Deepgrowth: Self-transformation towards harmonious being

Hubert Buch-Hansen and Iana Nesterova

Ecological Economics, 2024, vol. 224, issue C

Abstract: Profound transformations in human beings are necessary if we are to exist in harmony with ourselves, other beings and nature. Only if such transformations take place, can the deep social changes that degrowth proponents call for come about. Yet what mechanisms could contribute to trigger and support (or hinder) inner growth? This question, which remains largely unexplored in degrowth scholarship, is addressed in the present contribution. Drawing on critical realist philosophy, humanism and deep ecology, it introduces and develops the concept of deepgrowth. The concept denotes processes through which a human – through inner growth enabled and supported by multiple external and internal mechanisms – becomes a harmonious being. The paper reflects on human nature and identifies several mechanisms that may enable or constrain transformations in the selves of humans. These mechanisms are situated on various planes of social being: material transactions with nature, social interactions, social structures and inner being. Noting that degrowth scholarship ought to reflect more systematically upon eco-social policies in relation to inner being, the paper discusses how combinations of such policies may contribute to facilitate deepgrowth.

Keywords: Critical realism; Degrowth; Eco-social policies; Humanism; Inner transformations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924001782
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:224:y:2024:i:c:s0921800924001782

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108281

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().