Key Takeaways
1. Reimagine utopia: Small glimpses of a better future exist everywhere
You don't wake up and find a utopia fully realised and perfectly formed. They happen a little bit at a time, unevenly, erratically, and if we know how to look, we can see glimpses of them everywhere.
Utopian thinking evolves. Rather than grand visions of perfect societies, today's utopias are small-scale experiments and innovations happening in communities worldwide. These "glimpses of utopia" demonstrate practical ways to create more just, sustainable, and caring societies.
Examples include:
- Participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Iceland's citizen-driven constitution rewrite after the 2008 financial crisis
- The democratic confederalism system in Rojava, Syria
By recognizing and learning from these real-world efforts, we can piece together a vision for a better future that is grounded in existing successes rather than unrealistic fantasies.
2. Recentre the citizen: Empower people to shape their communities
The challenge right now is to pull back and describe the bigger picture that leads to this feeling of exclusion and distrust. To me it seems essential that more of us make the connections between what can seem like abstract or distant policy decisions and their impacts on our lives.
Citizen empowerment is crucial. Many people feel disconnected from the decisions that shape their lives and communities. Rebuilding trust and engagement requires creating more opportunities for direct citizen participation in governance.
Key approaches include:
- Participatory budgeting processes
- Citizens' assemblies on key issues
- Digital democracy platforms for ongoing input
These methods give people a tangible stake in shaping their communities, leading to better-informed decisions and increased civic engagement. Ultimately, recentering citizens can help address the widespread disillusionment with current political systems.
3. Refocus politics: Create more participatory and representative systems
To build a fairer world, the benefits banks receive from our governments have got to spark a mutual obligation – a responsibility to act in the interests of local communities or future generations – one that's consistent throughout their operations and which is at the core of their business.
Political systems need an overhaul. Current representative democracies often fail to truly reflect diverse populations or address long-term challenges. More participatory and inclusive political models can help realign governance with citizens' needs and values.
Promising innovations include:
- Taiwan's vTaiwan platform for crowdsourcing policy
- Randomly-selected citizens' assemblies to deliberate on complex issues
- Proportional representation voting systems
These approaches can help overcome political polarization, increase diversity in decision-making, and create policies more attuned to public interests. Refocusing politics on genuine citizen engagement can revitalize democracy for the 21st century.
4. Redesign work: Build an economy that values human potential
We've been rolling along without updating the software our system operates on, and so many foundational assumptions and policies are now completely outdated and out of sync with the way the world works today.
Work needs reimagining. The current economic system undervalues essential work, creates precarious conditions for many, and fails to harness human creativity and potential. A redesigned economy should prioritize meaningful work, fair compensation, and sustainable practices.
Key elements could include:
- Universal basic services to meet essential needs
- Shorter work weeks to share employment and improve work-life balance
- Worker ownership models like cooperatives
By rethinking fundamental assumptions about work, we can create an economy that better serves human flourishing and environmental sustainability rather than just profit maximization.
5. Reward the human: Recognize and compensate care work
The conditions of work are the conditions of care.
Care work is undervalued. Despite being essential for society, care work – including childcare, eldercare, and domestic labor – is often poorly compensated and precarious. Recognizing and properly valuing care work is crucial for building a more equitable and sustainable economy.
Strategies to improve care work include:
- Providing living wages and benefits for care workers
- Investing in public care infrastructure
- Reframing care as productive economic activity
Elevating the status and compensation of care work can improve quality of life for both care workers and care recipients while creating a more balanced and humane economy overall.
6. Recoup the investment: Ensure public value from technological advances
If public investment was valued in the same way private investment has been, the American public would own at least 11 per cent of the company, which as of May 2020 is valued at over US$144 billion.
Public investment deserves returns. Many technological innovations rely heavily on publicly funded research and infrastructure, yet private companies reap most of the financial rewards. Ensuring a fair public return on these investments is crucial for funding future innovation and public goods.
Possible approaches include:
- Government equity stakes in companies benefiting from public research
- Royalties on commercially successful publicly-funded innovations
- Stronger conditions on public research grants and subsidies
Recouping public investment can help fund essential services and future innovation while ensuring that technological progress benefits society as a whole, not just private shareholders.
7. Reform finance: Make banking serve society, not exploit it
A fairer data economy implies advancement towards a robust model of data commons, one that goes beyond open data by attending not only to the potential of open access to data but also to the conditions of its production, to the power over and the protection from it, to its governance as well as to the social responsibility for its impacts.
Finance needs realignment. The current financial system often prioritizes short-term profits over long-term societal wellbeing. Reforming finance to better serve social and environmental goals is crucial for building a more sustainable and equitable economy.
Key reforms could include:
- Public banking options focused on community needs
- Ethical banking standards prioritizing social and environmental impact
- Islamic finance principles emphasizing real economic activity over speculation
By reorienting finance towards serving society rather than exploiting it, we can create a financial system that supports rather than undermines social and environmental goals.
8. Restore the commons: Manage shared resources for collective benefit
The commons won't manage itself: it needs us to be stewards of it.
Revive collective resource management. Many essential resources – from natural ecosystems to digital platforms – are best managed as commons rather than private or state property. Restoring collective stewardship of these shared resources can promote sustainability and equitable access.
Examples of commons-based approaches:
- Community land trusts for affordable housing
- Open-source software and knowledge platforms
- Cooperative management of natural resources
By recognizing the value of collective ownership and management, we can create more sustainable and equitable systems for managing essential resources that benefit all of society.
9. Rebuild for equity: Design cities that work for all residents
The purpose of a city is to bring people closer together so that human flourishing is more likely to happen.
Cities need inclusive redesign. Urban areas often exacerbate inequality through uneven development and gentrification. Rebuilding cities with a focus on equity and sustainability can create more livable environments for all residents.
Key strategies include:
- Participatory planning processes centering marginalized communities
- Affordable housing initiatives like community land trusts
- Green infrastructure benefiting all neighborhoods
By prioritizing equity in urban design and development, cities can become drivers of social and environmental progress rather than reinforcing existing inequalities.
10. Restart a civic conversation: Foster dialogue across divides
If we truly believe that every person has a role to play in building the world we want, we need every person to feel valued and heard. We do that by asking them the why behind their positions and respecting the beliefs and experiences that got them there.
Dialogue is essential. Political polarization and social media echo chambers hinder productive civic discourse. Fostering genuine dialogue across ideological and social divides is crucial for addressing complex challenges and building shared visions for the future.
Approaches to improve civic conversation:
- Structured dialogue programs pairing people with differing views
- Public spaces and events designed for diverse interaction
- Media initiatives highlighting multiple perspectives on issues
By creating opportunities for respectful engagement across differences, we can rebuild the civic fabric necessary for collaborative problem-solving and social progress.
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FAQ
What is Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World by Jess Scully about?
- Explores systemic change: The book investigates transformative ideas and real-world projects that aim to create fairer, more sustainable, and inclusive societies.
- Focus on practical solutions: Jess Scully highlights global examples of how work, care, finance, government, and urban planning can be reimagined to better serve people.
- Hope amid crises: It offers a manifesto for hope, showing how creativity and compassion can address climate change, inequality, and political polarization.
- Interconnected themes: The book demonstrates how reforms in one area, like finance or care, support progress in others, emphasizing the need for holistic change.
Why should I read Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully?
- Inspiration in challenging times: The book provides optimism and actionable solutions for readers feeling overwhelmed by global crises.
- Comprehensive systemic insight: It offers a deep understanding of the root causes of inequality, environmental degradation, and social fragmentation.
- Bridges theory and practice: Scully combines research, interviews, and her political experience to present a grounded yet visionary roadmap for change.
- Empowerment and agency: Readers are encouraged to see themselves as agents of change, with practical steps to participate in building a fairer world.
What are the key takeaways from Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully?
- Reimagine work and care: The book urges society to recognize and reward human creativity and caregiving as essential economic activities.
- Reform finance and taxation: Scully advocates for ensuring public investments and corporate profits return value to society, and for shifting taxes from labor to pollution and resource use.
- Restore the commons: Data and other shared resources should be managed collectively for public benefit, not private gain.
- Rebuild cities and civic trust: Inclusive urban design and respectful civic dialogue are essential for equity and collective action.
What does Jess Scully mean by "glimpses of utopia" in Glimpses of Utopia?
- Concrete, real-world experiments: "Glimpses of utopia" are not abstract ideals but actual projects and ideas with the potential to transform society.
- Seed forms of the future: These initiatives are imperfect and incomplete but show what a fairer, sustainable future could look like if nurtured and scaled.
- Global examples: The book features participatory budgeting in Brazil, digital democracy in Taiwan, and worker co-ops in Argentina as such glimpses.
- Hopeful pragmatism: Scully balances optimism with realism, encouraging readers to recognize and support these emerging changes.
How does Jess Scully in Glimpses of Utopia propose redesigning work for a fairer economy?
- Expanding worker ownership: The book highlights models like employee stock ownership and co-operatives that align workers’ and owners’ interests and improve job security.
- Democratic business models: Examples like The Co-Operative Life in Australia show how care work can be organized to benefit both workers and clients.
- Addressing gig economy challenges: Scully discusses the rise of precarious work and the need for new forms of unionization and worker representation.
- Countering financialization: The book critiques the separation of work from jobs and the dominance of finance over the real economy.
What is the "care economy" and why is it important in Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully?
- Definition and scope: The care economy includes child care, elder care, disability support, education, and environmental stewardship—work essential for societal wellbeing.
- Undervaluation and gender bias: Care work is often unpaid or underpaid, predominantly done by women, and wrongly considered "low skill."
- Investment benefits: Research shows investing in care creates more jobs and reduces gender employment gaps more effectively than traditional infrastructure spending.
- Transformative potential: Scully advocates for formalizing care work, improving conditions, and recognizing care as foundational to a fair, sustainable economy.
How does Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully address the role of citizens in democracy?
- Recentering the citizen: The book argues for shifting power back to citizens through participatory budgeting, deliberative democracy, and digital platforms.
- Innovative examples: Iceland’s Better Reykjavik and Taiwan’s vTaiwan platforms enable ongoing citizen engagement and policy co-creation.
- Expanding representation: Scully emphasizes the importance of including young people, women, and marginalized communities in political processes.
- Deliberative democracy: Citizens’ juries and councils are discussed as ways to deepen participation and rebuild trust in institutions.
What political innovations are highlighted in Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully?
- Participatory budgeting: Originating in Brazil, this process gives citizens direct control over parts of public budgets, improving spending on health, education, and housing.
- Digital democracy platforms: Tools like Better Reykjavik and vTaiwan allow for crowdsourced policy ideas and transparent government responses.
- Forking government: Inspired by software, Taiwan experiments with parallel policy approaches that can be merged if successful, fostering innovation.
- Citizens’ juries and councils: Randomly selected citizens deliberate on complex issues, providing informed recommendations and reducing polarization.
How does Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully propose reforming finance and recouping public investment?
- Socializing risks, privatizing rewards: Scully critiques how public funds often enable private profits without fair returns to society.
- Democratic ownership of capital: Models like The Working World provide patient, non-extractive capital to worker-owned enterprises.
- Tax reform proposals: Ideas such as the "Maid Marion Tax" (a financial transactions tax) could fund social infrastructure and reduce inequality.
- Community wealth building: The book promotes local ownership and control of assets to keep wealth circulating within communities.
What does Jess Scully say about public investment in technology in Glimpses of Utopia?
- Public origins of innovation: Many technologies, like the internet and GPS, were developed with public funding, especially through defense and university research.
- Lack of fair returns: Despite public investment, tech giants often avoid taxes and create few jobs, privatizing rewards while socializing risks.
- Proposed solutions: Scully highlights Mariana Mazzucato’s idea that governments should charge royalties on publicly funded innovations to ensure public benefit.
- Reinvestment in research: Ensuring returns from public investment can fund future innovation and social infrastructure.
How does Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully address corporate tax avoidance and profit shifting?
- Exposure of tax havens: The book discusses how corporations and wealthy individuals use tax havens to avoid paying taxes where profits are earned.
- Profit shifting tactics: Companies use subsidiaries and intra-group transactions to minimize tax liabilities.
- Global reform proposals: Scully presents unitary taxation and country-by-country reporting as ways to allocate profits fairly and close loopholes.
- Call for cooperation: The book urges global collaboration to ensure corporations contribute their fair share to society.
What are the Ex’Tax Project and its significance in Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully?
- Tax shift concept: The Ex’Tax Project proposes shifting taxation from labor to natural resource use and pollution, incentivizing employment and environmental protection.
- Economic and social benefits: Modeling shows this shift could increase jobs, GDP, and reduce emissions and resource use.
- Global applicability: The project is being adapted for developing countries, offering a way to fund Sustainable Development Goals.
- Supports a caring economy: The tax shift aligns with Scully’s vision of an economy that values people and the planet.
How does Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully envision rebuilding civic conversation and public trust?
- Breaking echo chambers: Initiatives like Germany Talks pair people with opposing views for one-on-one conversations, reducing polarization.
- Designing social space: The book emphasizes understanding and expanding people’s willingness to balance self-interest with community good.
- New civic institutions: Scully calls for new spaces and institutions that enable inclusive, empathetic dialogue and participatory democracy.
- Restarting civic conversation: Fostering respectful dialogue is seen as essential for rebuilding trust and collective action for systemic change.
Review Summary
Glimpses of Utopia receives mostly positive reviews, with readers appreciating its optimistic outlook and diverse ideas for social change. Many found it inspiring and informative, praising Scully's accessible writing style and real-world examples. Some critics noted a lack of cohesion and depth in certain areas. The book's exploration of alternative economic and social models resonated with readers seeking hope in challenging times. Overall, it's viewed as a thought-provoking read that offers practical solutions for a better future.
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