Beyond GDP: Reimagining Economic Value through Complexity, Relational Sociology, and Post-Growth Political Economy

Abstract

This article examines the growing inadequacy of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of human progress in a world shaped by ecological fragility, socio-technical transformations, and civilizational transitions. While GDP served as a convenient post-war metric for national accounting, it now obscures critical dimensions of wellbeing, including ecological sustainability, relational capabilities, and systemic resilience. Drawing from complexity economics, relational sociology, and post-growth political economy, the article proposes a renewed understanding of value as emergent, interconnected, and ecologically embedded.Complexity economics demonstrates that economies are not linear production machines but adaptive systems shaped by feedback loops, cooperation, and innovation. Relational perspectives from Sen, Nussbaum, and Appadurai highlight capabilities, agency, and aspiration as fundamental components of wellbeing beyond monetary aggregates. Post-growth scholarship—including recent contributions from Hickel, Raworth, and Stiglitz—calls for civilizational metrics aligned with planetary boundaries and distributive justice.The article synthesizes these paradigms to propose a multidimensional framework integrating ecological boundaries, relational wellbeing, and systemic capabilities. Special attention is given to Africa and the Global South, where informal economies, urban complexity, and community resilience constitute fertile ground for post-GDP experimentation.Overall, the analysis argues that moving beyond GDP is not merely a technical adjustment but a civilizational shift toward a regenerative, capability-enhancing, and complexity-aware understanding of prosperity fit for the twenty-first century.