Library

By: Elliot Hurst

Comment from Elliot Hurst on the novel "The Dispossessed" by Ursula Le Guin. Introduction: It won all the prizes when it came out and is considered a classic. Ursula Le Guin grew up with an anthropologist father. As she puts it ‘Even though I didn’t pay much attention, I heard a lot of interesting, grown-up conversation’. This was one early influence that guided her to creating societies ful...

By: Manfred Ecker

Einführung: Wegen der unmittelbaren Bedrohungen durch den Klimawandel kommen zunehmend Wissenschaftler_innen und Umweltaktivist_innen zu demselben radikalen Schluss: es braucht einen Systemwandel um die Zukunft der Menschheit und unserer Umwelt zu retten. Wie weit soll dieser Systemwandel gehen, damit wir die Abhängigkeit von fossilen Brennstoffen hinter uns lassen können? Dritter von vier T...

By: Manfred Ecker

Einführung: 2015 hat Österreich bei der UN-Klimakonferenz in Paris ein begrenztes CO2-Budget zugeteilt bekommen. Das bedeutet, Österreich darf „nur“ noch 880 Millionen Tonnen Kohlendioxid (CO2) emittieren. Dem hat die Regierung zugestimmt, aber Vizekanzler Mitterlehner hat auch durchblicken lassen, dass die Regierung nie vorhatte, dieses verbindliche Klimaziel von Paris auch einzuhalten. Zwe...

By: Katja Kipping

Translation of a keynote-speech by Katja Kipping held at the 16th BIEN Congress in Seoul 2016. Video of the original speech (german language)

By: Stephen Quilley, Kaitlin Kish

Highlights • Entanglement of socio-ecological systems is described from a historical perspective. • Entanglement of traditional growth economics, the sanctity of the sovereign individual and complexity is analysed. • We present five cherished norms and dimensions of progressive modernity and how limiting growth economic may change them. First Page Preview

By: David Goeßmann

Einleitung Ein finsterer Wolfskopf fletscht die Zähne. Im Maul hält er knurrend die Weltkugel wie einen Spielball. Eine weiße Hand im Stile Michelangelos streckt sich nach der bedrohten Erde aus. Daneben stehen die mahnenden Worte: „Globalisierung außer Kontrolle. TRAUT EUCH! Radikal denken, entschlossen handeln – nur so ist die Welt noch zu retten.“ Das ist kein Plakat „linker Randalierer“, d...

By: Lorenzo Fioramonti

GDP is much more than a simple statistic. It has become the overarching benchmark of success and a powerful ordering principle at the heart of the global economy. But the convergence of major economic, social and environmental crises has exposed the flaws of our economic system which values GDP above all else as a measure of prosperity and growth. In this provocative and inspiring new book, ...

By: Ashish Kothari, Federico Demaria, Alberto Acosta, Arturo Escobar, Ariel Salleh

A dialogue between Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Alberto Acosta and Federico Demaria, moderated by Ashish Kothari

By: Erik Assadourian

Introduction: I’m sure that some will criticize the insensitivity of the timing of this essay. How can you talk about Puerto Rico, climate change, and degrowth at this tragic time? But what time is better than now? There are only going to be more disasters and more tragic times ahead. And if after each one we spend billions on rebuilding costly infrastructure, the resulting carbon emissions are...

By: Friederike Habermann, Anja Humburg

Debattenbeitrag in der taz "Gegen eine Vereinnahmung der Postwachstumsdebatte von rechts hilft: ehrlich über Entfremdung und Privilegien sprechen."

By: Mladen Domazet, Logan Richardson, Branko Ancic

Description by the authors: We are focused on the European semiperiphery as the standardly presented environmentalist laggard within European environmentalism (cf. Bozonnet, 2017). Unlike societies classified as globally “peripheral”, this region is characterised by already high material standards of living. At the same time, here concern for the environment appears even lower than what is the ...

By: Kate Shea Baird

Introduction: Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million people, was visited by 8.2 million tourists last year. For decades, city governments of all political stripes operated under the assumption that ‘growth is good’. Each annual increase in visitor numbers was announced with glee, with assurances the sector would bring immense economic benefits to the city. But around three years ago, signs began t...

By: Marc Clauson

Introduction: Tom Rogan in the Washington Examiner wrote a very interesting piece on the new expression of an old idea–”degrowth.” (see http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-far-left-has-an-idiotic-new-craze-reduce-economic-growth/article/2631274). He leads with these words: “Even the Soviets sought to maximize economic output. But today’s contemporary far-left are far bolder: they believe that...

By: Ashish Kothari

Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh, India, explains the term "Radical Ecological Democracy" and he nourishes the narration with unique examples from India. Youtube-channel EnvJustice Vocabulary

By: Paul Mohai

Paul Mohai, University of Michigan, explains the origins of "Environmental Justice", in particular, how it emerged in the United States including his personal experience. Youtube-channel EnvJustice Vocabulary

By: Joseph Cederwall

Introduction: Anthropologist Jason Hickel believes basic income could be part of the solution to this problem of the pervasiveness of the growth mentality. He presents UBI as forming part of a strategy of “planned de-growth,” which he believes will “increase human well-being and happiness while reducing our economic footprint.”

By: Antonio Turiel

Introduction: We recently carried a translation of an interview with Sergi Saladié who introduced a debate on degrowth into the Catalan parliament. Catalonia is very much in the news at the moment with the referendum held by the governing coalition and the violent repression by the Spanish State. We do not have a view on this matter, noting that independence has not had a majority following i...

By: Jason Hickel

A blog post by Jason Hickel which is the fourth part of a discussion between him and Branko Milanovic. Chronology of the discussion Original blog post by Branko Milanovic "The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world" First reply by Jason Hickel "Why Branko Milanovic is wrong about de-growth" Reply by Branko Milanovic "The illusion of degrowth: Part II" Second Reply by Jason Hi...

By: Branko Milanovic

A blog post by Branko Milanovic which is the third part of a discussion between him and Jason Hickel. Chronology of the discussion Original blog post by Branko Milanovic "The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world" First reply by Jason Hickel "Why Branko Milanovic is wrong about de-growth" Reply by Branko Milanovic "The illusion of degrowth: Part II" Second Reply by Jason Hic...

By: Kate Aronoff, Kevin Anderson

"Bonn — This week, world leaders are convening along a sleepy stretch of Germany’s Rhine River for COP23, the first UN climate talks to be held since Trump announced he will withdraw United States from the Paris Agreement, the landmark climate deal arrived at in 2015. Yet while the administration’s fossil-fuel boosterism has grabbed headlines about COP23 stateside, the UNFCCC process has mor...