The International Online Joint Conference of the international degrowth research networks, the International Society for Ecological Economics and the European Society for Ecological Economics, hosted by University of Manchester took place between 5-8 July, 2021. Despite the global pandemic meaning that it had to be an online event, it was a great success with four days of up to 13 parallel sessions of symposia, workshops and free papers. There were also some excellent plenary sessions.
The legacy website. has the programme, book of abstracts and link to the plenary videos. Further videos may be made available later.
A global on-line symposium of the International Degrowth Network and the International Society for Ecological Economics.
September 1 to September 4th, 2020, University of Manchester.
The sessions will be in the afternoons BST.
Join us for this symposium over four days. We’ll be considering the implications of the global Covid-19 pandemic for economy and livelihoods. The Covid-19 pandemic and responses to it have had deeply unequal impacts on lives, livelihoods and well-being across race, gender and class. At the same time it has opened up the space for new possibilities for building alternative livelihoods and economies that can take us beyond a capitalist economy that requires ever expanding growth. Will we go back to business as usual with all the ecological, social and economic risks that will bring or take the path towards a new kind of economy that provides for human needs of all while restoring and protecting the natural world that we all depend on?
Programme and registration details now at this Eventbrite Link
The call for subthemes generated a great deal of interest. We have consolidated them into 14 themes: see the conference website. The open call for contributions will be announced there in later January / early February.
The 7th International Degrowth and 16th International Society for Ecological Economics Joint Conference – Manchester
Building Alternative Livelihoods in Times of Ecological and Political Crisis
Call for sub-themes
Manchester, from the North (Mark Burton)
updated with some missing text, 19/9/19
We are delighted to announce that the first ever joint conference between the International Degrowth Research Network and the International Society for Ecological Economics will take place 1-5 September 2020 in Manchester, UK. This conference will bring together academics from the Degrowth and Ecological Economics communities, voices from the Global North and Global South, civil society actors, activists, artists and policy-makers. It aims to break down silos and stimulate dialogues between and within different perspectives, disciplines and social movements.
Building Alternative Livelihoods in times of ecological and political crisis is the overarching theme of the conference. Economic systems have always co-evolved with social, environmental and technological systems. The worsening ecological and climate crisis means we must urgently abandon practices of production and consumption that drive ecological degradation and that rely on unsustainable extractivism. We must develop alternative livelihoods which are harmonious with planetary limits and safeguard material living conditions. We must invent and trial new ways of working, providing for everyone’s needs, caring for each other and democratising the economy. We must seek clarity about the systems of provisioning which will be utilised in a society beyond growth where states and markets play more peripheral roles in the allocation of resources. In short, we must ask what are the alternative livelihoods which ensure the future conditions of societal wellbeing.
The construction of alternative livelihoods entails a radical transformation of economy, culture and society. What are the institutional arrangements which safely provide for basic needs, social stability and democratic legitimacy in the transition to environmental sustainability? How can both social and ecological justice for the populations of the Global North and the Global South be ensured? How can political support be mobilised for the necessary transformations? How can the transition to environmental sustainability be made politically viable and democratically legitimate?
We list below some of the topics that the conference could cover. We also look forward to ideas beyond these, which would expand the geographical and thematic scope of degrowth, as well as advance and further substantiate current debates and dialogue within and between degrowth and ecological economics.
the economy beyond states and markets
the future of employment, work and care
debates on degrowth, green growth, the circular economy, and decoupling
the democratisation of the economy and alternative models and forms of organisation
the production and conservation of energy
low carbon and low energy futures
forms of decommodification and non-capitalist modes of resource allocation
commoning resources
money, debt and the financial system
financing the (transition to a) post-growth society
monetary and non-monetary measures of prosperity and well-being
a universal basic income or universal basic services
the green new deal
the decentralisation of power
decolonization and feminist economics as challenges to power
post- growth policy-making, law and governance
how to respond to the ethno-nationalist environmentalism and anti-environmentalism of ascendant populist groups
the politics of transitions to sustainability and the lessons to be learned from past socio-economic and cultural transformation
spatial issues: planning, housing and the future of cities
diversity: class, race, gender, abilities
Sustainable Development Goals
conflict resolution processes and socio-ecological transformations
biodiversity, ecosystem services, and sustainable livelihoods
social metabolism
political economy and ecological economics/degrowth
sustainable livelihoods and ecological sufficiency
languages of valuation and ecological conflicts
extractivism, environmental justice and illicit activities
social ecological economics
production and consumption
slow science and degrowth of publication economy
strategies for degrowth transformation: lessons from the Vienna conference
Submission Procedure
There will be two stages for the call for academic and activist contributions. The first stage is a call for sub-theme conveners. Academics and activists who wish to actively participate in these sub-themes or suggest new sub-themes for inclusion in the conference should submit a proposal by 30th September 2019. Descriptions of the sub-themes should speak to the overall conference theme. It should be sent to degrowth2020@manchester.ac.uk
Each sub-theme can go from one to four sessions, with up to four papers or other contributions per session. There are many formats which a session can adopt, including the traditional format of paper presentations with a specific thematic focus, roundtable discussions, and participatory sessions encouraging reflection on a particular topic using an open format (e.g. discussion workshops, dialogical/reading/planning sessions, walks, etc.). Sub-theme conveners will be given full autonomy and responsibility for the organisation of sub-themes.
Sub-theme conveners should present the following information in their proposal:
theme title;
convenor(s);
presenters/roundtable participants anticipated;
subtheme abstract (1 paragraph, maximum 250 words);
how does this subtheme relate to the overall conference theme (maximum 100 words);
format (paper presentation, round-table debate, etc.);
live or remote or both;
number of 1-2 hour sessions anticipated.
Successful sub theme proposers will hear by 30th October 2019
Once sub-themes have been selected, we will announce a second deadline for individual papers. The main language of the conference is English, but we will review submissions in other languages also. For any questions, please contact us at: degrowth2020@manchester.ac.uk
