What We Owe Each Other

A New Social Contract for a Better Society

By: Minouche Shafik

Narrated by: Minouche Shafik

This audiobook narrated by Minouche Shafik provides an urgent rethinking of how we can better support each other to thrive.

Whether we realize it or not, all of us participate in the social contract every day through mutual obligations among our family, community, place of work, and fellow citizens. Caring for others, paying taxes, and benefiting from public services define the social contract that supports and binds us together as a society. Today, however, our social contract has been broken by changing gender roles, technology, new models of work, aging, and the perils of climate change.

Minouche Shafik takes us through stages of life we all experience - raising children, getting educated, falling ill, working, growing old - and shows how a reordering of our societies is possible. Drawing on evidence and examples from around the world, she shows how every country can provide citizens with the basics to have a decent life and be able to contribute to society. But we owe each other more than this. A more generous and inclusive society would also share more risks collectively and ask everyone to contribute for as long as they can so that everyone can fulfill their potential. What We Owe Each Other identifies the key elements of a better social contract that recognizes our interdependencies, supports and invests more in each other, and expects more of individuals in return.

Powerful, hopeful, and thought-provoking, What We Owe Each Other provides practical solutions to current challenges and demonstrates how we can build a better society - together.

©2021 Dame Minouche Shafik (P)2021 Princeton University Press

Thoughtful and well argued ideas that could change how we engage in politics and each other

Good ideas, succinctly argued with a good balance between new thinking and pragmatism. For a European the new social contract is a no-brainer, but implementing this approach in the current climate would require visionary leaders with long term faith in our collective futures. Really recommend this book.

not bad, but not objective

the author obviously takes an overly liberal view and interpretation of facts, but there are a lot of really good points made. I just have a problem with the anti-male views and interpretations expressed. for example, the author claiming that the secondary education enrollment and acceptance gender gap has completely disappeared... because there are now significantly more women being accepted into colleges than men. that is obviously just a gap of another kind, but it's obviously the kind that the author doesn't care about because it only hurts men.
other than a few points like this though, the book was okay overall. if you can get past that, you might enjoy it.

Not the Good Place Book but worth listening to:

I downloaded this book buy accident thinking it was a Philosophical book mentioned in the Show "The Good Place" It is more a query on what as a society we should do.

This book would be a great Primer for those who want to hear about society as a whole.

A timely reflection on society

An optimistic solution to help society rebuild and improve, following the challenges of 2020-2021.

Excellent!

Loved the approach and execution of the entire topic. I would Reccomended this book for anyone working in a community, local, federal, state government or institution. We absolutely owe each other a social contract that allows all to thrive. Minouche Shafik’s voice carried this book into greatness. -thank you

NOT THE BOOK FROM THE GOOD PLACE!

Feels a little disingenuous to title your book very closely to another ethics book that came out 20 years before, but whatever. This is more about making capitalism work for everyone in an exercise of wishful thinking. Thin on philosophy, fat on economics statistics. I wish I hadn't used a credit on it.

Feminist / Socialist Manifesto

I thought this was going to be a moral philosophy book, considering it was brought up in the Good Place, by the moral philosophy. instead it's about doubling down on the bad parts of feminism that have caused massive issues in modern society.

The whole women performing unpaid work narrative is bunkem. If the man provides the money to pay for the family to live, the women is being paid with having the bills paid for by the man. It would be the same in the reverse situation.

The whole purpose of having a higher productive society is directed at affording better social services, instead of creating wealth and prosperity.

Utter garbage. This is the problem with ideology, it doesn't take reality into account, and always from the perspective of self interested motivations for an easier life for your tribe, instead of for the society as a whole.

Nothing new here

I didn't find anything new or useful in this book. Maybe everyone isn't aware of these issues? Also the solutions aren't anything new or groundbreaking in any sense--they rehash what already exists. Not very deep thinking here. Incredibly disappointing.