IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v190y2021ics0921800921002470.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards a science of deep transformations: Initiating a dialogue between degrowth and critical realism

Author

Listed:
  • Buch-Hansen, Hubert
  • Nesterova, Iana

Abstract

Degrowth scholarship has enjoyed considerable momentum in recent times, resulting in a growing, diverse and vibrant field of research. Against this background, it becomes pertinent to reflect on the nature of degrowth science and on the philosophical assumptions underpinning it. Advocates of the degrowth perspective have so far largely abstained from engaging in such reflections and have yet to discuss degrowth in relation to established philosophy of science perspectives. The present paper puts degrowth in a discourse with critical realist philosophy of science to provide visions as to what degrowth as a science can see itself as and strive to become. A dialogue between the two perspectives that brings into focus ontology, epistemology and axiology is initiated. It is suggested that degrowth scholarship contains many elements that are consistent with critical realism, albeit arguably in a scattered manner. While degrowth aims to enact change in the real world, critical realism offers a deep account of the real world and proposes how knowledge of it can emerge and result in transformative practice. The paper proposes that degrowth scholarship can come to be practised in a more holistic manner and thus advance by engaging with critical realism.

Suggested Citation

  • Buch-Hansen, Hubert & Nesterova, Iana, 2021. "Towards a science of deep transformations: Initiating a dialogue between degrowth and critical realism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:190:y:2021:i:c:s0921800921002470
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107188
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921002470
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107188?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Buch-Hansen, Hubert & Koch, Max, 2019. "Degrowth through income and wealth caps?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 264-271.
    2. Joutsenvirta, Maria, 2016. "A practice approach to the institutionalization of economic degrowth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 23-32.
    3. Buch-Hansen, Hubert, 2018. "The Prerequisites for a Degrowth Paradigm Shift: Insights from Critical Political Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 157-163.
    4. Koch, Max & Buch-Hansen, Hubert & Fritz, Martin, 2017. "Shifting Priorities in Degrowth Research: An Argument for the Centrality of Human Needs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 74-81.
    5. Leonardi, Emanuele, 2019. "Bringing Class Analysis Back in: Assessing the Transformation of the Value-Nature Nexus to Strengthen the Connection Between Degrowth and Environmental Justice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 83-90.
    6. Schmelzer,Matthias, 2016. "The Hegemony of Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107130609.
    7. Ian Gough, 2017. "Heat, Greed and Human Need," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16991.
    8. Buch-Hansen, Hubert, 2014. "Capitalist diversity and de-growth trajectories to steady-state economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 167-173.
    9. Dengler, Corinna & Seebacher, Lisa Marie, 2019. "What About the Global South? Towards a Feminist Decolonial Degrowth Approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 246-252.
    10. Tacconi, Luca, 1998. "Scientific methodology for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 91-105, October.
    11. Martínez-Alier, Joan & Pascual, Unai & Vivien, Franck-Dominique & Zaccai, Edwin, 2010. "Sustainable de-growth: Mapping the context, criticisms and future prospects of an emergent paradigm," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1741-1747, July.
    12. Spash, Clive L., 2012. "New foundations for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 36-47.
    13. Weiss, Martin & Cattaneo, Claudio, 2017. "Degrowth – Taking Stock and Reviewing an Emerging Academic Paradigm," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 220-230.
    14. Spash, Clive L., 2017. "The Need for and Meaning of Social Ecological Economics," SRE-Discussion Papers 2017/02, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    15. Brand-Correa, Lina I. & Steinberger, Julia K., 2017. "A Framework for Decoupling Human Need Satisfaction From Energy Use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 43-52.
    16. Åsa Nyblom & Karolina Isaksson & Mark Sanctuary & Aurore Fransolet & Peter Stigson, 2019. "Governance and Degrowth. Lessons from the 2008 Financial Crisis in Latvia and Iceland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, March.
    17. Spash, Clive L., 2020. "A tale of three paradigms: Realising the revolutionary potential of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Koch, Max, 2022. "State-civil society relations in Gramsci, Poulantzas and Bourdieu: Strategic implications for the degrowth movement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Buch-Hansen, Hubert & Nesterova, Iana, 2023. "Less and more: Conceptualising degrowth transformations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Buch-Hansen, Hubert & Nesterova, Iana, 2023. "Less and more: Conceptualising degrowth transformations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Buch-Hansen, Hubert & Koch, Max, 2019. "Degrowth through income and wealth caps?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 264-271.
    3. Clive L. Spash, 2019. "Time for a Paradigm Shift: From Economic Growth and Price-Making Markets to Social Ecological Economics," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2019_07, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    4. Koch, Max, 2022. "State-civil society relations in Gramsci, Poulantzas and Bourdieu: Strategic implications for the degrowth movement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    5. Spash, Clive L., 2020. "A tale of three paradigms: Realising the revolutionary potential of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Buch-Hansen, Hubert, 2018. "The Prerequisites for a Degrowth Paradigm Shift: Insights from Critical Political Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 157-163.
    7. Åsa Nyblom & Karolina Isaksson & Mark Sanctuary & Aurore Fransolet & Peter Stigson, 2019. "Governance and Degrowth. Lessons from the 2008 Financial Crisis in Latvia and Iceland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, March.
    8. García-García, Pablo & Buendía, Luis & Carpintero, Óscar, 2022. "Welfare regimes as enablers of just energy transitions: Revisiting and testing the hypothesis of synergy for Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    9. Tilsted, Joachim Peter & Bjørn, Anders & Majeau-Bettez, Guillaume & Lund, Jens Friis, 2021. "Accounting matters: Revisiting claims of decoupling and genuine green growth in Nordic countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    10. Froese, Tobias & Richter, Markus & Hofmann, Florian & Lüdeke-Freund, Florian, 2023. "Degrowth-oriented organisational value creation: A systematic literature review of case studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    11. Hanaček, Ksenija & Roy, Brototi & Avila, Sofia & Kallis, Giorgos, 2020. "Ecological economics and degrowth: Proposing a future research agenda from the margins," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    12. Smith, Thomas S.J. & Baranowski, Mariusz & Schmid, Benedikt, 2021. "Intentional degrowth and its unintended consequences: Uneven journeys towards post-growth transformations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    13. Katharina Bohnenberger, 2020. "Money, Vouchers, Public Infrastructures? A Framework for Sustainable Welfare Benefits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-30, January.
    14. Vandeventer, James Scott & Cattaneo, Claudio & Zografos, Christos, 2019. "A Degrowth Transition: Pathways for the Degrowth Niche to Replace the Capitalist-Growth Regime," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 272-286.
    15. Elke Pirgmaier & Julia K. Steinberger, 2019. "Roots, Riots, and Radical Change—A Road Less Travelled for Ecological Economics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, April.
    16. Lundgren, Jakob, 2022. "Unity through disunity: Strengths, values, and tensions in the disciplinary discourse of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Fritz, Martin & Koch, Max, 2014. "Potentials for prosperity without growth: Ecological sustainability, social inclusion and the quality of life in 38 countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 191-199.
    18. van der Ven, Hamish & Sun, Yixian & Cashore, Benjamin, 2021. "Sustainable commodity governance and the global south," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    19. Terrance Quinn, 2023. "An Emergent Transdisciplinary Methodology for Effective Collaboration in Ecological Economics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-22, May.
    20. Gräbner-Radkowitsch, Claudius & Strunk, Birte, 2023. "Degrowth and the Global South: The twin problem of global dependencies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:190:y:2021:i:c:s0921800921002470. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.