Degrowth

Elgar Encyclopedia of Ecological Economics, edited by Emilio Padilla Rosa and Jesús Ramos Martin. Forthcoming.

7 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2022

See all articles by Sam Bliss

Sam Bliss

University of Vermont - Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Students

Giorgos Kallis

Autonomous University of Barcelona

Date Written: April 13, 2022

Abstract

Degrowth means equitably downscaling wealthy societies’ throughputs of materials and energy. It entails reorganizing the economy to meet people’s needs regardless of what happens with GDP. The literature on degrowth, which emerged from the Francophone décroissance school, brings together diverse critiques of economic growth and its pursuit: growth is absurd, unnecessary, unsustainable, homogenizing, destructive, exploitative, and uneconomic. Scholars of degrowth call for collective self-limitation, through politics, to reduce resource use and avoid transgressing planetary thresholds beyond which lie an inhospitable Earth system. Such limits, they argue, can open space for diverse conceptions of the good life and how to pursue it.

Keywords: Limits; metabolism; GDP; justice; well-being; transformation.

JEL Classification: B51, B59, E61, O44, Q57

Suggested Citation

Bliss, Sam and Kallis, Giorgos, Degrowth (April 13, 2022). Elgar Encyclopedia of Ecological Economics, edited by Emilio Padilla Rosa and Jesús Ramos Martin. Forthcoming. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4083463

Sam Bliss (Contact Author)

University of Vermont - Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Students ( email )

VT
United States
206.280.3194 (Phone)

Giorgos Kallis

Autonomous University of Barcelona ( email )

Plaça Cívica
Cerdañola del Valles
Barcelona, Barcelona 08193
Spain

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