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Post-capitalism, post-growth, post-consumerism? Eco-political hopes beyond sustainability

As a road map for a structural transformation of socially and
ecologically self-destructive consumer societies, the paradigm of
sustainability is increasingly regarded as a spent force. Yet, its
exhaustion seems to coincide with the rebirth of several ideas
reminiscent of earlier, more radical currents of eco-political
thought: liberation from capitalism, consumerism and the logic
of growth. May the exhaustion of the sustainability paradigm
finally re-open the intellectual and political space for the big
push beyond the established socio-economic order? Looking
from the perspective of social and eco-political theory, this article
argues that the new narratives (and social practices) of postcapitalism,
degrowth and post-consumerism cannot plausibly be
read as signalling a new eco-political departure. It suggests that
beyond the exhaustion of the sustainability paradigm, we are
witnessing, more than anything, the further advancement of the
politics of unsustainability - and that in this politics the new
narratives of hope may themselves be playing a crucial role.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VIENNA/oai:epub.wu-wien.ac.at:5524
Date03 1900
CreatorsBlĂĽhdorn, Ingolfur
PublisherInforma UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Source SetsWirtschaftsuniversität Wien
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle, NonPeerReviewed
Formatapplication/pdf
RightsCreative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Relationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2017.1300415, http://www.tandfonline.com/, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1774-5984, http://epub.wu.ac.at/5524/

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