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Against the backdrop of the ecological and climate emergencies and several other deep crises, advocates of degrowth call for democratic transitions towards societies that can thrive beyond economic growth within ecological boundaries while being socially equitable. In recent years, scholarship has emerged that brings together the emerging degrowth paradigm with insights from political economy. Yet much contemporary political economy continues to ignore the environment and, by implication, the ecological downsides of economic growth. The present contribution criticizes this state of affairs and highlights the promises of a synthesis of contemporary critical political economy and the growth-critical tradition in ecological economics. It hints at how concepts of one particular strand of critical political economy, namely regulation theory, may be of use in analyses of (trajectories to) the postgrowth era.
Max Koch; Hubert Buch-Hansen. In search of a political economy of the postgrowth era. Globalizations 2020, 1 -11.
AMA StyleMax Koch, Hubert Buch-Hansen. In search of a political economy of the postgrowth era. Globalizations. 2020; ():1-11.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch; Hubert Buch-Hansen. 2020. "In search of a political economy of the postgrowth era." Globalizations , no. : 1-11.
A deprioritization of economic growth in policy making in the rich countries will need to be part of a global effort to re-embed economy and society into planetary boundaries. However, societal support for a degrowth transition remains for the time being moderate, and it is not well understood as yet why this is the case. This article argues that Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology can help theorize societal stability and transformational change as well as the preconditions for a degrowth transition. The point of departure is the structure/action debate in sociology highlighting Bourdieu’s middle-ground position. Using his theory of practice, it moves on to analyze the predominating correspondence between structure, habitus, and action as well as the preconditions under which this correspondence may break and result in transformational change. Subsequently, his distinction of “doxa,” “orthodoxy,” and “heterodoxy” is applied to understand possible solutions to the multidimensional crisis of contemporary European societies. The last section addresses Bourdieu’s take on the role that researchers and activists may play during such a transition. The article concludes that in order to facilitate degrowth, formulations of eco-social policy strategies should avoid overburdening people’s experiences and immediate expectations of the future. Deliberative citizen forums can help co-develop and upscale such initiatives as well as broaden their social basis.
Max Koch. Structure, action and change: a Bourdieusian perspective on the preconditions for a degrowth transition. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 2020, 16, 4 -14.
AMA StyleMax Koch. Structure, action and change: a Bourdieusian perspective on the preconditions for a degrowth transition. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. 2020; 16 (1):4-14.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch. 2020. "Structure, action and change: a Bourdieusian perspective on the preconditions for a degrowth transition." Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 16, no. 1: 4-14.
The history of welfare states is tightly linked to industrial capitalism and a mode of regulation where production and consumption patterns increased in parallel
Tuuli Hirvilammi; Max Koch. Sustainable Welfare beyond Growth. Sustainability 2020, 12, 1824 .
AMA StyleTuuli Hirvilammi, Max Koch. Sustainable Welfare beyond Growth. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (5):1824.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTuuli Hirvilammi; Max Koch. 2020. "Sustainable Welfare beyond Growth." Sustainability 12, no. 5: 1824.
The limits of the environmental state in the context of the provision of economic growth are addressed by applying materialist state theory, state-rescaling approaches and the degrowth/postgrowth literature. I compare state roles in a capitalist growth economy and in a postgrowth economy geared towards bio-physical parameters such as matter and energy throughput and the provision of ‘sustainable welfare’. In both cases state roles are analysed in relation to the economy, welfare, and the environment, as well as state spatiality. Finally, I address the state in a transition from a growth economy to a sustainable postgrowth economy. I argue that materialist state and sustainable welfare theories are capable of informing state-led ‘eco-social’ policies that, if integrated in a comprehensive policy strategy, have the potential to overcome the growth imperative in the economy and policymaking and break the growth-related glass ceiling of the environmental state.
Max Koch. The state in the transformation to a sustainable postgrowth economy. Environmental Politics 2019, 29, 115 -133.
AMA StyleMax Koch. The state in the transformation to a sustainable postgrowth economy. Environmental Politics. 2019; 29 (1):115-133.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch. 2019. "The state in the transformation to a sustainable postgrowth economy." Environmental Politics 29, no. 1: 115-133.
The emerging concept of sustainable welfare attempts to integrate environmental sustainability and social welfare research. Oriented at a mid-term re-embedding of Western production and consumption norms into planetary limits, it suggests the development of “eco-social” policies in the rich countries. In this theoretical context, this article empirically investigates the relationships between attitudes towards welfare and climate policy in 23 countries. Using 2016 data from the European Social Survey, we explored patterns of synergy between both kinds of policies as well as effects of crowding-out, where support for one kind of policy involves refusing the other. Since previous research addressed the role of welfare states and their institutional foundations in establishing environmentally sustainable societies, we studied how attitudes towards welfare and climate policies differ according to welfare regime affiliation. Additionally, we examined how a range of socio-demographic and political factors such as class, education, income, and political position shape people’s views on welfare and climate policy goals. The results of a multiple correspondence analysis indicate that the simultaneous support of welfare and climate policies follows welfare regime lines in that this support is the highest among social-democratic countries. However, also some conservative and Mediterranean countries score high in this regard. At the individual level, people with a higher education, employees in socio-cultural professions, and voters of moderate left and green parties display the highest mutual support for welfare and climate policies.
Martin Fritz; Max Koch. Public Support for Sustainable Welfare Compared: Links between Attitudes towards Climate and Welfare Policies. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4146 .
AMA StyleMartin Fritz, Max Koch. Public Support for Sustainable Welfare Compared: Links between Attitudes towards Climate and Welfare Policies. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (15):4146.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMartin Fritz; Max Koch. 2019. "Public Support for Sustainable Welfare Compared: Links between Attitudes towards Climate and Welfare Policies." Sustainability 11, no. 15: 4146.
In the degrowth literature, maximum caps on wealth and/or income are frequently mentioned among the policy instruments that could support transitions towards ecologically and socially sustainable societies. Yet an in-depth discussion of concrete policy proposals has yet to be initiated. To facilitate such a discussion, the present paper reviews several proposals for placing caps on wealth and/or income. Some of these proposals consider environmental limits, others focus exclusively on social inequality. The paper moreover raises various critical issues concerning the introduction of maximum caps on wealth and income in a degrowth context, discussing the role of the state, the impact on economic growth and the risk of emigration of high-skilled employees and capital flight. We conclude that while, in an ecologically constrained world, there is an argument for imposing limits on wealth and income above a certain level, it is crucial not to dictate such policies as mere top-down measures but to develop and deliberate them in democratic forums.
Hubert Buch-Hansen; Max Koch. Degrowth through income and wealth caps? Ecological Economics 2019, 160, 264 -271.
AMA StyleHubert Buch-Hansen, Max Koch. Degrowth through income and wealth caps? Ecological Economics. 2019; 160 ():264-271.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHubert Buch-Hansen; Max Koch. 2019. "Degrowth through income and wealth caps?" Ecological Economics 160, no. : 264-271.
Degrowth scholars and activists have convincingly argued that degrowth in developed nations will need to be part of a global effort to tackle climate change, and to preserve the conditions for future generations’ basic needs satisfaction. However, the barriers to building a broader degrowth movement appear to be very entrenched at present. To improve the political feasibility of degrowth it is important to better understand these structural obstacles and develop arguments and strategies to address them. To contribute to the degrowth debate we focus in this paper on current generations in the rich countries and their concerns about possible short- to medium term wellbeing outcomes of degrowth. In particular, we highlight the ‘growth lock-in’ of current societies and how a transition away from this model might therefore affect wellbeing. We also argue that taking the basic human needs framework as a new ‘measuring rod’ for wellbeing outcomes is suitable for a degrowth context, but likely to clash with current expectations of ever improving health and wellbeing outcomes. We propose that deliberative forums on future needs satisfaction can help establish a ‘dialogue’ between current and future generations which could support cultural shifts on wellbeing thinking which will be much needed for advancing the cause for degrowth.
Milena Büchs; Max Koch. Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing. Futures 2018, 105, 155 -165.
AMA StyleMilena Büchs, Max Koch. Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing. Futures. 2018; 105 ():155-165.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMilena Büchs; Max Koch. 2018. "Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing." Futures 105, no. : 155-165.
This article examines the changing role of the Swedish state in employment and welfare regulation in an environment that has become more market driven, commodified, and Europeanized. It begins with a theoretical reflection on the role of the state in capitalist development and a review of the recent debate on the spatiality of state regulation: the state as employer, redistributor, and arbiter, and as a shaper of employment relations and welfare. In the latter role, the state is conceptualized as employer, guarantor of employment rights, and procedural regulator, as intermediating neo-corporatist processes, as macroeconomic manager, and as welfare state. From this theoretical basis, the paper identifies changes in state employment and welfare regulation by comparing two periods: the original and mainly nation-state-based founding stage of the Swedish welfare and employment model as it developed after the 1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement, and the period after Sweden’s accession to the European Union in 1995.
Max Koch. The Role of the State in Employment and Welfare Regulation: Sweden in the European Context. International Review of Social History 2016, 61, 243 -262.
AMA StyleMax Koch. The Role of the State in Employment and Welfare Regulation: Sweden in the European Context. International Review of Social History. 2016; 61 (S24):243-262.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch. 2016. "The Role of the State in Employment and Welfare Regulation: Sweden in the European Context." International Review of Social History 61, no. S24: 243-262.
The commentary addresses the scope for synergy between climate change policy and social policy in the European Union (EU) from a ‘sustainable welfare’ perspective. The emerging sustainable welfare approach is oriented to the satisfaction of human needs within ecological limits, in an intergenerational and global perspective. While the overall goals of EU climate policy and EU welfare policies largely reflect this orientation, there are significant differences in policy priorities. A ‘policy auditing’ approach towards sustainable welfare defines critical thresholds for matter and energy throughput to identify how much room there is for economic and societal development. However, the EU refrains from prioritizing environmental over other, especially economic, goals and displays a remarkable degree of optimism in relation to the extent to which one can make these different policy goals compatible.
Max Koch; Anne Therese Gullberg; Mi Ah Schoyen; Bjorn Hvinden. Sustainable welfare in the EU: Promoting synergies between climate and social policies. Critical Social Policy 2016, 36, 704 -715.
AMA StyleMax Koch, Anne Therese Gullberg, Mi Ah Schoyen, Bjorn Hvinden. Sustainable welfare in the EU: Promoting synergies between climate and social policies. Critical Social Policy. 2016; 36 (4):704-715.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch; Anne Therese Gullberg; Mi Ah Schoyen; Bjorn Hvinden. 2016. "Sustainable welfare in the EU: Promoting synergies between climate and social policies." Critical Social Policy 36, no. 4: 704-715.
Max Koch; Alexandru Panican; Rune Halvorsen; Bjørn Hvinden. Approaches, actors and models of vertical collaborative governance arrangements in combating poverty – five European cities compared. Combating Poverty in Europe 2016, 159 -180.
AMA StyleMax Koch, Alexandru Panican, Rune Halvorsen, Bjørn Hvinden. Approaches, actors and models of vertical collaborative governance arrangements in combating poverty – five European cities compared. Combating Poverty in Europe. 2016; ():159-180.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch; Alexandru Panican; Rune Halvorsen; Bjørn Hvinden. 2016. "Approaches, actors and models of vertical collaborative governance arrangements in combating poverty – five European cities compared." Combating Poverty in Europe , no. : 159-180.
Climate change (CC) is one of the major and most encompassing threats in the world today. While the facts and high-consensus predictions among natural scientists are increasingly well-known, the understanding of CC as a socio-ecological issue is much less clear and uncontroversial. This paper summarizes the available climate science expertise and then discusses the genesis of CC as a socio-ecological issue highlighting its parallel development with capitalism. It moves on to review institutional approaches to study the link between capitalist diversity and greenhouse gas emissions and outlines future research directions with emphasis on a possible reconciliation of Marxian and “degrowth” thought. Due to the lacking evidence for absolute decoupling of economic growth, material resource use and carbon emissions it is argued that all societies, whether socialist or capitalist, will need to deprioritize economic growth as policy goal in the course of the twenty-first century. International critical thought should be dedicated towards analyzing the structural challenges and opportunities in building a global steady-state economy as well as associated post-growth societies.
Max Koch. Climate Change, Capitalism and Degrowth Trajectories to a Global Steady-State Economy. International Critical Thought 2015, 5, 439 -452.
AMA StyleMax Koch. Climate Change, Capitalism and Degrowth Trajectories to a Global Steady-State Economy. International Critical Thought. 2015; 5 (4):439-452.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMax Koch. 2015. "Climate Change, Capitalism and Degrowth Trajectories to a Global Steady-State Economy." International Critical Thought 5, no. 4: 439-452.