Degrowth, green growth, a-growth and post-growth: The debate on ways forward from our growth addiction

Abstract

It is widely recognised that averting catastrophic climate change and ecological disaster requires society to relinquish the current growth-focused economic system. However, what this change might include and how it can be implemented is less clear. Different solutions have been envisioned, with advocates for variants of “green growth,” “post-growth” or “de-growth” all presenting possible options for a new economic and social system that can exist within planetary boundaries. This annotated bibliography includes a range of articles which engage with and critique these concepts, consider how they might work in practice and propose strategies for overcoming the obstacles to implementation. The papers were selected by Lincoln University postgraduate students taking the course ERST636: Aspects of Sustainability: an international perspective, in preparation for a class debate of the moot “Green growth is simply designed to perpetuate current unsustainable practices and divert attention away from the need for more fundamental change”. For each paper, the author’s abstract is presented, followed by a discussion of key points. In cases where the paper lacked an abstract, a brief summary has been included instead. Key points and summaries are based on the students work, where necessary edited for clarity.