Degrowth and the politics of space: tools for thought and action

As a critique, degrowth blurs the artificial boundary between research, activism and policy practice, and therefore between knowledge and tools. Conference contributions are split into two categories: "tools for thought" and "tools for action." Contributors should indicate their preferred section. At the conference, both groups will come together to discuss their ideas.

We welcome contributions from a wide range of disciplines, including—but not limited to—urban studies, planning studies, economics, sociology, humanities, mobility and housing studies, cultural studies, ecology, political ecology, geography, and geosciences. Contributions might involve participatory, arts-based, strategies for knowledge co-creation. All contributors are encouraged to adopt an inter- and trans-disciplinary perspective and reflect upon the value of their approach for other fields and practices. Contributions can address how knowledge production in spatial politics transcends the boundaries between research and practice.

Tools for thought: this type of contribution seeks a conceptual advancement within the fields of degrowth studies. It focuses on the development of theories, concepts, heuristics, and methodologies for examining, critiquing, and advancing our understanding of the spatial dynamics of growth and degrowth. Submissions can be critical, analytical and propositional, including critiques of existing spatial analyses by degrowth studies and approaches that deepen our understanding of spatial dynamics. Understanding the spatial politics of degrowth requires research frameworks that adequately reflect and express the co-productive relationships between biophysical conditions (e.g. flows of energy and matter, land use, and ecosystems) and the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of life. We seek critical engagement with the context-specific impacts of these interrelations as well as the broader geographies and geopolitics of degrowth.

Tools for action: this type of contribution is concerned with the approaches, modalities, tactics and strategies for advancing a spatial politics of degrowth, and is addressed to audiences interested in practice, policy and social mobilization. We envision a spectrum of approaches to ‘practicing’ spatial politics: revolutionary (e.g. enacted by social-ecological movements), institutional (e.g. radical policies) and prefigurative (e.g. creation of alternatives within larger alliances). These might range from formal governance processes to self-organized and insurgent spaces of resistance and action. We aim to cover all these equally and reflect upon their synergies. We invite contributions from non-academics and engaged academics who are willing to reflect on broader strategies of popular mobilization, and how different subjects can put pressure on institutions. Examples might draw on strategies transgressing formal and informal spaces of participation. Contributions might explore the potentials of practices of resistance, from insurgent, transgressive movements to radical policies. Contributions should provide a forward-looking reflection: not case studies, but - if resorting to real examples - trying to learn from them in dialogue with other practices, contexts, and scales of action.