Mintchev, Nikolay;
(2024)
What does it mean to redefine prosperity? A theory of definition for pathways to sustainable futures.
Social Semiotics
10.1080/10350330.2024.2341388.
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Abstract
There is a growing body of literature arguing that we need to redefine prosperity – to move away from prosperity as economic wealth, and towards a new definition as quality of life for people and planet. While much work has been done on theories and methods for building sustainable prosperity, the process of redefinition at the level of meaning has received significantly less attention. Current arguments for redefining prosperity do not have a theory of definition despite raising multiple conceptual questions about what exactly is being redefined, what the conditions for redefining it are, and what the relationship is between redefining the word and redefining the thing. The article addresses these questions by developing a much-needed theory of definition for today’s debates on prosperity. It claims that the redefinition of prosperity is not a substitute of one definiens with another but a reconfiguration of elements in what Adorno called “a horizon of associations” at the levels of both language and social reality.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | What does it mean to redefine prosperity? A theory of definition for pathways to sustainable futures |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10350330.2024.2341388 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2024.2341388 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
| Keywords: | Flourishing; thriving; wellbeing; ecology; social theory; Theodor Adorno |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > UCL Institute for Global Prosperity |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10192823 |
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