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Re-taking Sustainable Development for Degrowth

By: André Reichel

22.03.2016

From the text: 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! Long live convivial degrowth!« at a conference in Paris in 2002. What are the reasons for such disregard of sustainable development? And could this be a somewhat foolish mistake?

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André Reichel

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Strategies for Cultural Change: Degrowth and the Use of Space

Article3

By: Francesca Van Daele

Degrowth addresses the negative consequences of consumerism (psychological stress, long working hours and positional competition) and discusses the benefits of frugal lifestyles. Henri Lefebvre, a French philosopher from the 20th century, argues that if ideas or values are not physically implemented in space, they become mere fantasies. As such, if degrowth wishes to prevail, it has to leave it...

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Geoengineering from a degrowth and climate justice perspective

Workshop geoengineering

Linda Schneider reflects on Geoengineering Monitor about a workshop on geoengineering from a degrowth and climate justice perspective at Degrowth Summer School in Rhineland, Germany: http://www.geoengineeringmonitor.org/2017/09/workshop-geoengineering-from-a-degrowth-and-climate-justice-perspective/ Geoengineering Monitor aims to be a timely source for information and critical perspect...

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From Post-Growth Society to Sufficiency Politics

Sufficiency politics map

By: Angelika Zahrnt

When our book Post-Growth Society was published in 2010 in German, the term was entirely unheard of. Today, Post-Growth is the harsh reality in many countries, but this phenomenon is considered to be transitory. Governmental investment subsidies and infrastructure spending, consumer incentive programs and a generous monetary policy are supposed to re-stimulate growth. Additional governmental e...