The Political Philosophy of Postgrowth and Degrowth

This article discusses the emerging field of the political philosophy of degrowth and postgrowth. ‘Postgrowth’ and ‘degrowth’ are visions of socio‐economic systems that do not focus on GDP and economic growth, but rather on sustainable prosperity, that is, wellbeing within planetary boundaries. The paper argues that there is much to gain from more interaction between the postgrowth and degrowth literature on the one hand and political philosophy on the other hand—for both fields. After a discussion of the concepts of postgrowth and degrowth, and the different ways in which they could be distinguished, the paper discusses several philosophical topics that are relevant in this debate: the normative standing of growth, conceptions of wellbeing, distributive and global justice and questions related to future generations. We close by arguing that the questions raised within each of these debates, as well as further issues around democracy, value pluralism and political legitimacy, illustrate that there is much to gain from more interaction between the postgrowth and degrowth literature and political philosophy.