The Habitation Society - (Building Progressive Alternatives) by Fred Block

About the Book

A compelling analysis of our transition from an industrial economy to a habitation economy, which maps out how this new economy can work more effectively for people, their families and their communities.

Book Synopsis

In The Habitation Society, leading economic and political sociologist Fred Block argues that we are at a time of "blocked transition" from one mode of economic and social organization to another. We now have a habitation economy because most people work at creating, maintaining or improving the soft and hard infrastructure of the communities in which we live. The problem, however, is that we do not yet have a habitation society since our economy continues to be organized through the structures, institutions and concepts of an industrial economy. While the old industrial economy is dying, the new habitation society cannot yet be born.

But it is more than this, our methods for understanding how the economy works are also built around the analysis of industrial production, which are completely inadequate, Block shows, for grasping the new reality of how we buy and consume services in the habitation economy. In the absence of concepts to make sense of what is happening, the political space becomes filled with conspiracy theories and disinformation. Specifically, it has become extremely difficult for people to understand their own relationship to the larger economy and society, in particular, there is no longer an obvious relationship between the amount or intensity of work effort and economic output.

Fred Block's compelling analysis offers a path through this confusion and a means to understand our transition and what form this will take. He examines the economy as it actually exists in the present and maps out what would make that economy work more effectively in the hope that this will empower individuals to recognize the kinds of changes that could be made to improve things for themselves, their families and their communities.

Review Quotes

The Habitation Society is a Copernican shift to a new paradigm for understanding the profound economic, political and social changes of our moment. Deeply anchored in the larger context of the past 200 years, Fred Block's vision of 'the habitation society' offers convincing and compelling links between past political economies and future possibilities. Its reader-friendly pages offer a much-needed field guide for building bridges to a better world.--Kathryn Kish Sklar, Distinguished Professor Emerita, State University of New York at Binghamton

The Habitation Society is a succinct, cogent argument for restructuring economic priorities and reconstructing democratic governance. By rethinking conventional economic wisdom and providing strategies for delivering the physical and social infrastructure communities need, Block lays out a way forward. Everyone who cares about the future, activists and theorists alike, should dig into this book.--Peter Evans, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

An impressive project for a democratic, postindustrial as well as postcapitalist political economy taking advantage of the crisis of capitalist globalization. The book develops the contours of a progressive model of prosperity, centred on the living conditions of ordinary people and based on collaborative production and investment by public agencies and private households integrated in networked communities. A blueprint, ambitious and optimistic, for an economy opting out of the logic of profit-making in favour of a logic of people-serving, moving from hierarchy to cooperation in democratic organizational forms.--Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne

This is an exciting book on how to improve human flourishing by creating, maintaining, and improving the socioeconomic and biophysical infrastructures of local communities that cannot be bought and sold like standardized commodities. Fred Block illustrates how neoliberal globalization undermined mutual recognition and norms of reciprocity, showing at the same time the potential of democratizing habitation by satisfying needs for housing, energy, care, and food, while also creating a habitat for plants, animals, and other life forms.--Andreas Novy, WU Vienna University of Economics, President, International Karl Polanyi Society

In this brilliant new work, Fred Block compels us to rethink our long-held assumptions about economy and society. Economic gurus describe an industrial economy that no longer exists, blind to the new 'habitation economy' built on our collective social infrastructure - from public investments to familial care. Above all, the book warns us of the urgency to democratize financialization and accelerate citizenship participation if we are to thwart authoritarianism and instead create an equitable habitation society.--Margaret R. Somers, Professor Emerita of Sociology and History, University of Michigan, Ann Abor

In The Habitation Society, Block offers a compelling critique of our current economic problems and a visionary sketch of a more democratic mode of governing the infrastructure of everyday life, through which we can create a more innovative, habitable and just society. This is a must-read for everyone interested in reviving democracy and reimagining an economy that works for everyone.--Elizabeth Anderson, Max Shaye Professor of Public Philosophy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Fred Block offers a timely and thought-provoking perspective that challenges the conventional economic thinking on consumption, production, innovation and investment. He provides a compelling roadmap for moving towards a habitation society where individuals have greater agency in shaping their environments and communities. Recognizing that the economy does not only have a rate but a direction, Block illuminates opportunities for meaningful change towards shared goals. The Habitation Society is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the ills of our contemporary economic system and envision a more just and sustainable future.--Mariana Mazzucato, author of Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

The US economy is mostly a mess and most economists are making it worse. Fred Block explains why, combining sociological insights with practical suggestions for change. His take-down of conventional measures of investment should both embarrass Wall Street and inspire advocates for greater public spending on human and social capabilities.--Nancy Folbre, Professor Emerita of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

About the Author

Fred Block is Research Professor of Sociology at University of California Davis. He is widely regarded as one of the world's leading economic and political sociologists. He has served on the Board of the Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy since 1989 and is the author, most recently, of Capitalism: The Future of an Illusion (2018).