Strategy • 07.09.2020
The degrowth movement should shift trajectories, dramatically, as soon as possible. In what direction? Political science research, and direct organizing. I’m an undergraduate political science student in the US. In the last year, I’ve consumed a huge chunk of literature on degrowth. I have deep respect and admiration for the work done by the folks at Research and Degrowth (R&D), the Barc...
Reviews • 31.08.2020
Hickel succeeds once more in making a clear yet robust case for degrowth, providing an accessible introductory text that the movement has long required. Degrowthers may remember 2020 as the year their ideas entered the mainstream, or at least the edges of it. As the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a renewed societal conversation around alternative futures, discussions of degrowth are...
Blog • 24.08.2020
For many of us, swimming will have provided a temporary relaxing escape from the pandemic and searing heat in the recent summer months. In this piece republished from Undisciplined Environments, Elliot Hurst suggests the activity holds more radical potential than one might think. In Aotearoa New Zealand, shortly after arriving at the strategy gathering of a youth climate group, a friend ...
Justice • 17.08.2020
Democratic confederalism, the ideological framework organizing society in Rojava, outlines the features of a post-revolutionary justice system. Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across the United States and beyond in response to the police killing of George Floyd. Protesters in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles and dozens of other cities demanding justice were me...
Events • 03.08.2020
This is part two of a piece reflecting on the Vienna degrowth conference and considering how to move forward based on the inputs and insights from the conference. You can read part one (focused on the conference) here. The idea of organizing the Degrowth Vienna 2020 conference was at least in part connected to a piece that some conference organizers published in this blog in which they crit...
Events • 27.07.2020
The conference “Degrowth Vienna 2020: Strategies for Socio-ecological transformation” took place online between May and June 2020, in the midst of a pandemic crisis. This two-part piece will firstly reflect upon the conference (part I) and then propose ways to move forward (part II). As a member of the Advisory Board, I was partly involved in the discussions regarding the planning of the...
Strategy • 20.07.2020
Degrowth is a thriving academic field, but one without a home. It can be a struggle to publish degrowth-related articles in the current journal environment. If successful, authors must often surrender the ownership of their work to commercial journals. After more than a decade of degrowth research, and with a growing number of scholars engaged in the field, we believe the time has come to start...
Events • 13.07.2020
COVID-19 has had many effects. Among others, it created a pause, putting non-essential economic activity on halt. A pause that has exposed the numerous weaknesses of growth-centred, globalised economies. A pause that created space for a range of suggestions, a tasting of alternative futures from different parts of the political spectrum, including nationalism, surveillance and austerity ...
Blog • 06.07.2020
In the face of unfettered globalization, the rise of right-wing movements around the globe and the dangers of climate catastrophe, it seems easier to imagine the end of the world than an end to capitalism, growth and domination. However, in recent years something new has emerged to counter what Mark Fisher has called “capitalist realism:” after decades on the defensive against neoliberalism, th...
Blog • 29.06.2020
COVID-19 is both one and the same as any other ecological crisis (such as climate change) because its emergence is rooted in the same mode of production that has generated all other ecological crises and social inequalities of our times. In late 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) emerged from a wet market in Wuhan in the province of Hubei in China. It has so far resulted in cases ov...
Blog • 22.06.2020
Earlier this month, on June 6th, the 2020 Global Degrowth Day (GDD) was celebrated around the world. Around 40 events in more than 18 countries were registered and there were many social media posts using the hashtag #GlobalDegrowthDay, which was also celebrated by the Green European Journal and the European Environmental Bureau. Pictures were shared on our facebook event page. Due to the pa...
Blog • 15.06.2020
In a recent article for Forbes, Corbin K Barthold makes several allegations against the idea of degrowth without having a clear understanding of the concept. He also includes some quotations - originally reported in a different article (by Aaron Timms) - from a vibrant classroom discussion which took place at the 2019 Degrowth Summer School hosted by the Institute of Environmental Scienc...
