This manifesto is an intervention by a Europe-wide group of academics – the foundational economy collective – who have for several years in books and articles argued that policy makers need to balance concern with jobs and wages with more attention to essential goods and services like housing, food, utility supply, health, education and care. The provision of all of these things relies on the collective organisation of much larger systems; if group provision breaks down, citizens cannot buy their way out through individual consumption.
This foundational economy is often invisible, buried within the abstract idea of the economy and neglected by policymakers who focus on high tech and tradeable sectors. But during this coronavirus pandemic it has become highly visible because societies are shutting down everything except those parts of the economy providing essential foundational goods and services. When the collective provision of these essential goods and services breaks down, in particular places or for particular groups, basic human needs almost immediately go unmet.
Our starting point is that we must use the crisis actively as a lever to make the case for foundational provision, recognising the value of collective consumption supported by infrastructural systems. After the pandemic we should not revert to the old order of priorities and forget what we have learnt about the importance of foundational provision. Instead, we must find a way of broadening access to and improving the quality of essential foundational goods and services in ways which add meaning to citizenship.
