Varieties of Anticapitalism: A systematic study of transformation strategies in alternative economic discourses

Querine Kommandeur, Juliette Alenda-Demoutiez, Maria Kaufmann and Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers

Ecological Economics, 2025, vol. 227, issue C

Abstract: The confluence of multiple crises has prompted a growing recognition of the need for transformations. Economic systems, including patterns of consumption and production, play a key role in sustainability transformations. The notion that capitalist systems are at the root of current ecological and social crises has led to the emergence of different alternative economic discourses, that seek to address the indirect drivers of unsustainability. In this article, we aim to contribute to moving the debate beyond critiques of capitalism by focussing on the paths of transformation towards alternatives. To this end, we analyse several alternative economic discourses in order to show the breadth of the debate, and to better understand the roles and strategies of various discourses in societal transformation. Seven discourses are included, of which Buen Vivir, Degrowth and Wellbeing Economy are analysed in-depth. This is done through a systematic analysis of literature published between 2015 and 2022, using an enhanced conceptual framework based on the works of Wright (2019) and Chertkovskaya (2022). Our analysis suggests that the discourses represent different modes of transformation, and that these differences exist both between, as well as within the different discourses. We argue that transformations cannot be achieved through single discourses, or modes of transformation. Rather, concerted efforts of different discourses aimed at addressing indirect drivers of unsustainability can provide the multi-faceted processes of societal change, in which they can support and reinforce one another through alliances and mutual learning.

Keywords: Buen Vivir; Degrowth; Wellbeing economy; Discourses; Transformations; Post-growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924003203
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:227:y:2025:i:c:s0921800924003203

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108423

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 ().