Library

Report • 2016

Why the degrowth debate is gaining momentum

From the text: Reporting from The 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest - which continues today and tomorrow - NICK MEYNEN explores the new narrative of ‘sufficiency' being discussed and and asks will it catch on before it's too late?

Interview • 2016

„Wachstum wird immer schwieriger“

By: Giorgos Kallis

Giorgos Kallis im Kontext der Degrowth Konferenz in Budapest 2016 im Interview mit der Taz. Aus dem Interview: taz: Herr Kallis, Sie glauben an einen globalen Systemwandel. Was macht Sie so sicher? Giorgos Kallis: Wir betreten eine Ära, in der Wirtschaftswachstum immer schwieriger wird. Das beobachten nicht nur Degrowth-Forscher. Auch Stars der Szene wie der französische Ökonom Thomas Piketty...

Position paper • 2016

Degrowth, eine Alternative zum Wachstum

By: Matthias Schmelzer

Teaser: Manche Ökonomen haben eingesehen: Die Wirtschaft kann nicht immer weiter wachsen. Ihre Schlagworte sind Degrowth und Postwachstumsgesellschaft. Eine Gegenrede zu Rainer Hank. Der Artikel auf den sich diese Gegenrede bezieht ist hier zufinden.

Position paper • 2016

A Proposal for Voluntary Degrowth by Redesigning Money for Sustainability, Justice, and Resilience

By: Alf Hornborg

An European Policy Brief of the European Commission of the project: FINANCIALISATION ECONOMY SOCIETY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT From the text: What is the fundamental goal of this proposal? The most fundamental idea underlying this proposal is to insulate local human subsistence and livelihood from the vicissitudes of national and international economic cycles and financial ...

Misc • 2016

Time for degrowth: to save the planet, we must shrink the economy

By: Jason Hickel

From the text: . . . SDG 8 calls for improving “global resource efficiency” and “decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation”. Unfortunately, there are no signs that this is possible at anything near the necessary pace. Global material extraction and consumption grew by 94% between 1980 and 2010, accelerating in the last decade to reach as high as 70 billion tonnes per year. And...

Misc • 2016

Degrowth Is Punk as Fuck

By: Sam Bliss, Aaron Vansintjan

We’re not trying to sound nice. Take your positivity and shove it.

Misc • 2016

Is being “punk as f*ck” really where it’s at?

By: Rob Hopkins

Rob Hopkins offers a Transition take on a recent blog by Sam Bliss, Aaron Vansintjan called ‘Degrowth Is Punk as F*ck‘. > Blog post ‘Degrowth Is Punk as Fuck‘

Misc • 2016

Limits to growth: policies to steer the economy away from disaster

By: Samuel Alexander

From the text: . . . Others have shown why limitless growth is a recipe for disaster. I’ve argued that living in a degrowth economy would actually increase well-being, both socially and environmentally. But what would it take to get there? In a new paper published by the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, I look at government policies that could facilitate a planned transition beyond...

Scientific paper • 2016

New narratives for innovation

By: Mario Giampietro, Roger Strand, Andrea Saltelli, Kjetil Rommetveit, Silvio Funtowicz

Keywords: Sociotechnical imaginaries; Post-normal science

Scientific paper • 2016

Surrendering to growth? The European Union's goals for research and technology in the Horizon 2020 framework

By: Jan Pollex, Andrea Lenschow

Keywords: European Union; Research policy; Sustainability; Degrowth and policy; Information and communication technology; Horizon 2020

Misc • 2016

Theses on Saving the Planet

By: Richard Smith

Degrowth, green capitalism and the promise of ecosocialism From the article: . . . What to do? Mainstream economists have had two approaches. Economists such as Herman Daly, Tim Jackson, and Serge Latouche have advocated “degrowth.” The idea is that capitalism can be slowed down, made to run at a “steady state” or even to “degrow.” I have argued elsewhere that these theorists just don’t...

Misc • 2016

For a Politics of Conviviality

By: Frank Adloff, Andrea Vetter, Ina Kerner, Sérgio Costa,

From the text: . . . A convivial politics would have to lead—on behalf of the equality of all people—the fight against excessiveness on one hand, and inequality on the other hand. Concretely, this means the fight against poverty and extreme wealth. One possibility for this would be an unconditional, basic income and a maximum income limit. For example, public procurement contracts would be...

Scientific paper • 2016

Degrowth und Postwachstum – Reflexionen zu Konzeptvielfalt und Nachhaltigkeitsbezügen

By: Stephan Lorenz

Herausgeber_innen: Mit den Themen „Degrowth“ und „Postwachstum“ wurde in den vergangenen Jahren Wachstumskritik wieder auf die politische und wissenschaftliche Agenda gehoben. Die Vielfältigkeit der Debatten zu systematisieren, gelingt bislang nur unzureichend. Gründe dafür werden in diesem Beitrag diskutiert. Zum einen bleiben die Begriffsbestimmungen von Wachstum bzw. Wachstumskritik und der...

Scientific paper • 2016

Deep decarbonisation and social justice – an overview of policy proposals

By: Klara Hajdu

Transition to a sustainable economy requires a fundamental change in how we use natural resources in a quantitative and qualitative way. Not only a substantial reduction of resource use is needed in a range of 3 to 5, but also a deep decarbonisation needs to take place, which results in zero GHG emissions by mid century. At the same time the growing national and international inequalities pose...

Scientific paper • 2016

Framing the Privacy Debate and Big Data Governmentality in Degrowth Theory

By: Julien Rossi

Data surveillance by private companies and public intelligence agencies is intricated, and research has shown how citizens have become willing participants in their own surveillance. This brings forth a new type of governmentality that is legitimised by hegemonic imaginaries on “Big Data” and innovation which are closely related to the imaginary of technological growth. The Snowden disclosures...

Scientific paper • 2016

From capitalist accumulation to a solidarity economy

By: Barbara Muraca

In her keynote speech, Barbara Muraca will outline the key strategies for degrowth, specifically reflecting on the following topics, which are also the guiding topics of the third day of the conference: -Changing networks of production and consumption and driving political action -Degrowth as a fundamentally social challenge, involving structural changes of social practices, institutions and...

Scientific paper • 2016

Re-embedding the food economy in food politics

By: Lanka Horstink

Food, whether conceptualised as necessity, system or industry, is central to major social, economic and ecological challenges, both source and solution of wicked problems such as hunger, poverty, and climate change. It has been foundational to economic thinking and policies, from the first complete theory of economics by physiocrats, to classical economics and the sociologies of Marx, Weber and...

Scientific paper • 2016

Strategies for degrowth in a Nordic context

By: Karin Bradley, Erika Öhlund, Alexander Paulsson, Tuuli Hirvilammi, Paavo Järvensivu

This session explores strategies for futures beyond growth in the context of the Nordic welfare states, reflecting a growing public interest, and ongoing academic research projects that critically examine current growth paradigms. Degrowth has been described as not primarily driven by the government, but rather evolving through grassroots movements. Nordic models of a strong welfare...

Scientific paper • 2016

Sufficiency Policy for Sustainable Degrowth

By: Angelika Zahrnt, Felix Ekardt, Anja Humburg, Joachim Spangenberg, Joachim Spangenberg

Sufficiency is the anti-thesis to the dominant orientation towards getting ever “more, further and faster”. Often treated as a lifestyle issue for the better-off, it essentially requires (1) a fundamental policy change to offering new opportunity spaces, from advertisement- and commerce free spaces via repairable design to reverting work intensification, and (2) a change in societal standards...

Scientific paper • 2016

The interpretation of degrowth in local policy and planning

By: Katarina Buhr

A significant share of the literature on degrowth focuses on macro-level units of analysis such as the global or national economy, to discuss aspects such as market logics as a central organizing principle in society or the relevance of GDP as a welfare measure or as a barrier for long-term sustainable development on the global scale. Studies on degrowth that focus on the local scale, on the...