Beyond growth: a wellbeing economy for the textile and garment sector

Growth-alternative economic models such as wellbeing economies, steady state and degrowth perspectives have come to prominence as opportunities to foster human health and quality of life without exceeding planetary boundaries. Collectively these perspectives offer an avenue for holistic approaches to addressing planetary and human health, but to implement them will require substantial changes to institutions, governance systems and our general ways of life. Drawing from a literature review, our team identified four attributes of wellbeing economies and applied them to the textile and garment sector - one of the most globalised and complex supply chains. Type of program or service Application of alternative economic systems for planetary and human health.

We use a case study approach to analyse the global textile and garment industry 1, drawing on previously published literature to identify key attributes of wellbeing economies and demonstrate how they can be applied in practice.

We describe four central principles for implementing growth alternative economic models in the fashion industry: i) Establishing limits; ii) Promoting fairness; iii) Developing new and just governance systems; and iv) Promoting new roles for business and systems of exchange.

Significant societal transformations will be required to achieve growth-alternative economic approaches; however, these approaches offer a real chance for achieving planetary and human health. The textile and garment industry provides a valuable case study to explore these possibilities.