Joining a growing chorus demanding fundamental reform, dozens of academics in the Netherlands have released a manifesto for a sustainable post-COVID-19 society.

Khaled Diab takes stock of this mounting movement for change.

More than 170 academics in the Netherlands have signed up to a five-point manifesto for radical change intended to utilise the temporary slowdown in economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink and reinvent society in such a way as to make it more sustainable, resilient and fairer.

The release of the letter has drawn significant attention in the Dutch media and sparked a public debate there, as has occurred in other parts of Europe and the world where many people no longer wish to return to business as usual once the coronavirus crisis is over.

“COVID-19 has shaken the world. It has already led to the loss or devastation of countless lives, while many people in vital professions are working day and night to attend to the sick and stop further spread,” the experts said in the letter, pointing to how the coronavirus had exposed the underlying vulnerabilities and weaknesses of what the authors call the “neoliberal growth machine”.

“All this requires drastic and integrated action and makes it critical to start planning for a post-COVID-19 world,” the academics urged. “It is, therefore, necessary to envision how this current situation could lead to a more sustainable, fair, equitable, healthy, and resilient form of (economic) development going forward.”

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