Modelling the Future: an Overview of the ‘Limits to Growth’ Debate

The 1972 publication of “The Limits to growth” report, prepared by Dennis Meadows and a research group from the MIT for the Club of Rome, provoked a major debate about the possible harmful effects of economic and population growth in the long term and whether such growth can be sustained. In this article I will show how the evolution of the discourse of the Club of Rome's founder about technology was shaped by the broader cultural evolutions of the 1945–1970 period. I will also argue that the modelling carried out by the MIT researchers and their opponents is political, and that much of what they produced was heavily influenced by ideologies, especially technological ones. Finally, I will consider the role mathematical modelling played in attracting attention to the report and consider why this interest was not maintained in the long term.