From social investment to sustainable welfare: Ecological crisis, global justice, and the work‐welfare nexus

Abstract Social investment is one of the dominant approaches to welfare reform worldwide. Highlighting the positive contribution of social policy to the economy, social investment constitutes a valuable alternative to austerity. In this research note, we argue that—despite its merits—social investment is problematic from an ecological and global justice perspective, as it remains tied to the capitalist regime of overproduction and overconsumption that causes the transgression of planetary boundaries and the exploitation of the global South. Against this backdrop, we propose “sustainable welfare” as an alternative framework for social policy reform. Rejecting productivism, the sustainable welfare paradigm embraces a post‐capitalist socioeconomic system, which puts the care for people and planet center stage.