On non-reformist reforms and partial political settlements in degrowth strategy

IF 6.6 2区经济学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecological Economics Pub Date : 2025-04-09 DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108613

Giuseppe Feola

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Abstract

One of the most urgent and challenging open questions for degrowth scholarship and practice concerns how to pursue a degrowth social-ecological transformation within the existing structures in the real world. However, the marked emphasis on democratic planning for non-reformist reforms in a degrowth strategy (i) underestimates the lack of favourable conditions for democratic planning (i.e., political support, the willingness and ability of the state to act, and a condition of broad accord in society), (ii) reflects a problematic lack of preparedness for strategic compromise, and (iii) conflates non-reformist reforms with consensus-based deliberative democracy and policy and planning. This paper explores ‘partial political settlements’ as a perspective on transformative non-reformist reforms in unfavourable conditions to address these shortcomings. The paper illustrates the approach through the examples of the Representation of the People Act (United Kingdom), and the National Policy for Agroecology and Organic Production (Brazil). The partial settlements perspective aligns with an emancipatory interpretation of non-reformist reforms, complements prefiguration and counterhegemonic mobilisation and offers an alternative pathway to deliberative democratic planning for non-reformist reforms for social-ecological transformation.

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来源期刊

Ecological Economics 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

5.70%

发文量

313

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Ecological Economics is concerned with extending and integrating the understanding of the interfaces and interplay between "nature''s household" (ecosystems) and "humanity''s household" (the economy). Ecological economics is an interdisciplinary field defined by a set of concrete problems or challenges related to governing economic activity in a way that promotes human well-being, sustainability, and justice. The journal thus emphasizes critical work that draws on and integrates elements of ecological science, economics, and the analysis of values, behaviors, cultural practices, institutional structures, and societal dynamics. The journal is transdisciplinary in spirit and methodologically open, drawing on the insights offered by a variety of intellectual traditions, and appealing to a diverse readership. Specific research areas covered include: valuation of natural resources, sustainable agriculture and development, ecologically integrated technology, integrated ecologic-economic modelling at scales from local to regional to global, implications of thermodynamics for economics and ecology, renewable resource management and conservation, critical assessments of the basic assumptions underlying current economic and ecological paradigms and the implications of alternative assumptions, economic and ecological consequences of genetically engineered organisms, and gene pool inventory and management, alternative principles for valuing natural wealth, integrating natural resources and environmental services into national income and wealth accounts, methods of implementing efficient environmental policies, case studies of economic-ecologic conflict or harmony, etc. New issues in this area are rapidly emerging and will find a ready forum in Ecological Economics.