This is the third of a planned ‘trilogy’ of sessions on the contentious relationship between degrowth and technology. It represents the third of three subthemes of a special issue on technology and degrowth, which is currently being edited for JCP. The aim of this special session is to analyse potentials of technological developments, which entail normative aims like democratisation, devise frameworks for evaluation and establish preconditions for envisioned institutional arrangements. As technological development and the use of technologies are currently embedded in the principles of economic growth, new values and institutions are needed which are oriented towards the normative visions for a Degrowth society. In this session, frameworks for the conception and evaluation of technological development are discussed with a special focus on institutional arrangements. Some of the topics addressed include technological development from bottom-up, participatory approaches, and sceptical perspectives on power relations. Critical analysis of the often-observed mono-dimensionality of political decision-making in the context of new technologies is given a special focus.

The contributions of this session discuss new values and normative frameworks guiding the evaluation of technologies in the light of Degrowth. Visions for and attributes of institutional and organizational frameworks will be presented, in which the desirability of technologies is not solely valued according to financial and material efficiency alone. To guide the establishment of robust Degrowth practices, new approaches considering democracy, power relations and accessibility are being evaluated.

This media entry was a contribution to the special session „New institutions for new technologies“ at the 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest in 2016.