IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/revepe/v4y2023i3d10.1007_s43253-023-00096-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

There's no such thing as 'the economy', stupid: using Utopia to imagine society 'after money'

Author

Listed:
  • Ruth Levitas

    (University of Bristol)

Abstract

This paper uses qualitative sociological modelling to assess the transformative potential of Modern Monetary Theory as set out in recent work by Stephanie Kelton and Mariana Mazzucato. The starting point is Ruth Levitas’s (2013) Utopia as Method. This defines and develops Utopia as an exploratory, speculative sociological method characterised by a holistic and ecologically embedded approach. This is then used to explore the potential of MMT for envisioning social transformation. The paper argues that the neglect of unpaid work and a commitment to economic growth undermines the radical potential of MMT, as does the abstraction of ‘the economy’ from a wider understanding of social structures and processes. It suggests also that the project to use MMT to reform capitalism is fundamentally flawed since there is a conflict between the compound growth on which capitalism depends and the environmental imperatives that both Kelton and Mazzucato acknowledge.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth Levitas, 2023. "There's no such thing as 'the economy', stupid: using Utopia to imagine society 'after money'," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 467-479, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:revepe:v:4:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s43253-023-00096-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s43253-023-00096-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43253-023-00096-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s43253-023-00096-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:revepe:v:4:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s43253-023-00096-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.