Posts

Posted on

Europe in the Age of Great Power Politics

tl,dr: The world is shifting into Great Power Politics, with the U.S. retreating, Russia advancing, and China expanding its influence. Europe must step up or risk irrelevance. 

Introduction: A New Global Order and the Challenge for Europe

The world is witnessing a profound geopolitical transformation. The unipolar moment that followed the Cold War—where the United States dictated global affairs with limited challenge—is giving way to a multipolar world, marked by shifting alliances and intensified great power competition.… Read more

Posted on

Lines we draw

tl;dr: Borders are human-made. They separate and protect, but their true potential lies in their permeability. Rigid borders lead to stagnation, flexible borders create change and exchange. The challenge: question boundaries and cross them courageously.

Borders structure our world. They create order, provide orientation and separate one thing from another. But borders are not natural. They are man-made constructions, resulting from historical, social and political processes–they are the lines we draw, as Donnella Meadows once wrote.… Read more

Posted on

Rethinking Sustainability: A Post-Growth Perspective on the UN-SDGs

tl;dr: The UN SDGs aim to foster global sustainability by 2030, yet their reliance on economic growth (Goal 8) creates contradictions with ecological objectives. We need a post-growth critique to reform the SDGs beyond 2030, emphasizing sufficiency and planetary boundaries.

The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an ambitious framework for global action, has been heralded as a roadmap for tackling poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. However, as I argue in my recent chapter on the Post-(Growth)-2030 Agenda, these lofty ambitions are undermined by a fundamental contradiction: the persistent reliance on economic growth as the engine for achieving sustainable development.… Read more

Posted on

Liberalism Today: A Plea for an Ecologically Oriented Liberalism

Foto von Markus Winkler auf Unsplash

tl;dr: Liberalism must evolve to include Ivan Illich’s concept of conviviality, integrating ecological sustainability and social justice, emphasizing mutual dependence and ethical responsibility for today’s crises.

Liberalism, as a political philosophy and historical movement, strives for a free political, economic, and social order. Freedom, in turn, means the absence of constraints in making decisions between different options. In philosophy, political science, theology, and law, the term generally denotes a state of autonomy of a subject. In today’s times, given the pressing ecological and social challenges, there is a need for a realignment of liberalism towards an ecologically oriented model, in which the concept of conviviality by Ivan Illich plays a central role.… Read more

Posted on

Sustainability & Capitalism

Game Over. Capitalism is over if you want it.

tl,dr: Sustainability and capitalism have complex interactions. While capitalism emphasizes accumulation and expansion, sustainability requires long-term dynamic balance for all life.

Can sustainability can be reconciled with the logic of capitalism? I’ll try to sort both terms and will also talk about post-growth and degrowth. And if we’re at it, we just might want to also talk about post-capitalism and if such a thing exists.

Sustainability. A huge word, a non-word, both under- and over-complex.… Read more