Episode 4- Robin Roels on Degrowth

01/11/22 • 62 min

In the past, economic growth has been strongly correlated with improvements in human wellbeing, and so economic growth is generally considered to be a good proxy measure for human wellbeing. But is growth always good? Can it continue forever? How are the benefits distributed? Has the measure become the target? What role do money and consumption play in living a good life? These are the kinds of questions that the degrowth movement seeks to answer. In this episode, I chat with Robin Roels about the degrowth movement. We explore the origins of the movement, some of its key ideas and principles, and some thoughts on alternative paradigms.

Limits to growth paper
Jason Hikels Less is More is a popular book on degrowth

Check out related podcasts
Energy and society with Richard Heinberg for more detail about our energy future
The Art of Frugal Hedonism with Annie Raser Rowland for what a degrowth lifestyle could look like

Have you got suggestions for further reading?
let me know!

Limits to growth paper
Jason Hikels Less is More is a popular book on degrowth

Have you got suggestions for further reading?
let me know!

Previous Episode

Episode 3- Terry Leahy on The Politics of Permaculture

On the surface permaculture can appear to just be a hip form of gardening, although permaculturists often suggest it is a revolution disguised as gardening.
But what is permaculture? Is permaculture perennial agriculture? Intelligent integrated design of homes and gardens? Or is permaculture a set of ethics and principles applied to design?
In this episode, I speak with Terry Leahy about Permaculture. Terry has recently authored "The Politics of Permaculture" which takes a critical look at permaculture as a social movement. We discuss the context in which permaculture originates, its key ideas, and the different ways people understand and practice permaculture. We explore how permaculture operates as a social movement, different visions of the future, and some critical perspectives on the movement and how they can be addressed.
This episode is slightly longer than I am normally going to aim for, but I enjoyed this interview and after shortening it substantially I couldn't bring myself to cut more content out. But I give my apologies for any jumpiness in the edit as a result of some of the cuts.
Links
The Politics of Permaculture can be freely accessed here along with other open access publications from pluto press, and you can also check out Terry's website for more of their work.

Next Episode

Episode 5 Unpacking Economics with Steve Keen

In this episode, I chat with renowned heterodox economist Steve Keen about Economics.
We dive into the history of capitalism as a system of organisation, as well as the origins of the theories created to explain it and unearth the assumptions made by early theorists and the problems that these have created in our current system. We also talk about the nature of money, the 2008 financial crisis, how conventional economists understand the climate crisis, and what a realistic economic theory might look like.
To find out more about Steves work;
His Patreon
The Debunking Economics podcast
His books are; The New Economics Manifesto, and Debunking Economics.