Browsing by Subject "degrowth"
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(2023)Post-growth economic thinking has received attention in recent years as an ecologically oriented alternative to current economic theory and policy practices. Specifically, post-growth thinking seeks alternatives to the growth paradigm, and the use of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of ‘progress’ in wealthy countries. To tackle the issues with the GDP, a host of ‘Beyond GDP’ indicators have been proposed by academics and international institutions, aiming to measure ‘progress’ along wellbeing and ecological sustainability. This thesis discusses post-growth economic thinking and Beyond GDP indicators from the perspective of feminist political economy. The thesis builds a theoretical argument for a potential research area of feminist post-growth contributions to the Beyond GDP discussion. This argument also provides an answer to the following questions: When it comes to measuring progress, to what extent are post-growth and critical feminist ideas compatible? Further, what can such a perspective offer for the study of Beyond GDP indicators? Economic indicators, in this thesis, are understood as tools for prioritisation of economic policy. As such, indicators are seen to carry considerable power. The analysis highlights that there is a gap in literature on critical and philosophical political economic analyses of Beyond GDP indicators. With a theoretical analysis and a brief exploration of two alternative indicators, this thesis proposes concrete themes that a post-growth perspective integrating feminist considerations can highlight and further study in measurements of ‘progress’. These include understandings of the normative considerations behind indicators, the relationship between ‘the economy’ and other spheres such as ecological limits, as well as methodological considerations of how to complement quantitative data. In conclusion, this thesis argues that various considerations, such as the role attributed to ‘non-economical’ and structural factors, should be considered in measuring wellbeing and sustainability in a post-growth economy.
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(2024)This thesis investigates how a relational approach could advance degrowth, an academic discourse and movement seeking to organize economic provisioning in ways that respect the biophysical limits and well-being of all life. The study responds to calls for the degrowth discourse to explicate its underlying philosophical assumptions, which are an integral part of any research paradigm, but especially theorizing making normative claims in support of social change. The study is conducted as a theoretical review and conceptual analysis of degrowth literature. The argument for the relational approach is built by mapping the gaps in degrowth’s current theoretical framework and positioning degrowth in the global pluriverse of alternatives. This teases out the necessity for any underlying assumptions to properly decenter growth. With a focus on ontology and axiology, the thesis then pieces together dispersed studies on relationality by degrowth scholars, in particular the works of Barbara Muraca, Pasi Heikkurinen, and Timothée Parrique. The thesis identifies six foundational premises of relational degrowth theorizing. Concerning ontology, these encompass (1) the constitutive nature of relations, (2) experience as universal affective opening, and (3) technology as a transformative mode of being. As for axiology, the premises comprise (4) autonomy, (5) sufficiency, and (6) care. The study claims that these foundational premises add to the coherence of degrowth theory and could be used to further develop a relational foundation for the degrowth discourse both in terms of scholarship and other praxis. The study hereby contributes to the nascent research area of degrowth’s philosophy of science, strengthening the discourse’s theoretical standing and transdisciplinary potential.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2