Tag: Politics

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Underneath our skin: the new economy beyond growth

This is a very rough transcript of an interview done with Justin Ritchie and Seth Moser-Katz from the Extraenvironmentalist, a great “podcast, blog and video series that explores the mindset of an outsider looking in on Earth” – and a way of thinking as they proclaim. The original podcast from which this transcript has been produced (by myself, so all errors are exclusively my fault) can be found on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/extraenvironmentalist/episode-83-1-andr-reichel-are

 

André Reichel (AR): If we want to restrict global climate change to about 2C we need emissions reductions in the range of 8 to 10 % per year.… Read more

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It’s Postgrowth, Stupid!

The recent report on ‘Better Growth, Better Climate’ immediately resonated strongly with the media and policy makers. In a nutshell, the report argues that we can have everything: inclusive growth and development, better climate and ecosystem stability, and most likely we also can save the whales. I don’t want to belittle the strategic intent of the report and its drive towards very sensible policies in the light of an ever-increasing global ecological crisis. I especially welcome its focus on cities as a level of transformational government, the plea for establishing a low-carbon infrastructure, and a cut to non-sustainable subsidies in the energy sector.… Read more

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Postgrowth Europe: The Next Big Civilization Experiment?

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog article on “The End of Europe“. The motivation behind it was this nagging feeling that something went wrong on the old continent, that something along the way to European integration got lost – the heart and soul of Europe and what this European project is about. For 500 years, Europe was about civilization – and dominance, colonization, exploitation of people and planet, bloody wars at home and abroad; but also great successes in the progress of humanity, with the formulation (and “sacralization” according to Hans Joas) of human rights, born out of the European traumata so inseparably connected to its cruel history.… Read more

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The End of Europe – And Some Thoughts on Its Future

Europe is exhausted. It is exhausted after long years of what is labeled as the Eurozone crisis. It is exhausted after pro-longed years of political failure. Every single attempt of deepening the political union of Europe after the enactment of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 and the common currency that followed in 1999, failed in consecutive referendums. Remember Ireland 2001 with the Nice Treaty, remember the Netherlands and France in 2005 with the European constitution. This elitist concept of Europe was too much rooted in an overtly rationalist model of economic necessities.… Read more

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The Great Transition

An Essay on Organization and Management in the Sustainability Society*

 

From crisis to meta-crisis

At the Convocation of the United Negro** College Fund in 1959, John F. Kennedy referred to the Chinese word for “crisis” being made up of two symbols, one denoting “danger” (wēi), and the other denoting “opportunity” (jī). Today, many decision makers in politics and the economy use this phrase addressing the slowly retreating economic and financial crisis.… Read more