Call for Papers

Degrowth and post-growth have emerged as a significant interdisciplinary research field, political agenda, and growing social and economic movement, gaining substantial momentum in recent years (Engler et al., 2024; Ripple et al., 2024). As a global justice project, degrowth aims at reducing resource and energy throughput in Global North countries in a democratically planned way, curtailing ecological pressures and strengthening well-being while overcoming growth dependencies (Sekulova et al., 2013; Schmelzer et al., 2022). However, important global dimensions remain underexplored (Hanaček et al., 2020). Even though topics like global justice, decolonization, and ecologically unequal exchange are central to degrowth debates, these and other global issues are mostly addressed in broad conceptual terms or in diagnostic-empirical studies (for example, Hickel et al., 2022; Hickel et al., 2024; Millward-Hopkins et al., 2020; Hasselbalch & Kranke, 2024). Yet regarding the prognostic core of degrowth, its vision, proposals and policies, a form of methodological localism or nationalism prevails, where global conditions and implications of degrowth are only scarcely integrated into analyses, perspectives and policies.

This is a cause of concern, as it implies neglecting, among other things, structural global interdependencies in contemporary capitalist societies that act as barriers to degrowth (Frame, 2023) and can reinforce colonial dynamics between the Global North and South, even if some high-income countries would adopt degrowth-oriented policies (Ajl, 2021; Hickel, 2021; Lang, 2024). In addition, degrowth has significant implications for the Global South in terms of finding potential allies, building social movements and connecting global solidarity networks that remain to be further explored (Rodríguez-Labajos et al., 2019; Martínez-Alier, 2012; Singh, 2019). Moreover, little is known about the geopolitical ramifications of a degrowth transition or its feasibility at the transnational level – a key issue, as such a transition is unlikely to succeed within the confines of a single country. In fact, achieving the ecological and distributive goals of degrowth while minimizing unintended global consequences would require significant institutional shifts that go well beyond the local or national scale, encompassing inter- and transnational institutions, frameworks, and governance systems (Gräbner-Radkowitsch & Strunk, 2023), or ‘world-making beyond growth’ (Schmelzer & Nowshin, 2023).

To address this gap and help reduce the risk of degrowth and post-growth becoming an inward-looking and exclusive project within Europe and the Global North, this Special Issue aims to explore global issues and dynamics connected to the current crisis of growth and possible degrowth futures. For this purpose, we propose approaching the topic through the lens of global (inter)dependencies (Amin 1990; Wallerstein 2004; Latour, 2018; Chatzidakis et al., 2020), which are crucial in determining the possibilities for degrowth beyond local and national contexts. The notion refers to international, supranational, transnational, and even planetary relations of dependence and interdependence in multiple dimensions, involving various types of interconnections and flows (e.g. of material, energy, labour, people, knowledge, viruses or capital). Focusing on global (inter)dependencies emphasises the pivotal role of inter- and transnational institutions and structural frameworks, while also shedding light on critical power asymmetries and issues of justice. Ultimately, degrowth implies challenging and abolishing some (environmentally destructive and socially unjust) forms of (inter)dependence, while strengthening and reshaping others.

Against this backdrop, topics to be explored in the Special Issue include, but are not limited to, degrowth in relation to:

• Global and transnational flows and value chains
• Global politics, imperialism, governance and institutional change
• Global and transnational impacts of degrowth policies
• Transnational activism, alliances and social movements
• Geopolitics, conflicts, and international relations

We invite submissions from all disciplines and are interested in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary contributions that examine the global dimensions of degrowth. We particularly encourage contributions from researchers and activists from the Global South, as well as early-career scholars – we are committed to providing all the academic writing support necessary, so please do not be discouraged if you have not written academic texts before.

We invite authors to submit proposals for the Special Issue on “Global Degrowth” by email to the Guest Editors. Please send your proposal, adhering to the article template provided below, by 19 January 2025. Each proposal should include an extended abstract of approximately 500 words, outlining the content and aims of your proposed paper.

Please submit your proposals via email to jenny.ufer@eurac.edu, including a list of relevant references (not included in the word count). Authors will be notified of the status of their proposals by 19 February 2025. The Guest Editors will compile and submit the overall proposal for the Special Issue to the Journal New Global Studies.

Full manuscripts will be due by August 2025, there will be one round of revisions, with the expected publication date of the issue being June 2026. For more information, please get in touch with the Guest Editors at jenny.ufer@eurac.edu.

Abstract Proposal Template: Special Issue on Global Degrowth

Please structure your proposal (with a total of approx. 500 words) according to the following sections:

1. Context, relevance and motivation
2. Research questions
3. Your paper’s contribution to existing research
4. Hypotheses or main arguments
5. If applicable: