Communicating economic system change

Building bridges between worldviews: Experiences from an interdisciplinary book project

Abstract

How can systems change, particularly economic systems change, be communicated across ideological boundaries? This reflection and learning paper draws on my experiences from a popular science book project that aims to connect scientific evidence with accessible language. At its core is the question of how to communicate well-founded critiques of the current economic system without reinforcing established political camps, while still inspiring readers to engage and rethink. The book “Eat. Sleep. Work. Die?” (oekom, 2025) deliberately operates at the intersections of economics, sustainability research, psychology, sociology, health sciences, and systems thinking. The insights presented here are not the result of a formal quantitative academic analysis of the book, but rather emerge from ongoing self-reflection, qualitative feedback from expert reviewers, conversations with readers, and experiences gained through communicating the content in practice. From this perspective, three approaches proved particularly valuable: presenting multiple solution pathways instead of a single ideological vision, building bridges through shared values, and continuously translating between scientific discourse and public debate. Special attention is given to the challenge of productively balancing personal perspective, emotional involvement, and scientific rigor without compromising credibility