Visualizing a plenitude economy

September 6, 2011

This beautifully drawn 5-minute video provides a vision of what a post-consumer society could look like, with people working fewer hours and pursuing re-skilling, homesteading, and small-scale enterprises that can help reduce the overall size and impact of the consumer economy.

The video is narrated by economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor, based on her book Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth.

Read more about Schor’s vision for a Plenitude economy on her website.

Juliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Before joining Boston College, she taught at Harvard University for 17 years, in the Department of Economics and the Committee on Degrees in Women’s Studies. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Schor received her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts.

Juliet Schor

Juliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College, a member of the MacArthur Foundation Connected Learning Research Network, and co-founder of the Center for a New American Dream. Schor’s research focuses on consumption, time use, and environmental sustainability. Her books include After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win it Back (2020), The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need (1998), and The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (1992).

She is also the vice-chair of the board of the Better Future Project, one of the country’s most successful climate activism organizations.


Tags: Building Community, Consumption & Demand, Culture & Behavior