The Circular Economy at a Crossroad: Technocratic Eco-Modernism or Convivial Technology for Social Revolution?

Abstract

In the last decade, the concept of ‘Circular Economy’ (CE) has gained prominence in the political and corporate discourse around the world. According to its proponents, CE represents a new paradigm that will push the frontiers of environmental sustainability by transforming the relationships between ecological systems and economic activities. In this paper we discuss how this idea is problematic for a number of physical, economic and political reasons, claiming that the biggest shortcoming of the CE discourse is represented by its apolitical framing. We call for opening up a debate to deconstruct the increasingly hegemonic discourse of CE based on a technocratic approach and reconstruct it by embedding normative and political dimensions. Finally, we propose a countervailing discourse of CE based on the idea of convivial technology.

Keywords: Circular Economy, Sustainability, Eco-Modernism, Convivial Technology