Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Richard Heinberg Richard Heinberg traces the intellectual throughline of post-growth concepts and the history of degrowth and related economic movements. He takes a systemic approach that touches on Indigenous economics, ecology, physics, archaeology, energy, cultural history, philosophy, and climate science.
Enjoy this gallery of cartoons, graciously shared by Polyp and Andy Singer–two artists who are unafraid to unleash their wicked wit, creative talent, and good humor on the topics of capitalism, consumerism, and infantile fantasies of infinite economic growth.
Post Carbon Institute colleagues Richard Heinberg and Rob Dietz discuss the history of economic growth, the rise of ecological economics, the aftermath of the economic turmoil of 2008, and how to go from obsessing over growth to embracing a right-sized economy.
Richard Heinberg reviews the growth-versus-degrowth debate, explores the wide range of degrowth objectives and strategies, and lays out why advocating for voluntary degrowth makes sense now, even if nature-imposed contraction will come first.
Environmental journalist/podcaster Rachel Donald interviews Gaya Herrington, an internationally recognized sustainability researcher and economist, about the limits to growth and the role of businesses in making a global transformation to a wellbeing economy.
Peter Victor is one of the world’s foremost post-growth theorists. In this Q&A article, Richard Heinberg gathers insights from Peter about what will be needed to downsize the economy toward a sustainable scale.
This collection provides ideas (in the form of books, journals, podcasts, and other sources), organizations, and even entertaining media that can help you understand the economics of sustainability, the degrowth movement, and the transition away from capitalism and consumerism.
Program Director at Post Carbon Institute, Rob Dietz, hosts a participatory discussion session with Anitra Nelson, degrowth scholar and activist and author of many books about degrowth and the systemic changes needed to make the shift to a post-capitalist, post-consumerist economy.
Environmental journalist Rachel Donald hosts a conversation with Jason Hickel, internationally known degrowth researcher and advocate, and Nia Evans and Cierra Peters of the Boston Ujima Project, which focuses on creating a community-controlled economy.
Political polarization, particularly in the United States, is being inflamed by structural forces, including the dominance of two parties and winner-take-all representation. Lee Drutman, senior fellow in the Political Reform program at New America, speaks on reforms like proportional representation and multi-member districts, and why we should view democracy more like a living, evolving ecosystem than a problem to fix.
Post Carbon Institute Senior Fellow and author Richard Heinberg interviews David Stasavage, author of The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today. David summarizes polarization and capacity to deal with crises in democracies and autocracies, discusses the challenge of scale in modern democracies, and shares how past democracies like Athens and the Iroquois Confederacy dealt with polarization.
Bringing up the Earth’s growing human population (and its associated impacts) is not something you typically do in polite circles. If you do introduce the topic of overpopulation, even among staunch environmentalists, you risk being called all sorts of undignified names.
