Hot or Cool Institute is a public interest think tank that explores the intersection between society and sustainability, we bring together researchers and practitioners to facilitate solutions to global problems.
- November 5, 2024
In Towards a 21st Century Social Contract, we argued that we are in need of a new eco-social contract, fit for the 21st century. This would better help us develop agreements or compromises, and devise solutions to address social and ecological challenges. In that report, we proposed a definition of the modern Western social contract and a framework for understanding the present-day social contract in terms of four pacts (Democracy, Security, Work and Consumption).
In this report, we present new qualitative research we have conducted together with our partners IDDRI to better understand how the concept of the social contract resonates with citizens. We conducted focus groups across England and Wales and conducted one-to-one interviews with citizens in France to address the following questions: Is the contractual logic familiar? How are the four pacts perceived? What matters most? And what types of narratives have the interviewees assimilated throughout their lives?
Based on these conversations, we have revised our understanding of the current social contract, and drawn lessons for how to engage citizens in deliberative conversations on a new one, as well as identifying the barriers and opportunities for achieving a social contract that respects environmental limits.
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The report will soon be available in French on the IDDRI website.
