Ecological Economics ( IF 7 ) Pub Date : 2021-09-06 , DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107215 Thomas S.J. Smith 1 , Mariusz Baranowski 2 , Benedikt Schmid 3
Proponents of post-growth economic alternatives have repeatedly distinguished between economic recession – a chaotic and harmful economic contraction – and degrowth. In the literature, the latter is often put forward as a planned and intentional process which increases wellbeing while simultaneously reducing ecological harms. This article pays closer attention to what ‘planning’ and ‘intentionality’ mean in this context, exploring some of the limits of this framing for socio-ecological transformation. First, it notes that many key questions related to power and politics in post-growth transformations are left under-examined by such a framing, and, secondly, it highlights that emergence and uncertainty are inevitable aspects of social change. Building on practice theory, we argue for acknowledging the limits of intentionality in favour of concepts such as ‘degrowth practice’, ‘dual power’ and ‘degrowth strategy’. The article concludes by highlighting room for further degrowth engagement with emerging theories of transformation and participatory research approaches.
中文翻译:
有意的去增长及其意想不到的后果:后增长转型的不平衡之旅
后增长经济替代方案的支持者一再区分经济衰退(一种混乱而有害的经济收缩)和衰退。在文献中,后者通常被认为是一个有计划和有意识的过程,可以增加福祉,同时减少生态危害。本文密切关注在这种情况下“规划”和“意向性”的含义,探索这种社会生态转型框架的一些局限性。首先,它指出后增长转型中与权力和政治相关的许多关键问题在这种框架下没有得到充分研究,其次,它强调了出现和不确定性是社会变革不可避免的方面。以实践理论为基础,我们主张承认意向性的局限性,支持诸如“去增长实践”、“双重权力”和“去增长战略”等概念。文章最后强调了与新兴的转型理论和参与式研究方法的进一步去增长参与的空间。