Schedule 9th International Degrowth Conference

This paper reviews key theories of economic growth imperatives and carves out their disagreements in order to enable a more robust assessment of their respective explanatory power. Currently dominant human-nature relationships in the global North are fundamentally unsustainable, as their basis in perpetual economic growth erodes the planetary systems upon which life depends. However, current societies seem to be locked into the pursuit of economic growth, as lack of growth was historically experienced as a socially harmful economic crisis. This conjuncture is conceptualised as current societies being subject to ‘growth imperatives’ which make social wellbeing dependent on economic growth. In response, alternative approaches around a heterogeneous post-growth paradigm have emerged, including strands under the degrowth umbrella. However, beyond a basic consensus, substantial debate exists, including on a key question: Where exactly do the growth imperatives of the current social system come from and as a consequence, what needs to be changed in order to overcome them? In the present paper, I address these questions by conducting a narrative review of key theories of economic growth imperatives, summarise as well as cluster them around shared proposed mechanisms and carve out their areas of disagreement. Preliminary results indicate that these disagreements especially concern the roles of money and monetary exchange, firm structure and ownership as well as the state and social hierarchies. In subsequent papers, I plan to assess a selection of some of these disagreements and evaluate the different theories explanatory power using a critical realist framework.

Info

Day: 2023-08-30
Start time: 16:30
Duration: 00:15
Room: ZV-KC-1
Type: Paper Presentation
Theme: Alternative economies

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