What are the alternatives to economic growth?

The Global Politics of Post-Growth research network explores approaches to "post-growth," ideas that question economic growth. "Criticism of the growth belief has been around for a long time. We are now collecting existing concepts and ideas across disciplines in order to analyze them against the backdrop of global political processes," explains Dr. Matthias Kranke, project coordinator and member of the Department of Globalization and Politics at the University of Kassel.

According to Kranke, many alternative ideas already exist, particularly in view of accelerating global warming: "These are mostly aimed at making economic growth greener and more socially just. However, a fundamental rethinking away from growth has hardly taken place so far."

Thinking about change internationally

A special feature of the project is its global focus. "Only a small part of the research deals with how post-growth ideas are implemented internationally. So far, the focus has been more on alternative communities with non-growth lifestyles considered at the local level. In contrast, we want to specifically look at existing findings and new ideas from a global perspective, because many of the pressing environmental and social problems are also global," Kranke said.

The project will run for three years. Two of the three workshops will be hosted by the University of Kassel (2022 and 2024); another will be held at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom (2023). The DFG is funding the network, which will make its findings available in publications, with a total of 43,470 euros.

Contact
Dr. Matthias Kranke
University of Kassel
FB 05 Gesellschaftswissenschaften
Fachgruppe Politikwissenschaft
Fachgebiet Globalisierung und Politik
Phone: +49 561 804 7245
E-mail: matthias.kranke(at)uni-kassel[dot]de