and culture’s
rationalism. Where Weber used the notorious term iron cage to describe the dazzling
and Kafkian effects of bureaucratised life, Ritzer claims that the American fast-food
restaurant chain McDonald’s has become a better indicator of current forms of
instrumental rationality and of the harmful consequences on people. By
investigating the fast increase of integration and interdependency of societies and
cultures, the scholar depicts a provocative perspective on the current state of the fast
and wide globalisation in act on the planet. According to Ritzer, globalisation
typically brings to the consumption of wide quantities of serial social forms which
have been conceived and controlled at the central level and which dominate the life
of entire societies6
.
A high level of interdependency and relation among societies, as opposed to the
ecobiopsychological approach, might in this case be perceived as negative. To
spread and thus integrate within a civilisation too much dependency on others or
others’ systems (such as for instance the case of consumerism and globalisation)
might not prove positive. Each element of a system has its own peculiarities and this
might be a reason why different systems might not prove feasible for everyone. In
the second place, to enjoy a certain level of independency and autonomy from a a
system or civilisation might yield more freedom.
Among different models experimented in different places around the world, there
seem to arise several examples of alternative to centralised examples (conceived both
by the state or market). The so called civil economics seem to allow local
communities to decide and implement their ideas and seems to be a possible guide in
different fields such as for example the use of money and exchange of goods, to start
with.
6
http://www.mcdonaldization.com/whatisit.shtml

13. 149
It might seem that a paradigm based on a civil economy could overcome different
problems which can be linked to the use of a local currency, for example. The
proposal for a use of local currency has been implemented among others by the
French city of Nantes, capital of the Loire region, at the time (a few years ago) when
current Prime Minister Jean Marc Ayrault was the city’s mayor. This might appear a
meaningful example in that it proves that such choice could be valid even for
medium size realities such as Nantes, with its 290,000 inhabitants7
.
Such model could also seem relevant perhaps because it would include an
important aspect of nowadays world (money and its use) to a model more based on
the people belonging to a place (a district or town) in a more local and relational
fashion. One could assume that it might be easier to know each other within the
same town compared to an online market group of people, for instance. Also
technical aspects such as the liquidity and loan of money might perhaps be solvable
in this way. Themes which could maybe represent some of the causes of the current
economic and financial global crisis.
A system which could maybe be accomplished within a larger scale, in between
the printing and use of local money and the usual national currency, could be
represented by the system also known as microcredit.
Microcredit is a tool for economic development which allows access to financial
services to people in condition of poverty and marginalisation. Microcredit is also
defined as credit of small sums aimed at the start up of entrepreneurial activities or to
face emergency expenses, in favour of socially and economically vulnerable
subjects, which are usually excluded by the formal financial sector8
.
Belgian engineer, economist and writer Bernard Lietaer is an international expert
in designing and implementing currency systems. He studied and worked in the field
of money for more than thirty years in an unusual wide range of competences which
7
http://communitycurrenciesinaction.eu/welcome-our-new-french-partner-nantes
8
In developing countries for instance millions of families get a living out of their small agricultural
activities and cooperatives. The difficulties to access bank loans because of the inadequateness or
lack of real collateral and micro dimension of their businesses, valued as too small from traditional
banks, does not allow these productive activities to start and develop free from usury. Microcredit
programs propose alternative solutions for such businesses and in a sense are comparable to honour
loans. In consideration of the efficiency shown in many cases, the United Nations declared 2005 the
International Year of Microcredit. In the last years, moreover, several attempts to spread microcredit
were under way (with the suitable adjustments) even in developed countries to support the so called
new poor, namely, not only those in developed countries who live just above or below the poverty
line, but especially for those small entrepreneurs and artisans which from traditional channels cannot
access loans and must therefore address to social lending or peer-to peer loans. Refer to
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1076284/microcredit

14. 150
include that of central banker, general manager and investment funds trader on the
currency market, university professor, governmental consultant in several countries,
for different international corporations and organisations. He contributed to the
projecting and implementation of the convergence mechanism toward a single
European currency (the euro) and was a consultant as president of the Electronic
Payment System at the Belgian Central Bank. The scholar strongly believes that the
use of local virtual money within medium and small size communities is not only
applicable, but desirable9
.
Technological Democratisation
The concept of technological democratisation indicates a model in which technology
and its progress can help in improving the level of direct participation by the public
in the political decision making process. This concept goes against Illich’s idea of
technology as a tool which drives the people away from the most suitable model also
in active policy. On the contrary, in technological democratisation technological
progress might be perceived as a tool which can allow people to be connected and
share information and opinions in a way that the Illichean model would probably not
be able to.
It may seem that the natural scale proposed by Illich binds more deeply human
relations and connections, but maybe on a smaller scale. On the contrary
technological democratisation seems to allow for wider communities and a faster
exchange of opinions and information. The other side of such a model seem be
represented by the lack of human touch which is embedded in such kind of
communication system and in the overall model. This case might in fact be studied
as political movements or even parties do adopt the so called telecommunication
model, using telecommunication and the web to discuss and propose political action.
Liquid Feedback is an open source application which allows in a very short time a
huge number of people to express their opinion, propose ideas or actions and finally
9
http://www.lietaer.com/birdseyeview

15. 151
elaborate e real program shared by a large number of individuals. The weak aspect
of such applications or models might again be the lack of human touch or personal
direct relation, typical of old style forms of meeting such as face-to-face or public
debates and discussions10
.
Creative Commons is a non profitable organisation based in San Francisco in the
United States, which dedicates itself to widen the range of creative works available
for public sharing and use in a legal way. It makes the creative reuse of others’
intellectual property rights possible without the violation of current laws. The
organisation published different types of licenses known as Creative Commons: such
licenses allow the creators to chose and communicate which rights are reserved and
which to renounce for the advantage of beneficiaries11
.
One might track down in the licenses of the programs also known as civic
applications (or civic apps, in short), the importance to substitute state and market by
civil economics, often to obtain a better result even in terms of lower overall
expenses. Today’s softwares seem in reality much more useful and used and this
seems to be a fact destined to become more and more significant. As public water
and green spaces in urban areas, notwithstanding the intangibility of software
applications, even in the case we are talking about a free and accessible access for
everyone of a heritage which could be considered a public seems to arise.
Often such applications work in crowd sourcing, that is by collecting information
in collaboration with users; other times they are based on open data, namely on the
sharing of public information. They seem to often pursue the improvement of the
relation between citizens and the management of public goods and services or to
10
In information technology open source describes software the authors of which (the owners of the
rights) allow and favour the free study and contribution of modifications by other independent
programmers. It might be useful to mention some families of operative systems such as BSD, GNU,
Android and Linux, the authors and promoters of which have contributed in a significant way to the
growth of such movement. The open source community is very active, includes thousands of projects,
with an increasing trend. The philosophy of the open source movement guides and inspires the open
content one: in this case to be freely available are no longer the source codes of softwares but editing
contents such as texts, images, video and music. Wikipedia is a clear example of the developments of
such a movement. Open source currently tends to acquire a philosophical meaning, consisting of a
new concept of life, open and reluctant to any obscurantism, which the open source wants to
overcome through the sharing of knowledge. Refer to http://liquidfeedback.org and
http://opensource.org/osd
11
Licenses provide a simple and standardised way to publicly give permission of sharing and using
the creative work according to the conditions the creators have established. Creative Commons’
mission is well represented by the organisation symbol, which recalls a mix of the rigid model of
copyright (all rights reserved) and that of public domain (no rights reserved), thus introducing the new
concept of some rights reserved. Refer to http://creativecommons.org/about

16. 152
offer a service which would otherwise not be free in the market. Starting from the
bottom12
.
References:
- Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/about
- Crowd Sourcing
http://crowdsourcing.toweb.co
http://liquidfeedback.org
- Illich, Ivan (1993) Tools For Conviviality Harper / La Convivialità Red
- Local Currencies
http://www.lietaer.com/birdseyeview
12
http://crowdsourcing.toweb.co e http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_data

17. 153
http://communitycurrenciesinaction.eu/welcome-our-new-french-partner-
nantes
- Macdonaldisation
http://www.mcdonaldization.com/whatisit.shtml
- Microcredit
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1076284/microcredit
- Open Data
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_data
http://opensource.org/osd
- Relational Goods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_goods
- Relational Society
http://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/stefano-zamagni-piu-tempo-per-la-
famiglia.aspx

18. 154

19. 155
9. RELATIONAL SOCIETY
We believe that God is in everything:
in rivers, grass,
trees’ bark,
clouds and mountains.
(an African civilisation’s expression)
The Need of Changing the Dominating Ideology
Even within a society entangled with class injustices and fights such the Western one
appears to be, dominant values seem perhaps more or less shared among everyone.
The culture of the poor, according to Latouche, does not seem so different to the
rich’s one, in that both share the same vision, a vision of a world made for those who
have money. As Polish sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman underlines,
the author continues, there might exist a common world within a global society:
within such picture the common sense might become mad and adjust to the triviality
of evil1
.
1
Refer to Latouche, Serge (2007) Farewell To Growth Polity / La Scommessa della Decrescita
Feltrinelli, p. 109

20. 156
The same democracy could, according to the author, be formed by majorities
which might be manipulated by economic and financial lobbies which launch
themselves in absurd crusades. Italian writer Achille Rossi investigates myths. He
refers to such concept as what we believe in without being aware of it and which
defines the limits of our reality2
.
Italian political scientist Stefano Bartolini claims that relational poverty causes a
greater absorption by working and bigger interest for money. Such results suggest
that the increase in the hours worked per day in the last thirty years in the West has
been influenced by the worsening of relations. Westerners and even the rest of the
planet which chases the dominant Western model, seem to search in working and in a
greater material wealth a compensation for the worsening of their relational
conditions. But in turn, Bartolini argues, the time and energy dedicated to working
are subtracted to relations and thus people who work a lot tend to have worse
relations. The negative endogenous growth model approach holds that there is a link
between economic dynamism and social crisis. Growth could perhaps be the cause
and consequence of relational degrade. In fact, it seems that money can offer many
forms of protection (real or illusory) from the poverty of relations. If the elderly
people are alone and ill the solution is often a caretaker. If the children are alone the
solution is could be a baby-sitter. If one does not have many friends and the city has
become dangerous one might spend his evenings at home after having bought all
kinds of home entertainment. If the hectic and unbearable rhythm of life and city
oppresses us, a vacation in some tropical paradise could lift us up. If we quarrel with
our neighbours a lawyer could protect us from their abuse. If we do not trust
someone we could have him controlled. If we are scared, we could protect ourselves
with alarm systems, armoured doors, private security and so on3
.
2
The colonisation of the imaginary by the economic sphere, as Latouche claims, also comprehends
the fact that we consider the economy as a fundamental function which ensures all mankind. For the
dominant classes of the planet, the author continues, the faith in the liberal ideology represents a real
and present religion and such system of values is shared even by other classes. Latouche argues that
to rethink our society means to radically renegotiate the current system. A goal which could perhaps
start from an exercise of delegitimation of the dominating values and ideology, from counter-
information and concrete actions to reply to mystifications and finally for educating to degrowth and
indicating a detoxification cure. French writer and journalist Samuel Berthoud, the author continues,
observes that “rich is first of all the individual who possesses what is for him sufficient to live and
enjoy life, while the well being produced seems only a tool to continue to produce”. A harmonious
relation with life assumes to retrieve the sense of limit and of just value of things, Latouche concludes.
Relational goods, typical of a relational society, seem thus fundamental within such model of
happiness economy. Ibidem, p. 110.
3
Refer to Bartolini, Stefano (2010) Manifesto Per la Felicità Donzelli, p. 17-18

21. 157
It may seem that a life rich of humanity and nature based on a natural scale could
be preferable to a richer one. When, to solve a problem or to improve the quality of
life, an artificial tool or structure is enhanced, the mean could create more harm than
the advantage for which it has been created for.
More Private and Less Common
Bartolini argues that if one feels alone, or has difficult and unsatisfying relations, he
might look for comfort in consumption, success, work. Advertisement has the role,
according to the scholar, of obsessively reminding that if one fears not to be part of
society, to be excluded, the assurance for interior fears is in buying: “I consume,
therefore I am”. In advertisement goods often seem the best substitute for love. In
the peachy world of advertisement goods are, Bartolini argues, to be loved and they
themselves in turn love our devotion, while in the real world they obstinately keep
not showing any feeling. All of these private goods seem to defend us from the
degrade of something which was previously common and free. A district is social
fabric, a community, which could not make feel alone children and elderly people, a
city without criminality, more trust and acquaintance among neighbours, a liveable
city. A similar reasoning might apply to the quality of the environment. Holidays in
uncontaminated places offer clean air, seas, rivers which might no longer be found in
our unliveable cities. At the same time the economic growth generated by these
mechanisms could increase environmental and relational degrade. Negative
endogenous growth capitalism, Bartolini claims, is a type of organisation which
tends to produce such effect of degrade of relational goods. The author argues that
the outcome of such mechanism which self-feeds is an increasing wealth of what is
private and poverty of what is common: relations and the environment. This is the
vicious circle of negative endogenous growth. It might have foreseeable
disappointing effects on well being because while it increases access to private goods
it diminishes that to common ones. This is why the traditional vision of growth

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seems telling only one piece of the story, the brilliant one. The one according to
which luxury goods for a generation become standard goods for the following one
and basic needs for the one that follows. But there also seem to be a dark side of the
story which is usually not highlighted. It is that which holds that free goods for a
generation become scarce for the following one and then luxury goods for the one
that follows. Free (or almost free) available goods for our grandparents, and often
our parents, which are very dear for us. So are, for instance, clean natural
environments or simply human curiosity4
.
Bartolini believes that the most important factor in influencing the quality of
relations might be, again, culture. The link between culture and relations is object of
a wide number of studies in social psychology. The author argues that they show
that the type of culture which works less for relations is the consumerist one. The
consumerist culture, typical of Western society, Bartolini claims, consists in giving
great importance in life to extrinsic motivations and low importance to intrinsic ones.
The distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations respectively refers to the
exploitability of the motivations for each action a person undertakes. In fact, the
term extrinsic refers to motivations which are external from a certain activity, like
money, while the term intrinsic refers to internal motivations, such as friendship,
solidarity or civic sense. Studies show that consumerists enjoys a lesser well being.
They are less satisfied with their life, less happy, less frequently experience positive
emotions (such as joy and happiness), more stress, more probability of contracting
mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, frequent negative emotions (like
feeling scared, sad or angry). Moreover they are likely to watch more television,
consume more alcohol and drugs, and have a worse health. As well as being
associated with worse relations with others, consumerist culture, Bartolini concludes,
also seem to generate a worse relation with oneself; as well as being associated with
lower levels of self esteem, self realisation, vitality and autonomy5
.
4
Ibidem, p. 18-20
5
Ibidem, p. 23-25

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How To Measure the Well Being of People
The main causes of the diffusion of consumerist values are, according to Bartolini,
the economic system and formative institutions. The role of economic organisation
could be understood in the light of the theory of substitution of motivations. It has
been developed by social psychologists to explain situations in which incentives have
an opposite effect to the ones economists would expect. Market economy is the
attempt to build an economic system which can work without intrinsic motivations,
the author continues. It is a system which creates links among individuals for
instrumental motives. The problem of consumerist individuals is that their needs of
intrinsically-motivated activities persist even though the system of values to which
they refer to confers little importance to those needs. Consumerist individuals,
Bartolini claims, tend to enjoy a lower well being because they do not listen carefully
to their intrinsically-motivated needs, and their lives are not organised accordingly.
This might represent, according to the author, the darkest side of the market. While
it supplies advantages in terms of economic prosperity, it passes its advantages on by
spreading values which are negative for those who embrace them and for society as a
whole. And the measure in which it does this might vary with the level of
penetration of market relations within social ones. How much the market is inserted
within social relations seems to have relevant collateral effects because it influences
the diffusion of consumerist values6
.
Gross national happiness is the attempt to define, with an evident ironic touch, but
perhaps with relevant sociological motives, a life standard along the gross domestic
product. The term was developed around the mid 1970s by Bhutan’s King Jigme
Wangchuck who made huge efforts to build an economy coherent with the traditional
culture of his country based on the spiritual values of Buddhism7
.
The genuine progress indicator instead, namely the indicator of authentic progress
is another indicator suggested to substitute gross domestic product to calculate
economic development. The genuine progress indicator measures the increase in life
quality of a country, highlighting the increase in the production of goods and
expansion of services which have effectively caused an improvement of well being
on the people. Genuine progress indicator supporters claim that it more accurately
6
Ibidem 25-28
7
http://www.gnhc.gov.bt/mandate

24. 160
measures economic progress, because it distinguishes between useful and not
economic development8
.
The comparison between gross domestic product and genuine progress indicator is
similar to the difference between total revenues of a firm and net profit.
Consequently, genuine progress indicator will be equal to zero if the financial costs
of crime and pollution will equal the financial benefits of the production of goods
and services, when all other factors remain constant. For these reasons it is
calculated distinguishing between positive and negative expenses (costs of
criminality, pollution, car accidents), differently to gross domestic product which
considers all of the expenses as positive and which does not consider all those
activities which contribute to increase the well being of a society even though they
are not calculated in economic or financial terms (the work of housewives or
voluntary work for instance)9
.
At least eleven countries among which Austria, Canada, England, Germany, the
Netherlands and Sweden, have recalculated their gross domestic product using the
genuine progress indicator. The data, for European and American countries, shows
that while gross domestic product has grown in the last decades, genuine progress
indicator has increased only up to the 1970s, after which it started to decrease. Many
argue that differently to the genuine progress indicator (which looks at calculating
well being) gross national happiness is no attempt to quantify happiness. The two
measures are on the same level, however, in that they both seem to hold that well
being is more important than consumption. The problem with gross national
happiness might be represented by the fact that it is based on a series of subjective
evaluations on moral values. This practically might mean that it is open to anyone
able to define a framework of reference (usually governments), coherent with his
interests10
.
Bartolini claims that humans possess two very developed capabilities when
compared with animals: the ability of individual adaptation to a certain environment
(including the economic and social one) and the ability to change the environment by
adapting it to their needs. Italian psychotherapist Renato Palma, Bartolini continues,
defines this second ability as sense of possibility. It is defined as the impulse to try,
8
http://genuineprogress.net/genuine-progress-indicator
9
Ibidem
10
http://rprogress.org/sustainability_indicators/genuine_progress_indicator.htm

25. 161
intended as a basis to improve experience and the result of work. For humans what
is possible precedes what is real. The human brain has invented the skill of
projecting changes, namely the alternative. The sense of possibility is at the basis of
our evolutionary success because it made us able to adapt the environment to our
needs. It made possible to invent technologies, institutions, rules, social
environments and cultures which have the goal of improving our life11
.
Bartolini believes that, however, the main formative institutions, family and
school, systematically privilege the ability of individual adaptation, assuming the
economic and social environment as given. And do not encourage the sense of
possibility, the skill of adapting the environment by considering it what after all it
really is, namely a human product. Other formative institutions, such as the media,
according to the author, seem busy in trying to confine the sense of possibility within
the sphere of possession. The sense of possibility seems thus confined to acquisition
and profit as well as competition. It is exactly this, the scholar continues, which
brings to the formation of individuals without a critical sense, deresponsabilised for
what their individual and social situation is concerned. In fact, many people perceive
feeling of pressure and coercion in the determination of their lives. It is one of the
greatest delusions created by economic opulence because the initial promise was a
substantial increase of individual and social possibilities, Bartolini argues.
Surprisingly, however, the perception of being the master of one’s life does not seem
to be related to economic prosperity and the end of the limitations imposed by
tradition and belonging. Freedom and autonomy do not seem terms which many
Westerners would use to describe their lives, perceived instead as spelt out by a
forced path, of which they do not have control12
.
It seems that even from the political point of view one might try to favour and
implement policies which uphold society’s heritage from a cultural point of view,
against the officious and pervading materialism which often seems to characterise
Western civilisation.
11
Ibidem, p. 31-32
12
Even the social system is perceived as not governable. This seems one of the most surprising traits
of contemporary Western culture, according to Bartolini. Such culture seems in fact born out of
Enlightenment, thus the idea of progress. The deepest sense of such an idea is that it is possible to do
something to improve things. Our culture seems instead today dominated by the perception of an
ineluctable social destiny of which nobody seems to be accountable for. It seems that Western culture
has become depress, in the sense that it is experiencing a sense of impossibility of addressing things
toward an improvement, even though the economic and social environment is a cultural product and
finally human, thus it might be oriented toward well being. Ibidem, p. 31-35

26. 162
Meaningful in this sense, from the juridical point of view within a European
framework, might appear the proposal of the convention of the Council of Europe on
the Value of Cultural Heritage For Society signed in Faro (Portugal) on 27th
October
2005. Also known as Faro Convention, it translates the passage from the issue of
how to preserve heritage and according to which procedure, to that of why and for
whom it should be valorised. It starts from the idea that the knowledge and use of
heritage are part of the right to participation of citizens to cultural life, as stated in the
1948 United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights13
.
References:
- Bartolini, Stefano (2010) Manifesto Per la Felicità Donzelli
- Council of Europe
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/Identities/default_en.asp
13
The text seems to present cultural heritage as a useful source for human development, valorisation
of cultural diversity and promotion of intercultural dialogue, as well as a model for economic
development based on sustainable use of resources principles. The convention seems to take on issues
linked to the person rather than objects. It is based on the meanings of heritage, their interpretation
and the ethics of use for the benefit of the whole society. Heritage is considered as a factor of social
link and cohesion which promotes a perception of common sense of belonging for the building of
societies. Refer to http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/Identities/default_en.asp

27. 163
- Genuine Progress Indicator
http://genuineprogress.net/genuine-progress-indicator
http://rprogress.org/sustainability_indicators/genuine_progress_indicator.htm
- Gross National Happiness
http://www.gnhc.gov.bt/mandate
- Latouche, Serge (2007) Farewell To Growth Polity / La Scommessa della
Decrescita Feltrinelli

28. 164

29. 165
PART II - ECONOMICS
10. HOMO OECONOMICUS
Preface
The conception of homo oeconomicus seems based on a series on assumptions which
may be regarded as uncompleted. The economy and economics might also follow a
different model than today’s if they begin to look more to citizens than consumers.
The Area of Research
It is argued that economic choices are not always motivated by economic efficiency,
but also by solidarity, ideals, feeling, emotions, moral, ethical and religious beliefs.
The Russeaunian state of nature represents an hypothetical condition in which men
only behave according to their needs, without the corruption brought by
modernisation and its tools (e. g. money, advertisement). Historically, woes and
problems, Russeau believed, were mostly generated by men’s wrongful choices,
while nature was perceived as a benign entity.
It is pointed out how the loss of humanity may be avoided if economics would act
in a civil way. Hence the introduction of the concept of civil economics, which
derived from the philosophical beliefs of Neapolitan civil humanism. The concept of

30. 166
homo oeconomicus here is substituted with that of homo reciprocans, while
consumer goods with relational goods and economic firms with civil ones.
Disciplinary Cultural and Scientific Objectives of the Research
If the economic and political sphere do not take into account the human dimension
the type of society that will result might not satisfy all of social need and demands.
Decentralisation instead of centralisation might in some cases be preferable for
the fact that the former, being a closer emanation of the people’s will, might better
understand and enhance a policy more akin to needs which are not being satisfied by
representative political institutions. It might seem that also because of this in most
of traditional societies much structured institutions and the concept of private good
do not exist. The concept of private good is substituted with the concept of common
good, which belongs to everybody and can be utilised by whoever has the need of
using it. A shift from a society based on well having to one based on well being
might seem advisable, especially for the Western civilisation.
Work Phases
The theme of homo oeconomicus has been investigated through several phases:
The analysis of man’s innate motivations
The concept of civil economics
An hypothetical society based exclusively on human needs
The effects of women on society
Disciplinary Advancements and Expected Results
It is argued that civil firms should culturalise consumption freeing consumers’
choices from the conditioning of market’s demand. The need to civil firms to

31. 167
produce relational goods, it is pointed out, derives from the fact that such goods yield
social externalities, which in turn form social capital. Social capital is maybe an
underestimated element, for it is not always easily measurable, but which might be
recognised as a sensitive way to improve the productivity of both individuals and
groups. A deeper investigation of the relation among relational goods, social
externalities and social capital could be further developed in order to provide
economic proof for possible changes in social and economic strategies.
The matriarchal civilisation and its underlying paradigm could be studied for
determining whether such a model might produce positive outcomes in the social,
economic and political sectors.
It is claimed that the fact that people have a limited life as opposed to countries
and corporations might result in a unequal juridical protection in favour of the latter.
How this involves economic outcomes might perhaps be worth further investigating.
The Main Sources For the Research
Bartolini investigated the concept of homo oeconomicus. Russeau’s work on the
state of nature was the main source for the more psychological and sociological
causes which produced modern economics while Mattei’s one investigated more the
juridical aspects of the issue.

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11. EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
Preface
Exponential growth might be thought of as a metaphor taken from a natural event
which might perhaps be applied to several open issues regarding the economy and
society in the 21st
century.
The Area of Research
The Club of Rome study on the condition of the biosphere produced more than forty
years ago is described as the first globally relevant document denouncing a possible
collapse of the biosphere. Linked to it the classical example of a microorganism
infesting a lake increasing at a logarithmic pace is looked at. Globalisation seems to
perhaps represent the microorganism. International trade has been existing for
millennia, but it seemed very different to what nowadays globalisation represents.
The latter is perceived a last enclosure, those on the minds, hearts, creativity and
resources. Never before colonialism (from which globalisation might have derived),
in fact, natural resources were turned into marketable goods.
Disciplinary Cultural and Scientific Objectives of the Research
It is argued that the example of exponential growth of a microorganism in a lake
might represent a metaphor for economic and social issues. Which of these and
where perhaps are we at the verge of exploding in a very short period of time?
If natural resources are believed to be common resources at the disposal of
everyone it may be possible that the idea that they instead are marketable goods
might be in part eradicated.

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Work Phases
Exponential growth has been described and inflected into two different dimensions:
As a cause of less social and economic rights
As a cause of less environmental and landscape rights
Disciplinary Advancements and Expected Results
Governments may often appear responsible for not playing a role of custodian of the
biosphere’s natural resources. They instead are in many circumstances perceived as
butlers which serve the interest of the biggest financial and economic lobbies.
Where and how these situation seem to mostly prevail?
The Main Sources For the Research
The main sources for the exponential growth paradigm were Dalla Casa and Shiva.

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12. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EARTH
Preface
Land and food, the resources and processes from nature we enjoy, landscape. They
all often seem to be taken for granted. Moreover, the indirect costs of mismanaging
such heritage appears often not so clear to mainstream opinion. The real value and
the risks menacing such heritage could probably become more known at the local
and global level.
The Area of Research
Intensive and subsistence agriculture, access to land and the how the food
distribution sector works are looked at.
A comparison of the concept of earth from a traditional and Western point of view
is produced.
Disciplinary Cultural and Scientific Objectives of the Research
It is pointed out that land is not a normal good but a common resource from which
many ecoservices are produced, hence it might perhaps be treated, in all dimensions,
more respectfully.
Ecoservices are described and analysed. It is argued that one of the main
properties of nature is that its services are never guided from outwards while growth
induced by man always depends on external energy and inputs.