Giorgos Kallis Book order

A case for degrowth -- Sacrifices of growth -- Making changes on the ground -- Path-breaking reforms -- Strategies for mobilization

Western culture is infatuated with the dream of going beyond, even as it is increasingly haunted by the specter of apocalypse: drought, famine, nuclear winter. How did we come to think of the planet and its limits as we do? This book reclaims, redefines, and makes an impassioned plea for limits-a notion central to environmentalism-clearing them from their association with Malthusianism and the ideology and politics that go along with it. Giorgos Kallis rereads reverend-economist Thomas Robert Malthus and his legacy, separating limits and scarcity, two notions that have long been conflated in both environmental and economic thought. Limits are not something out there, a property of nature to be deciphered by scientists, but a choice that confronts us, one that, paradoxically, is part and parcel of the pursuit of freedom. Taking us from ancient Greece to Malthus, from hunter-gatherers to the Romantics, from anarchist feminists to 1970s radical environmentalists, Limits shows us how an institutionalized culture of sharing can make possible the collective self-limitation we so urgently need. -- Provided by publisher

The idea of degrowth is contentious, often misunderstood, and (perhaps paradoxically) growing in popularity. In this book, Giorgos Kallis, one of the movement's leading thinkers, presents an accessible, inspiring, and enjoyable defense. The book's chapters—a compilation of his opinion essays, newspaper articles, blog posts, and 'minifestos'—range from topics such as eco-modernism, the history of economics, science fiction, the Greek crisis, and Hollywood films. The book also features debates and exchanges between Kallis and degrowth detractors. In defense of degrowth intended as an introduction for the curious, a defense against the skeptics, and an intellectually stimulating conversation for those already convinced but willing to learn more.Kallis is a citizen of Greece, professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, publisher of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, and an active member of the group Research & Degrowth.

This introduction to the topic of degrowth, an increasingly influential idea within ecological economics, assesses what it would take for an economy to transition to a position that enabled it to prosper without growth.