This critical essay identifies important structural changes needed to enable widespread democratic participation and sustainable development. The author argues for the construction of a new modernity in which the centrality of waged work would be greatly diminished. Civilising globalisation implies not only a re-localisation of the economy but also the fostering of a variety of social bonds outside the market, of alternative social practices in order to diminish the importance of the wage relationship and create new production and consumption models. The best strategy for moving beyond the wage-based society lies in a synergy between three types of measure - a reduction of working hours, a guaranteed income, and the development of alternative activities to wage labour and of practices of a composite economy. The author also justifies the shift from an emphasis on reduced working time to one of material security, with or without a job. Different forms of guaranteed income or material security have pride of place in this strategy because they help prioritise activities which have an intrinsic value, therefore narrowing the sphere of economic value creation.

Participation in civic affairs and decision making largely depends on transformations that allow people to reclaim control over time, space and resources.