Category: Postgrowth

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Brown-Green Degrowth? On Nazis, Nationalism & the Postgrowth Economy

tl;dr: Stefan Laurin’s painting of Degrowth into the right-wing nationalist corner is lazy armchair journalism

The ideas of a Degrowth-oriented society are a crude mixture of environmentalism and National Socialism – says German journalist Stefan Laurin in a recent blog article. Laurin, who is writing for German outlets like the conservative high-brow magazine ‘Cicero’ as well as the left-wing ‘Jungle World’, focuses his critique on Niko Paech, German economist and Degrowth researcher.… Read more

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From Now to Next: The Form of the Firm in the Next Economy

tl;dr: Form theory helps you envision a future for companies that enables them to create a convivial society beyond growth.

(This is an extended summary of an article published in March 2017 in a special issue on organizing for the post-growth economy in »ephemera: theory and politics in organizations«) 

When you reflect about the future, especially if you want to go beyond coffeehouse level reasoning, some conceptual framework is necessary that can tolerate the future.… Read more

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Postgrowth and Degrowth

tl;dr: Degrowth is just one postgrowth approach, not the postgrowth approach.

Since Serge Latouche in 2004 threw in »décroissance« as a missile word into the sustainability debates, growth criticism regained its 1970s strength while connecting strongly to issues of social justice and equality, emancipation and democratic renewal, as well as a critique of capitalism. Degrowth, the English translation of the term, has then occupied the center stage in this newly emerging discourse. In Germany, the term »Postwachstumsökonomie« (postgrowth economy) has been introduced by Niko Paech in 2006.… Read more

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Re-taking Sustainable Development for Degrowth

In the discourse on degrowth – the deliberate and planned downscaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions and equity on the planet – the notion of »sustainable development« has sort of a bad rap. In fact, sustainable degrowth is intended to replace sustainable development as the central concept under which ecological and social minded activists and researchers might rally. Serge Latouche, the one who first fired the »missile word« of décroissance into the pubic realm, once held a talk titled »Down with sustainable development!… Read more

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What’s NEXT? Wirtschaften jenseits des Wachstums

Unsere heutige Art des Wirtschaftens basiert auf der Unterstellung fundamentaler Knappheiten: Zeit, Geld, Aufmerksamkeit – das alles ist knapp und Unternehmen versuchen, mit diesen Knappheiten umzugehen, indem neue Produkte entwickelt, neue Märkte erobert und neue Kunden gewonnen werden. Diese NOW ECONOMY ist eine Wirtschaft der Expansion, der permanenten Flucht aus der Knappheit, die aber nie richtig zurückgelassen werden kann – sonst hörte ja auch die Flucht auf. Das Ergebnis ist ein historisch bis vor kurzem nicht gekanntes Wirtschaftswachstum gepaart mit einem ebenso historisch einmaligen Energieverbrauch und CO2- Ausstoß.

… Read more