Library

By: Gibran Vita

Presentation [Part of the standard session "Practicing Degrowth"] The present work aims to contribute in three major ways- 1) By connecting fundamental human needs by Max-Neef et al to global carbon emissions and their satisfaction. 2) By employing an Environmentally Extended MultiRegional Input-Output (EE-MRIO) to assess the outcomes of massive consumption-related lifestyles changes envisio...

By: Sarah Fromm, Simon Schöning

Workshop Civil disobedience is emerging as a key element employed in the fight for environmental and climate justice and for raising awareness about some of the most urgent crises. The aim of the session is to develop a better understanding of civil disobedience and how it may be used strategically in the degrowth process. Nonviolent protest played a fundamental role in the anti-apartheid mo...

By: Timmo Krüger

Presentation [part of the standard session "Regional Transformations"] Buen Vivir goes beyond criticism and rejection. It has an utopian surplus. European activists adopted it to make positive visions thinkable and expressible. The fluctuating relevance of Buen Vivir can be traced back to the course of political struggles both in the Andean countries and in Europe. Presenters: Timmo Krüge...

By: Sam Bliss

"Men in power have rationalized all those forms of domination by claiming that they facilitate economic development, which is purportedly great for people and nature. Sound familiar?"

By: Justus Baumann, Vegard Beyer

Presentation [part of the standard session "Communicating Degrowth"] We argue that strategic, motivation-oriented communications and scalable, mission-centric organising are crucial bottlenecks for the degrowth movement’s success. We have three key recommendations for the movement to master the challenges that climate change communication has struggled with. Presenters: Justus Baumann (Fu...

By: Matthias Schmelzer, Iris Frey, Andro Rilović, Stefania Barca, Eeva Houtbeckers

Panel debate The aim of this panel is to evaluate and discuss degrowth and it’s strategies in direct relation to the current corona crisis. We want to understand how the degrowth community responded so far to the crisis and how degrowth was and is present in recent discussions. The goal is then to identify potential pathways, but also barriers, for bringing forward the degrowth agenda in thi...

By: Viviana Asara

Abstract: Under regimes of austerity, social movements´ transformative eco-politics may appear endangered. What kinds of environmentalism and radical imaginaries can unfold in social movements in crisis-ridden societies? I focus on the ‘movement of the squares’ during its post-encampment phase, with a case study of three urban projects of the Indignados movement in Barcelona. Observation of the...

By: Ruth Falkenberg, David Fox

Presentation [part of the standard session "Theories of Degrowth Practices"] In this session we explore how growth logics are embedded in research practices. Then, we critically discuss perspectives from Science and Technology Studies and from the Degrowth community on how to enable the practice and organisation of science that is required for socio-ecological transformations. Presenters:...

By: Ruth Falkenberg, David Fox

Standard session (discussion following 2 presentations) Social Work, Ecoanxiety, and Peer Pressure Ecoanxiety is a significant component of the global climate crisis; yet it is mostly absent from collective understanding regarding the Grand Challenge to create social responses to the changing environment. Social work has an opportunity to employ positive peer pressure throughout the disci...

By: Julia Tschersich

Presentation [part of the standard session "Theories of Transformation"] This paper applies insights from a review of research on social-ecological transformations, in particular a framework developed to bridge process-oriented and structural approaches, to the Degrowth Movement. It derives suggestions for a common strategy, while embracing the movement‘s diversity. Presenters: Julia Tsch...

By: Nina Treu, Brototi Roy, Matthias Schmelzer, Tadzio Müller, Julianna Fehlinger, Corinna Bukhart

Special session Degrowth as an emerging social movement overlaps with radical activism for systemic change such as anti-globalization and climate justice, commons and transition towns, basic income and Buen Vivir. The book “Degrowth in Movement(s). Exploring Pathways for Transformation” (Zer0 books, June 2020) reflects on the current situation of social movements and their relationship to de...

By: Nina Treu, Matthias Schmelzer, Corinna Bukhart

A dictionary of social movements and alternatives for a future beyond economic growth, capitalism, and domination. Degrowth is an emerging social movement that overlaps with proposals for systemic change such as anti-globalization and climate justice, commons and transition towns, basic income and Buen Vivir. Degrowth in Movement(s) reflects on the current situation of social movements aimin...

By: Kaja Emilsson, Håkan Johansson, Magnus Wennerhag

Present debates suppose a close linkage between economic, social, and environmental sustainability and suggest that individual wellbeing and living standards need to be understood as directly linked to environmental concerns. Because social movements are often seen as an avant-garde in pushing for change, this article analyzes climate protesters’ support for three key frames in current periods ...

By: Ekaterina Chertkovskaya, Alexander Paulsson, Stefania Barca

Since the 1970s, the degrowth idea has been proposed by scholars, public intellectuals and activists as a powerful call to reject the obsession of neoliberal capitalism with economic growth, an obsession which continues apace despite the global ecological crisis and rising inequalities. In the past decade, degrowth has gained momentum and become an umbrella term for various social movements...

By: Jon D. Erickson, Michael B. Wironen

Ecological economics recognizes economic activity as a biophysical process mediated by social systems and ultimately subject to the constraints of a finite earth system. The Anthropocene discourse appears as validation of the central concerns of ecological economics yet throws into relief its limits as a normative transdiscipline oriented toward social transformation. We review ecological econo...

By: Joan Martinez-Alier, Mario Pérez-Rincón, Julieth Vargas-Morales

The extractive sector is increasingly important in the GDP and export basket of the four Andean countries under study (ACs) (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia). The analysis of an updated inventory of 296 environmental conflicts in the EJAtlas for these four countries reaches the following conclusions: extractivism causes environmental conflicts related to mining, fossil fuels, hydropower and...

By: Jérôme Pelenc, Grégoire Wallenborn, Julien Milanesi, Léa Sébastien, Julien Vastenaekels, Fany Lajarthe, Jérôme Ballet, Manuel Cervera-Marzal, Aurélie Carimentrand, Nicolas Merveille, Bruno Frère

This article addresses the issue of sustainability transformations in Ecological Economics through the lens of social movements, by linking environmental resistance movements and alternative movements. We advocate for a more politicized, social-movement oriented and place-based approach to sustainability transformations, and contribute to the development of a more political and emancipatory con...

By: Rowan Alcock

This paper investigates a grassroots Chinese movement called the New Rural Reconstruction Movement (NRRM). Drawing on field visits, surveys, interviews and social media posts regarding a NRRM project and relevant literature I link the NRRM to the degrowth movement. This is likely the first research analysing a Chinese grass-roots movement from a degrowth theoretical perspective. This link is de...