Is degrowth the way forward in the climate crisis?

Comprehensive societal efforts are required to tackle climate change and other environmental crises – but what kind of political program should guide these efforts?

Abstract

Degrowth has in later years emerged as one of the most elaborate political programs for addressing climate and other crises. It suggests a political reorientation away from undifferentiated economic growth and consumption to a targeted deconstruction of carbon-intensive sectors of the economy. Degrowth also suggests that the social goods that society should pursue cannot be left to individual preferences but must be submitted to collective discussion and political regulation. Degrowth also comprises a commitment to global justice which differentiates the projected paths of countries of the global North and South. Degrowth enjoys much support in the academic community but has also been criticized for aspects of its program including that it has proven unable to mobilize a wider public. What is at stake in the discussion around degrowth? What is the way forward for climate politics?

Panelists

• Ekaterina Chertovskaya, Lund University
• Salvatore Paolo de Rosa, University of Copenhagen
• Rikard Warlenius, University of Gothenburg