Exploring the degrowth movement: A survey of conceptualisations, strategies, and tactics

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science Pub Date : 2025-03-31 DOI:10.1016/j.erss.2025.104045

Nick Fitzpatrick , Dennis Eversberg , Matthias Schmelzer

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Abstract

Degrowth – the downscaling of production and consumption to reduce ecological footprints, planned democratically in a way that is equitable while securing wellbeing – is emerging as an alternative strategy for social-ecological transformation. While research on degrowth as a scientific concept is burgeoning, there are few studies exploring the strategies and tactics that may be necessary for social movements to achieve social-ecological transformation. To stimulate this dialogue, we conduct a survey and statistical analysis of degrowth scholar-activists regarding diverging conceptualisations of degrowth, strategic orientations, and tactical preferences using correlation, principal component, and cluster analysis (n = 399). The results reveal how different interpretations of degrowth align with strategic orientations and support for implementing various direct-action tactics. Our findings point to the potential for the degrowth movement to develop a strategy of unarmed resistance that combines nonviolent resistance with anti-property actions. To explore the diversity within the degrowth movement, we identify four currents: antagonistic anarchism, systemic utopianism, environmental pragmatism, and ecological limitarianism. The paper concludes by reflecting on the preanalytic vision of degrowth, the strategic implications of pluralism, and how these strategic orientations and tactical preferences could fit together.

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来源期刊

Energy Research & Social Science ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES-

CiteScore

14.00

自引率

16.40%

发文量

441

审稿时长

55 days

期刊介绍： Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. ERSS covers a range of topics revolving around the intersection of energy technologies, fuels, and resources on one side and social processes and influences - including communities of energy users, people affected by energy production, social institutions, customs, traditions, behaviors, and policies - on the other. Put another way, ERSS investigates the social system surrounding energy technology and hardware. ERSS is relevant for energy practitioners, researchers interested in the social aspects of energy production or use, and policymakers. Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) provides an interdisciplinary forum to discuss how social and technical issues related to energy production and consumption interact. Energy production, distribution, and consumption all have both technical and human components, and the latter involves the human causes and consequences of energy-related activities and processes as well as social structures that shape how people interact with energy systems. Energy analysis, therefore, needs to look beyond the dimensions of technology and economics to include these social and human elements.