This site summarizes a body of teaching and research that investigates the following question: can social, political, and economic institutions improve wellbeing without growth? Can our quality of life be sustained if population and economic output begin to decline? In some ways, post-growth thinking might be seamlessly adopted; in other ways it can become bound up in harmful, fanciful ideology. Careful acts of discernment will determine the kind of future we build.
ExperimentsCurrent Research
This study examines the socio-political and ecological consequences of the international debt-based monetary system in two unique policy contexts. Building on the historical insight of Graeber as well as pioneers in biophysical and ecological political economy, it explores the relationship between debt, its matter-energy requirement, and institutional decline in Canada and Argentina. Rooting observation in historical analysis, the research argues that debt dynamics inevitably require resource extraction or debt repudiation (or both)—which now have particular consequences for social cohesion, political polarization, and ecological objectives. By conducting empirical and narrative policy analyses of Canada and Argentina, the study investigates the features of debt management and its systemic influences, including the distortion of economic activity, asset inflation, inequality, welfare state erosion, social unrest, democratic backsliding, and populist sentiment. Addressing economic distortion is crucial for balancing ecological limits with human flourishing and preserving liberal-democratic norms in the face of rentier power and wealth consolidation. The study concludes by exploring future directions, emphasizing the need for institutional realism that balances environmental impact, technological (r)evolution, socio-cultural change, and the preservation of democratic governance. |
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CommentaryJames writes online commentary on a range of topics related to post growth economics and political thought for The Post Carbon Institute (resilience.org) and CASSE (steadystate.org). Here are some favourites:
New Zealand Deprioritizes Growth to Improve Health & Wellbeing Social Solidarity Requires a Universal Basic Income Outbreaks in the Anthropocene: Growth Isn't the Cure Ecological Existential Dread Distinguishing Capitalism From Growth Guess What Trudeau Said About Growth? What Kind of Future Does Your Degree Prepare You For? What About Innovating Beyond the Growth Trap? Peace, Love, and the Gift Hedonism, Survivalism, and the Burden of Knowledge Are We Hard-Wired to Think We Can Grow Forever? Piketty Acknowledges a Limit to Inequality–What About Limits to Growth? Do We Need a Steady State Economy? One Politician’s Surprising Answer |
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