History of the Future of Economic Growth: Historical Roots of Current Debates on Sustainable Degrowth

The future of economic growth is one of the decisive questions of the 21st century. However, so far the current debates questioning the viability of perpetual growth lack a thorough historical perspective. This volume addresses the origins and evolution of the growth paradigm, explores transportation, health, resource consumption and material flows as case studies of the complex repercussions of growth, and examines sustainable development, sustainable growth, buen vivir and degrowth as examples of alternative developmental models. The book provides the necessary historical depth to the ongoing discussion on suitable principles of present and future global development.

The future of economic growth is one of the decisive questions of the twenty-first century. Alarmed by declining growth rates in industrialized countries, climate change, and rising socio-economic inequalities, among other challenges, more and more people demand to look for alternatives beyond growth. However, so far these current debates about sustainability, post-growth or degrowth lack a thorough historical perspective.

This edited volume brings together original contributions on different aspects of the history of economic growth as a central and near-ubiquitous tenet of developmental strategies. The book addresses the origins and evolution of the growth paradigm from the seventeenth century up to the present day and also looks at sustainable development, sustainable growth, and degrowth as examples of alternative developmental models. By focusing on the mixed legacy of growth, both as a major source of expanded life expectancies and increased comfort, and as a destructive force harming personal livelihoods and threatening entire societies in the future, the editors seek to provide historical depth to the ongoing discussion on suitable principles of present and future global development.

History of the Future of Economic Growth is aimed at students and academics in environmental, social, economic and international history, political science, environmental studies, and economics, as well as those interested in ongoing discussions about growth, sustainable development, degrowth, and, more generally, the future.