The Geographies of Alternative Economies ― Beyond Greening

Debates around the capacity of and limits to the current capitalist mode of production have led many to reconceptualise economic models and rethink how development occurs in practice. One widely promoted strategy within these debates is the ‘green economy’. The idea of a green economy is not new. The concept of ecological modernization, for example, has driven ‘green’ development such as eco-industrial parks, green clusters, carbon finance and clean-technologies. In examples like this, the green economy is often reduced to financial and technological fixes through the diffusion, adoption, and mainstreaming of green innovations and technologies or to new green products, services, and markets in order to maintain the growth imperative of the capitalist system.

This book highlights the limitations of traditional economic models and charts a new course for current policies and practices. It draws upon and synthesizes examples from existing alternative economies (e.g., different forms of dematerialization, hybrid organizations, solidarity economy, sharing economy). The book not only argues that we need to break free from current paradigms of greening, but expands our thinking to encompass new, alternative, and socially just conceptions of economy and economic development. A particular emphasis is laid on the spatial implications of de-growth oriented activities which partly challenge existing models and research methods in economic geography. As such, the book makes a significant contribution to the literature on ecological economics, economic geography and degrowth.

Julia Affolderbach, University of Hull, UK

Rob Krueger, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA

Christian Schulz, University of Luxembourg, LU