Library

Scientific paper • 2014

A Christian Criticism of the Society of Growth

Abstract: Does the Christian faith question the society of growth? This short paper argues that it indeed contradicts its productivist social imaginary. First, a renewed theology of creation opposes the anthropocentric view of humankind rightfully ruling and exploiting nature. Second, the evangelical ethics of sobriety and sharing is in conflict with the materialistic view of life. Through...

Scientific paper • 2014

Conservation Through Radical Ecological Democracy

By: Ashish Kothari

Abstract: Globalised development and centralised natural resource governance have seriously threatened the ecological security of countries like India, with rapid loss of ecosystems and biodiversity. Official responses to such loss have mostly been top-down, undemocratic protected area systems and conservation laws. However, across the country as in other parts of the world, communities and...

Scientific paper • 2014

Radical Ecological Democracy: A South Asian Quest for a Sustainable and Equitable Future

By: Ashish Kothari

Abstract: The impressive growth seen in the last two decades of ‘globalisation’ in countries like India has been predatory of nature and of already marginalised people. There are clear signs of ecological unsustainability and increasing inequities. A number of resistance movements are questioning the model of development and growth that they have been subjected to. Urgent steps are needed to...

Scientific paper • 2014

Subjective wellbeing in Colombia

By: Alexander Krauss

subjective wellbeing, happiness, Colombia, unemployment, life satisfaction

Scientific paper • 2014

Grassroots digital commons for a bottom-up transition towards sustainability

By: Adrien Labaeye

Digital commons; Sustainability transition; Niches; Self-organization; Innovation

Scientific paper • 2014

Old Ideas: Values in Second Hand Markets

By: Frederik Larsen

Abstract: Solutions to the economic and environmental challenges the world is currently facing often introduce novel ideas and new ways forward. In a conceptual take on degrowth this paper presents an ethnographic study of an existing economic system, the second hand market, and argues that understanding how values are created in this market can contribute to a change towards greater...

Scientific paper • 2014

Theorizing Rebound-Effects in A Pragmatist Manner

By: Stefan Laser

Abstract: Debating socio-economic issues and practical strategies how to solve them habitually results in two opposing statements: (a) an economic-driven solution which almost blindly builds upon efficiency or (b) an overall critique of the growth-paradigm which specifically emphasizes unpredictable “rebound-effects”. Here, I suggest, one has to bring these two conflicting parties together by...

Scientific paper • 2014

Reinforcing resilience and self-reliance of communities in degrowth: The case study of the renewable energy workshop of 'Nea Guinea'

By: Kostas Latoufis

Abstract: The case study of the renewable energy workshop of the 'Nea Guinea' non-profit organization in Athens, Greece, is presented an example of how communities can practice paths towards degrowth though open source renewable energy technologies, convivial and experimental ways of learning and thus providing more resilient futures for the social networks in which they participate. The main...

Scientific paper • 2014

Building alliances in the field of food production and consumption: Urban Gardening and Community Based Agriculture

By: Jenny Lay

systems of provision, food production, Urban Gardening, community based agriculture, reproductivity

Scientific paper • 2014

Swap, share, experience: the transformative potential of socio-ecological forms of practice

By: Jenny Lay, Till Westermayer

Abstract: Regarding strategies for transformation, we examine the transformative potential of socio-ecological projects. "Pioneers of change", i.e. innovative projects that do not stay in niches but shift the play of powers, encourage the degrowth transformation. When and how do such "forms of practice" become powerful instruments of transformation? Following practice theory, we understand...

Scientific paper • 2014

Small farms and degrowth

By: Jean Francois Le Clanche, Christian Mouchet

Abstract: small farms could be sustenaible and income allowing to make a farmer live. Some of them are innovative and some farmers present features close to those of the schumpeterian entrepreneur. That is why small farms could be a way for the future of European agriculture. They use more work, less capital: we could think that it is one of the degrowth ways. Keywords: small farms, rural...

Scientific paper • 2014

Scenarios on energy sufficiency and societal transformations: changing lifestyles and social structures to make energy savings

By: M Le Dû

Abstract: Lifestyles and social structures have a significant impact on energy consumption. Governments are focusing their strategies on renewable energies for energy supply and on energy efficiency to reduce energy demand, but energy transition is strongly linked to wider societal change. By creating prospective energy scenarios, the aim of this research focused on energy sufficiency was to...

Scientific paper • 2014

Ethical Banks – Professional Biography and taking critical distance in ethical Banking and Finance

By: Sarah Lenz

Abstract: The segment of empirical reality chosen for the presentation is dedicated to ethical or sustainable banking. Though rather small still, this segment has been expanding rapidly. Contrary to conventional banking, this segment has constantly been gaining legitimacy since the collapse of global finance. Building on the assumption that institutions do not only depend on the acceptance and...

Scientific paper • 2014

DEGROWTH AND THE CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

By: Emanuele Leonardi

Abstract: The paper aims at constructively criticize Degrowth's reliance on the physical limits to growth as a discursive tool to undermine the growth-oriented attitude of mainstream economics. By recuperating the critique of political economy, the paper investigates the shift in the value/nature relationship which has occurred since the environmental crisis has emerged as a political problem....

Scientific paper • 2014

"A Degrowth Project in Hungary"

By: Vincent Liegey

Abstract: In 2011 a first book about Degrowth was published in Hungary: Latouche S., Farewell to Degrowth (Savaria). In January 2014, a second one was published, Liegey V. and Al., A Degrowth Project (Eszmelet). In this article, I will try to analyse the reception of Degrowth and in particular both these books among academics, medias, activists, and the public in the Hungarian context. This...

Scientific paper • 2014

Successful Non-Growing Companies

By: Jana Gebauer, Andrea Liesen, Christian Dietsche

Abstract: Suggested concepts of post-growth economies have so far shed little light on the functioning of business. With this paper, we aim to translate discussions on post-growth economies to the company level and examine ten Successful Non-Growing Companies (SNCs) with regard to their motivations, key performance indicators and strategies. We find that a common feature among these companies...

Scientific paper • 2014

Ecologically Dangerous Patriotism

By: Mark Lindley, Jan Otto Andersson

Abstract: A traditional, persistently mercantilist tendency of nation states has prevented them from cooperating sufficiently on macro-ecological problems of unprecedented urgency in the 21st century. The strength of this tendency is due historically to the fact that nation states, and the kind of patriotism which they engender, emerged together with internationally competitive capitalism. We...

Scientific paper • 2014

Climate-economy feedbacks under growth, low-growth, and no-growth scenarios

By: Manuel Linsenmeier, Jobst Heitzig

Abstract: In this work we use conceptual mathematical models to explore the role of feedbacks in the coupled climate-economy system under different economic scenarios. We combine different representations of the climate-economy feedback with three scenarios for the global economy: unconstrained background economic growth with slow decoupling of economic production from carbon emissions,...

Scientific paper • 2014

Wealth, Virtual Wealth, and Capitalism

By: Gabriel Lombard

Abstract: Modern economists have accustomed us to put different things under the words wealth. Some authors of the past tackled more thoroughly the question of the nature of wealth and the correlated question of the role of money. We present three prominent examples of different periods but of a common spirit: the Physiocrat François Quesnay, in 18th. century France, the art-critic John Ruskin...

Scientific paper • 2014

The Absolute Reductions Project

By: Sylvia Lorek

Abstract: The REDUCTIONS project is designed to identify the potential for absolute resource and energy use reduction of production-consumption systems at all levels and to explore ways to realise this potential. While lots of ideas about reductions are made only few concrete examples of achieved reductions are documented. The REDUCTIONS project intends to fill this gap. It combines the...