Degrowth

Degrowth is a movement and field of research that challenges the goal of continuous economic growth. Its supporters argue that endless growth in production and consumption is not possible on a finite planet and that wealthy countries cannot cut resource use and emissions fast enough while their economies keep growing. They call for a deliberate, democratically planned reduction in material throughput, focused on rich countries, combined with policies to ensure that everyone's needs are met. Degrowth advocates stress that this is different from a recession, which is an unplanned fall in output that harms the vulnerable.

Degrowth draws on several earlier critiques of growth. The economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen argued in 1971 that economic activity is bound by the laws of thermodynamics, and the Club of Rome's report The Limits to Growth appeared in 1972. In the same year the French thinker André Gorz used the word décroissance. Ivan Illich's writing on 'convivial' tools and critiques of development also shaped the movement. The French term became a slogan for activists in France and Italy in the early 2000s, associated with the economist Serge Latouche. An international degrowth conference was held in Paris in 2008, and later conferences followed across Europe. Since the 2010s the idea has spread in academic research, and it is discussed in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Some degrowth thinkers stress ecological limits and see degrowth as unavoidable, while others present it as a democratic choice for a better life. Eco-socialist degrowth links the end of growth with ending capitalism. Post-growth or a-growth approaches are less focused on reducing output and argue that societies should simply stop treating growth as a goal. Related ideas include the steady-state economics of Herman Daly and the doughnut model of social and planetary boundaries.

Many mainstream economists argue that green technology can decouple growth from emissions and that growth is needed to fund public services, innovation and the energy transition. Critics from developing countries and some on the left argue that degrowth risks becoming a form of austerity and could harm poorer people if it is not carefully designed. Others question whether voters would accept lower consumption and whether a shrinking economy could avoid unemployment and debt crises. Some critics also argue that the movement is vague about how a transition would be achieved in practice.

No national government has adopted degrowth as official policy. Its ideas appear in proposals for shorter working weeks, universal basic services, limits on advertising, local food systems and repair and sharing schemes. The European Parliament hosted a Beyond Growth conference in 2023, and degrowth researchers are active in universities and climate debates.