The potential of heterodox economic spaces and of commons regimes in a no-growth economy
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Although aggregate economic growth has been increasingly criticised as leading to environmental degradation while contributing little to true well-being and prosperity, the drivers behind economic growth, causing what is sometimes referred to as the growth imperative, have to date not been extensively studied. They include (in addition to a debt-based money system and automation leading to job loss leading to calls for more growth) the prevailing structure and aims of for-profit companies (such as private or public limited companies). Especially the link between the pressure to grow and prevalent enterprise structure has to date been little noted. Researchers in various disciplines such as human geography, political economy and sociology have recently focused increasing attention on so-called "alternative economies", "beyond-capitalist economies", or "heterodox economic spaces" in global North countries which to a varying extent diverge from the mainstream economic logic of an "only-for-profit, privately owned, one-share-one-vote"enterprise that operates exclusively in the market economy and aims for growth and increased production. To a degree these "alternative economies" converge with entities described as social enterprises that are studied within another, often more mainstream discourse. While the protagonists of many of these entities (as well as researchers) may not see their aims as primarily environmental, the paper argues that their organisational structure, ownership patterns, operation with non-market capitals and explict other-than profit goals make them an important factor in the transition to a no-growth or degrowth economy. In addition, we suggest that communal forms of land ownership known as "the commons", often found in regions of the global South, can be conceptualised as another important and hitherto largely overloooked form of "alternative economy" or "heterodox economic space". Commons regimes tend to operate in the informal (non-monetised) economy and are geared less towards short-term profit and more towards long-term equity and sustainability. Pressures to privatise the commons often draw on a mainstream economic and development rhethoric of growth and efficiency, disregarding the potential of commons regimes in an increasingly resource-restrained future. We suggest that researchers in the field of ecological (or social ecological) economics need to pay more attention to various forms of heterodox economic spaces and their role in a steady-state or degrowth economy. |
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