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Browsing by Subject "http://www.yso.fi/onto/yso/p25991"

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  • Koskimies, Lotta (2024)
    This thesis examines the evolution of the degrowth policy discourse through the lens of the 2018 and 2023 degrowth seminars held at the European Parliament and contrasts these discussions against the European Green Deal. The aim is to determine whether there has been a convergence towards a socially and ecologically sustainable future between these discourses. Utilizing a qualitative content analysis methodology, transcribed video recordings of the seminar's closing plenaries were analyzed. This approach facilitated a detailed examination of the thematic evolution within the degrowth policy discourse and its alignment or divergence from the Green Deal’s objectives. The study employed Ossewaarde & Ossewaarde-Lowtoo’s (2020) categorization framework for analyzing green growth and degrowth regimes, which enriched the analytical depth regarding policy implications. The findings reveal a persistent marginalization of degrowth policy discourse within the political dialogue, overshadowed by the Green Deal's emphasis on growth-centric sustainability strategies. Despite this, there are subtle shifts converging the degrowth policy discourse and the Green Deal. However, the research underscores a significant gap in incorporating degrowth principles that advocate for a reduction in production and consumption or critically assessing the existing power-structures to achieve sustainability. This thesis contributes to the discourse on sustainable development. It does not bring policy suggestions, but highlights that while economic and power-structure related complex themes in the public sphere remain uninviting towards the degrowth minded policy discourse, regardless of the growing front of proponents in the academic realm, reassessing EU policy with new perspectives on prosperity and wellbeing could potentially offer more robust solutions to the ecological crises and increasing inequality.