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Growth, Degrowth or Post-growth? Towards a synthetic understanding of the growth debate

Author

Listed:
  • Xhulia Likaj

    (Forum New Economy)

  • Michael Jacobs

    (University of Sheffield (SPERI))

  • Thomas Fricke

    (Forum New Economy)

Abstract

Arguments about the possibility and desirability of exponential economic growth have animated the environmental movement for half a century, since the publication of the Club of Rome report The Limits to Growth in 1972. The debate has been revived in recent years as the climate crisis has reached centre-stage. This paper seeks to unpick the different strands in the debate and the different kinds of arguments - philosophical, empirical, and policy-prescriptive - used by different writers and institutions. It suggests that the contemporary debate is best understood as a disagreement between political strategies, in which the character of public and academic discourse plays a key role.

Suggested Citation

  • Xhulia Likaj & Michael Jacobs & Thomas Fricke, 2022. "Growth, Degrowth or Post-growth? Towards a synthetic understanding of the growth debate," Basic Papers 2, Forum New Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:agz:bpaper:2202
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    File URL: https://newforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/FNE-BP02-2022.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Van Eynde, Reo & Dillman, Kevin J. & Vogel, Jefim & O'Neill, Daniel W., 2026. "What is required for a post-growth model?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    2. Gleason, Ted, 2025. "Assessing pathways for pursuing coherence between local implementation of emerging alternative economic approaches and international investment law," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    3. Stefan Verweij & Christian Lamker & Bert de Groot, 2025. "To Transport or Not to Transport: Post‐Growth Avenues for Transport Infrastructure Planning," Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), January.
    4. Virna Emily Tobing-David & Isbandi Rukminto Adi & Mu’man Nuryana, 2024. "Conditions of Sustainable Welfare: A Cross-Case Empirical Analysis of 22 Locality-Based Welfare Systems in Decentralised Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-27, February.
    5. Lauer, Arthur & Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo & Wergles, Nathalie, 2025. "A comparative review of de- and post-growth modeling studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    6. Vera Trappmann & Dennis Eversberg & Felix Schulz, 2025. "German Trade Unions and Decarbonisation: A Transition to Green Growth, A‐Growth or Degrowth?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 322-333, July.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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