Tag: Degrowth

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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.

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Austerity and Degrowth

I have to start with Greece. For many vocal advocates of a more leftwing economic policy, most notably (and notoriously) Paul Krugman), the prolonged debt crisis in the Mediterranean country has its roots in austerity politics imposed by the ‘Troika’ of the ECB, IMF, and the Eurozone Group. Without another haircut, i.e. write-off of Greek debts, and a stimulus program, Greece will not manage to recover. And recovery, of course, means GDP growth. I could argue about the deeper meaning of austerity politics in the case of Greece (or Portugal, or Spain, or Ireland for that matter) – to actually build a coherent fiscal framework for the Eurozone with shared understandings of political economy, something that has not been there in the first place and what is desperately needed in a common currency area.… Read more

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Progressive Degrowth

Degrowth is a conservative perspective on humanity’s future and thus always runs into serious  acceptance problems when dealing with progressive proposals of “limitless” developments. What is needed is a reframing of these proposals as conservative and limiting our future while degrowth is presented as a “new progressivism”.

If you are an optimist regarding your life, technological opportunities and the general scheme of things, degrowth is hardly an attractive political-economical idea – less a philosophy you’d like to call your own.… Read more

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Marshall’s Cross and Degrowth Macroeconomics

When talking about degrowth –the planned transition to a contraction-based, socially just, and ecologically sustainable society– or a postgrowth economy –an economy that is in a dynamic steady state and sustainable in the long-term– issues of macroeconomic policy are becoming shaky and unclear from the classical economics perspective which is still focused on perpetual economic growth. In the wider degrowth/postgrowth movement you have to credit Tim Jackson and Peter A. Victor for probably the most insightful work until now into this subject.… Read more