Degrowth, political acceptability and the Green New Deal

[James Rowe]

Dear All,

I hope everyone is as well as can be.

Claire O’Manique, Karena Shaw, and myself recently published an article of possible interest in the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment:  "Degrowth, political acceptability and the Green New Deal.”

Below is an abstract and here is a full-text link.

Wishing everyone a spacious and rejuvenating solstice season,

James

Abstract:

Endless economic growth on a finite planet is impossible. This is the premise behind the degrowth movement. Despite this sound rationale, the degrowth movement has struggled to gain political acceptability. We have sought to understand this limited uptake of degrowth discourse in the English-speaking world by interviewing Canadian activists. Activists have a proximity to the political realm – both with its barriers and openings – that scholars working primarily in academic institutions sometimes lack. Our interviews reveal that class interests – particularly those of fossil fuel companies – are a substantial barrier to realizing degrowth goals. Interviewees highlighted the importance of  centring class-conscious environmentalism, ‘anti-purity’ politics, and decolonization as essential parts of a degrowth agenda capable of overcoming these class interests. We conclude by unpacking how the Green New Deal – a discourse and movement that gained considerable traction after we completed our interviews – addresses the obstacles shared by our interviewees, thus making it a promising ‘non-reformist reform’ for the degrowth movement to pursue.

----------------------

James K. Rowe 
Associate Professor 
School of Environmental Studies
University of Victoria
Office - Turpin A143

Phone - 250.853-3574

Preferred pronouns: he/him/they

"Justice is what love looks like in public"

Cornel West

I acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. The process of colonization is ongoing as are resistances to it. My intention is that the research and teaching I do be in the service of decolonization.