Degrowth

Geographers have recently begun to engage with degrowth scholarship and activism, albeit somewhat tentatively. The history of degrowth is reviewed and how geographers have contributed, could contribute to, and been shaped by debates over the relationship between growth and the environment are examined. Consideration is given to both a narrow version (focused on a critique of economic growth and articulating/advocating for economic models not premised on growth) as well as more capacious versions (focused on articulating/advocating for radical, sometimes arcadian, political economic alternatives). Debates in the field between advocates of ecomodern socialism and degrowth have often been polarizing, but also have usefully pushed conversations in political ecology beyond critique and towards affirmative visions. Many scholars have pointed to potential synergies between degrowth and ideas with longer roots in geography, including postcapitalist and postcolonial alternatives to development. This recognition raises important questions about the politics of knowledge flows, particularly as degrowth (an idea with strong roots in the Global North) travels to southern places. While there are concerns with arguments about the relevance of degrowth as an umbrella term that subsumes various alternatives, the growing interest in degrowth may also spark interest in more longstanding critiques of growth, technology, development, and modernity.