Giorgos Kallis – författare

Ordet ”tillväxt” fungerar närmast som en besvärjelse i vårt samhälle – tillväxt betraktas ju som en ovillkorlig förutsättning för välfärd och samhällsutveckling. Decennier av forskarvarningar om global uppvärmning, ohållbar resursanvändning och degraderade ekosystem har visserligen lett till omfattande diskussioner om ”grön” eller ”hållbar” tillväxt, men ännu inte, i ett större politiskt och ekonomiskt sammanhang, till något egentligt ifråga­sättande av tillväxten som sådan. Hur skulle ett samhälle som övergav tillväxten kunna utformas? Vad skulle ”nerväxt” innebära i praktiken och vilka långsiktiga politiska och ekonomiska konsekvenser kan den tänkas få? Vad krävs för att människor frivilligt ska minska sin konsumtion och sin energianvändning? Och går nerväxt att förena med liberal demokrati, med tanke på att kapitalismen, nationalstaten och den liberala demokratin utvecklades i ett tätt samspel? Det är sådana frågor som miljöekonomen Giorgos Kallis försöker svara på i denna brett upplagda bok om en av vår tids verkliga ödesfrågor. Han diskuterar också den tillväxtkritik som har artikulerats av forskare och tänkare från Rachel Carson och Herman Daley till Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen och Serge Latouche. Problemens allvar till trots är Kallis perspektiv i grunden hoppfullt. ”Det finns ingenting ofrånkomligt eller permanent i historien eftersom samhällen alltid förändras och alltid kan förändra sina institutioner, värderingar och relationer.” Giorgos Kallis har en doktorsexamen i miljöpolitik och har dessutom studerat kemi, miljöteknik och ekonomi. Sedan 2010 är han professor vid ICREA i Barcelona och forskar om miljörättvisa och tillväxtgränser.

Degrowth is a rejection of the illusion of growth and a call to repoliticize the public debate colonized by the idiom of economism. It is a project advocating the democratically-led shrinking of production and consumption with the aim of achieving social justice and ecological sustainability.This overview of degrowth offers a comprehensive coverage of the main topics and major challenges of degrowth in a succinct, simple and accessible manner. In addition, it offers a set of keywords useful forintervening in current political debates and for bringing about concrete degrowth-inspired proposals at different levels - local, national and global.The result is the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English and serves as the definitive international reference.More information at: vocabulary.degrowth.orgView the author spotlight featuring events and press related to degrowth at http://t.co/k9qbQpyuYp.

Degrowth is a rejection of the illusion of growth and a call to repoliticize the public debate colonized by the idiom of economism. It is a project advocating the democratically-led shrinking of production and consumption with the aim of achieving social justice and ecological sustainability.This overview of degrowth offers a comprehensive coverage of the main topics and major challenges of degrowth in a succinct, simple and accessible manner. In addition, it offers a set of keywords useful forintervening in current political debates and for bringing about concrete degrowth-inspired proposals at different levels - local, national and global.The result is the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English and serves as the definitive international reference.More information at: vocabulary.degrowth.orgView the author spotlight featuring events and press related to degrowth at http://t.co/k9qbQpyuYp.

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.

The relentless pursuit of economic growth is the defining characteristic of contemporary societies. Yet it benefits few and demands monstrous social and ecological sacrifice. Is there a viable alternative? How can we halt the endless quest to grow global production and consumption and instead secure socio-ecological conditions that support lives worth living for all? In this compelling book, leading experts Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa and Federico Demaria make the case for degrowth - living well with less, by living differently, prioritizing wellbeing, equity and sustainability.  Drawing on emerging initiatives and enduring traditions around the world, they advance a radical degrowth vision and outline policies to shape work and care, income and investment that avoid exploitative and unsustainable practices. Degrowth, they argue, can be achieved through transformative strategies that allow societies to slow down by design, not disaster. Essential reading for all concerned citizens, policy-makers, and students, this book will be an important contribution to one of the thorniest and most pressing debates of our era.

The relentless pursuit of economic growth is the defining characteristic of contemporary societies. Yet it benefits few and demands monstrous social and ecological sacrifice. Is there a viable alternative? How can we halt the endless quest to grow global production and consumption and instead secure socio-ecological conditions that support lives worth living for all? In this compelling book, leading experts Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa and Federico Demaria make the case for degrowth - living well with less, by living differently, prioritizing wellbeing, equity and sustainability.  Drawing on emerging initiatives and enduring traditions around the world, they advance a radical degrowth vision and outline policies to shape work and care, income and investment that avoid exploitative and unsustainable practices. Degrowth, they argue, can be achieved through transformative strategies that allow societies to slow down by design, not disaster. Essential reading for all concerned citizens, policy-makers, and students, this book will be an important contribution to one of the thorniest and most pressing debates of our era.

This Report synthesizes the main results obtained throughout the ADVISOR research project ("Integrated Evaluation for Sustainable River Basin Governance") funded by the European Commission, under the - 'Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development' theme of the 5th Framework Research Programme. The aim of ADVISOR was to improve the understanding of evaluation processes as part of river basin planning and management and to provide a framework supported by a toolkit for the conduct of integrated and participatory evaluations. The project comprised four work-packages. Work Package 1 examined past water project or plan evaluation cases in five EU states and drew insights on the problems of past evaluation practices. Work Package 2 interpreted these past experiences from different analytical angles leading to a theory for an integrated evaluation process, emphasising issues of deliberation, multiple values, quality in the use of information and governance. Work Package 3 moved from theory to practice. Different tools which could contribute to integrated evaluation processes were tested in experimental case applications. These included scenario workshops, mediated modelling supported by a quality assurance protocol, social multi-criteria evaluation, cost-effectiveness analyses and monetary valuation. Work Package 4 aimed at transferring the experience and lessons learned during the ADVISOR project to policy makers, contributing especially to the implementation process of the Water Framework Directive. A guidance document for designing and implementing Integrated Deliberative Decision Processes (IDDP) was developed, detailing a step-by-step procedure to achieve integrated evaluations. The synthesis of the main results achieved throughout the ADVISOR project is presented in this report in three parts: Part A sets the stage for the role of integrated evaluations in river basin planning and management; Part B unfolds the set of relevant principles and tools developed in the project and Part C concludes with futures challenges for integrated evaluation processes.

Integrated Deliberative Decision Processes for Water Resources Planning and Evaluation is part of the ADVISOR ("Integrated Evaluation for Sustainable River Basin Governance") research project funded by the EC, under the "Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development" theme of the 5th Framework Research Programme. The aim of ADVISOR is to improve the understanding of evaluation processes as part of river basin planning and management and to provide a framework supported by a toolkit for the conduct of integrated and participatory evaluations. Integrated Deliberative Decision Processes for Water Resources Planning and Evaluation is Work Package 4 of the project and helps to transfer the experience and lessons learned during the ADVISOR project to policy makers, contributing especially to the implementation process of the Water Framework Directive. An Integrated Deliberative Decision Process (IDDP) is proposed to be adopted as the platform to achieve integrated evaluations and this book explains and provides a step-by-step guidance on how to design and run such a process. Integrated Deliberative Decision Processes for Water Resources Planning and Evaluation has been written especially for policy makers, with theoretical reflections also provided where these bear importance to practical implementation.

The term “degrowth” has emerged within ecological and other heterodox schools of economics as a critique of the idea (and ideology) of economic growth. Degrowth argues that economic growth is no longer desirable – its costs exceed its benefits – and advocates a transformation of economies so that they produce and consume less, differently and better.Giorgos Kallis provides a clear and succinct guide to the central ideas of degrowth theory and explores what it would take for an economy to transition to a position that enables it to prosper without growth. The book examines how mainstream conceptualizations of the economy are challenged by degrowth theory and how degrowth draws on a multifaceted network of ideas across disciplines to shed new light on the economic process. The central claims of the degrowth literature are discussed alongside some key criticisms of them. Whether one agrees or disagrees with degrowth’s critique of economic growth, Kallis shows how it raises fundamental questions about the workings of capitalism that we can no longer afford to ignore.