Curriculum Vitae

More information and downloads here.

Books

• 2025. Freedom for Capital, Not People: The Mont Pèlerin Society and the Origins of the Neoliberal Monetary Order. London/New York: Verso.

• Under contract. Mentalitäten in der postfossilen Transformation. Frankfurt/New York: Campus (with Dennis Eversberg, Martin Fritz, Jana Holz, Judith Kiss, Philip Koch, Lilian Pungas and Linda von Faber).

• 2024. Der neue sozial-ökologische Klassenkonflikt: Mentalitäts- und Interessengegensätze im Streit um Transformation. Frankfurt/New York: Campus (with Dennis Eversberg, Martin Fritz and Linda von Faber).

• 2023. Bausteine für Klimagerechtigkeit. 8 Maßnahmen für eine solidarische Zukunft. München: oekom (with Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie).

• 2022. The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism. London/New York: Verso (with Andrea Vetter and Aaron Vansintjan).Translation in diverse languages published or in preparation: Italian, Korean, Spanish, Turkish, Czech, Vietnamese.

• 2020. Zukunft für alle: Eine Vision für 2048 – gerecht. ökologisch. machbar. München: oekom (with Kai Kuhnhenn, Anne Pinnow and Nina Treu).
  English translation published in 2024 with MayFly Books.

• 2019. Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Hamburg: Junius-Verlag (with Andrea Vetter). Currently in third edition

• 2016. The Hegemony of Growth. The OECD and the Making of the Economic Growth Paradigm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• 2011. Postwachstum. Krise, ökologische Grenzen, soziale Rechte. Hamburg: VSA-Verlag (with Alexis Passadakis).

• 2010. Freiheit für Wechselkurse und Kapital. Die Ursprünge neoliberaler Währungspolitik und die Mont Pèlerin Society. Marburg: Metropolis-Verlag.

Edited books and journals

• Forthcoming. Global Degrowth. (Inter)dependencies, power, and justice, Special Issue of New Global Studies, edited with Jenny Ufer, Felix Windegger, and Brototi Roy.

• Forthcoming. Degrowth and Environmental History, Special Forum in Environmental History, edited with Andy Bruno.

• 2020. Degrowth in Movement(s). Exploring pathways for transformation, edited with Corinna Burkart and Nina Treu. London: Zero Books.

• 2018. Entwachstum – Utopie, Konturen und Spannungen des Degrowth-Spektrums, Special Issue of Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 31 (4), edited with Dennis Eversberg and Gabriele Schmidt.

• 2017. History of the Future of Economic Growth. Historical roots of current debates on sustainable degrowth (Routledge Studies in Ecological Economics Series), edited with Iris Borowy. London: Routledge.

• 2017. The OECD and the Global Political Economy, 1948 to Present (Transnational History Series), edited with Matthieu Leimgruber. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

• 2017.Degrowth in Bewegung(en). 32 alternative Wege zur sozial-ökologischen Transformation, edited with Nina Treu and Corinna Burkhart. München: oekom.

• 2011. Ausgewachsen. Ökologische Gerechtigkeit. Soziale Rechte. Gutes Leben, edited with Werner Rätz, Tanja von Egan-Krieger, Barbara Muraca, Alexis Passadakis and Andrea Vetter. Hamburg: VSA-Verlag.

Article (peer reviewed)

• Under review. "Shades of social change within the degrowth movement", Energy Research & Social Science (with Nick Fitzpatrick and Dennis Eversberg).

• 2024. "Fossil mentalities: How fossil fuel use has historically shaped and was shaped by societal imaginaries", Geoforum 150 (March 1, 2024): 103981 (with Melissa Büttner).

• 2024. "Sozial-ökologische Planung für eine demokratische Postwachstumsökonomie", Ökologisches Wirtschaften 39 (1): 26-27 (with Elena Hofferberth).

• 2024. "Planning beyond Growth: The Case for Economic Democracy within Ecological Limits." Journal of Cleaner Production 437, 140351 (with Cédric Durand and Elena Hofferberth).

• 2023. "Ecological Reparations and Degrowth: Towards a Convergence of Alternatives Around World-Making After Growth", Development 66, 15-22 (with Tonny Nowshin).
   
• 2023. "Degrowth and Masculinities: Towards a gendered understanding of degrowth subjectivities", Degrowth Journal Vol. 1, 00009, degrowthjournal.org (with Dennis Eversberg).
   

• 2023. "Frum Luddites to Limits? Towards a systematization of growth critiques in historical perspective", Globalizations 20 (3), 447-464.

• 2021. "Anmerkungen zu Niko Paechs Postwachstumsökonomie. Plädoyer für weniger Individualethik, mehr Kapitalismuskritik und eine intersektionale Gerechtigkeitsperspektive", Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts-und Unternehmensethik 22 (2), 191–195 (with Corinna Dengler).

• 2021. "De Maldesarrollo a Decrecimiento: Una visión posfósil y globalmente justa para las sociedades del Norte global", Gestión y Ambiente 24, 153–174.

• 2019. "Gekoppelt wird ein Schuh draus: Green New Deal versus Degrowth", Politische Ökologie 4, 31–37 (with Elena Hofferberth)

• 2018. "Research on Degrowth", Annual Review of Environment and Resources 43, 291-316 (with Giorgos Kallis, Vasilis Kostakis, Steffen Lange, Barbara Muraca and Susan Paulson).

• 2018. "The Degrowth Spectrum: Convergence and Divergence within a Diverse and Conflictual Alliance", Environmental Values 27, 245–267 (with Dennis Eversberg).

• 2017. "Beyond Growth, Capitalism, and Industrialism? Consensus, Divisions and Currents within the Emerging Movement for Sustainable Degrowth", Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements 9 (1), 327–56 (with Dennis Eversberg).

• 2017. "Mehr als Weniger: Erste Überlegungen zur Frage nach dem Postwachstumssubjekt", Psychosozial 40 (2), 83–100 (with Dennis Eversberg).

• 2017. "‘Born in the corridors of the OECD’: The forgotten origins of the Club of Rome and the unraveling of the postwar confidence in economic growth", Journal of Global History 12 (1), 26–48.

• 2015. "The growth paradigm: History, hegemony, and the contested making of economic growthmanship", Ecological Economics 118, 262–271.

• 2015. "‘Expandiere oder stirb’. Das Wachstumsparadigma, die OECD, und wie die Erwartung exponentiellen Wirtschaftswachstums sich durchsetzte", Geschichte und Gesellschaft 41 (3), 355–393.

• 2015. "Entwickelter Norden, unterentwickelter Süden? Wissenseliten, Entwicklungshilfe und die Konstruktion des Westens in der OEEC und OECD", Comparativ – Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung 25 (5), 18–35.

• 2015. "Marketing marketization: The power of neoliberal expert, consulting, and lobby networks", Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History 12 (3), 488–499 (with Dieter Plehwe).

• 2012. "The Crisis before the Crisis: The ‘Problems of Modern Society’ and the OECD, 1968-1974", European Review of History 19 (6), 999–1020.

• 2010. "Marketing morals, moralizing markets. Assessing the effectiveness of Fair Trade as a form of boycott", Management & Organizational History 5 (2), 221–250.

Further articles

• 2024. "Sozial-ökologische Planung für eine demokratische Postwachstumsökonomie", Ökologisches Wirtschaften 39 (1): 26-27 (with Elena Hofferberth).

• 2023. "Degrowth als Notwendigkeit: Wider die Legende vom grünen Wachstum", Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 10, 96-104.

• 2023. "Democratic Planning for Degrowth", Monthly Review, July 1, 142–53.

• 2018. "Entwachstum – Utopie, Konturen und Spannungen des Degrowth-Spektrums", Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 31 (4), 3–8 (with Dennis Eversberg and Gabriele Schmidt).

• 2018. "Revolution Predigen, Karottensaft Trinken? Zum Zusammenhang von Strömungen, Lebensstilen und Aktivismus Im Degrowth-Spektrum", Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 31 (4), 26–36 (with Dennis Eversberg)

• 2018. "Degrowth & Postwachstum", PERIPHERIE 150/151 (38), 336–39.

• 2016. "Über die Selbstproblematisierung zur Kapitalismuskritik. Vier Thesen zur entstehenden Degrowth-Bewegung", Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 29 (1), 9–17 (with Dennis Eversberg).

• 2014. "Organisierter Kapitalismus und US-Hegemonie: Das Währungssystem von Bretton Woods", in Zeitgeschichte-Online, zeitgeschichte-online.de/kommentar/organisierter-kapitalismus-und-us-hegemonie-das-waehrungssystem-von-bretton-woods.

Book chapters

• Demnächst. "Degrowth and planning: Towards a research agenda", in: Creative Construction - Planned Economies in the 21st Century and Beyond, edited by Jan Groos and Christoph Sorg, Bristol: Bristol University Press (with Cédric Durand and Elena Hofferberth).

• Demnächst. "From downscaling to global justice: On the need of linking climate reparations and degrowth", in: Facing the socio-ecological crisis: Delinking and the question of Global Reparations, edited by Ndongo Samba Sylla et al. London: Pluto.

• 2024. Schmelzer, Matthias. "Bausteine für eine sozial-ökologische Wirtschaftswende," in: Warnsignal Klima: Herausforderung Wetterextreme: Ursachen, Auswirkungen & Handlungsoptionen, edited by José L. Lozán, Hartmut Graßl, Dieter Kasang, Markus Quante, and Jana Sillmann, 373–77. Hamburg: GEO.

• 2024. "Geschichte: Eine Bewegung, viele Generationen", in: Kipppunkte: Strategien im Ökosystem der Klimabewegung, edited by Manuel Grebenjak, 59-79. Münster: Unrast Verlag (with Mira Kapfinger, Dorothee Häußermann and Payal Parekh).

• 2024. "‘Without growth, everything is nothing’: On the origins of growthism", in: The De Gruyter Handbook of Degrowth, edited by Lauren Eastwood and Kai Heron, 26–40. Berlin: De Gruyter.

• 2023. "Bioeconomy: A solution to the challenges of a post-fossil future?", in: Edward Elgar Handbook on Alternative Global Development, edited by Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 334-351 (with Dennis Eversberg and Jana Holz).

• 2023. "Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)", in: Elgar Encyclopedia of Development, edited by Matthew Clarke, 450-54. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

• 2023. "The history of the OEEC/OECD", in: Edward Elgar Companion to the OECD, edited by Fabrizio De Francesco and Claudio M. Radaelli, 9-22. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (with Matthieu Leimgruber).

• 2022. "Degrowth", in: Handbuch Politische Ökologie: Theorien, Konflikte, Begriffe, Methoden, edited by Daniela Gottschlich, Sarah Hackfort, Tobias Schmitt, and Uta von Winterfeld, 331-40. Bielefeld: Transcript (with Andrea Vetter).

• 2022. "Who Shut Shit down? What Degrowth Can Learn from Other Social-Ecological Movements", in: Degrowth & Strategy: How to Bring about Social-Ecological Transformation, edited by Nathan Barlow, Livia Regen, and Noémie Cadiou et al., 129–43. S.l.: Mayflybooks/Ephemera, 2022 (with Corinna Burkhart, Tonny Nowshin and Nina Treu).

• 2021. "The Emancipatory Project of Degrowth", in: Post-Growth Geographies - Spatial Relations of Diverse and Alternative Economies, edited by Bastian Lange, Martina Hülz, Benedikt Schmid and Christian Schulz, 99–106. Bielefeld: Transcript, 2021 (with Andrea Vetter).

• 2020. "‘All you talk about are fairy tales of eternal economic growth’. Degrowth als konkrete Utopie für eine klimagerechte Zukunft", in: Sozial-ökologische Utopien: Diesseits oder jenseits von Wachstum und Kapitalismus?, edited by Benjamin Görgen and Björn Wendt, 131-147. München: oekom, 2020 (with Andrea Vetter).

• 2020. "Raus aus dem Elfenbeinturm! Mit der ‘Third Mission’ zur Wachstumsunabhängigkeit", in: Economists4Future. Verantwortung übernehmen für eine bessere Welt, edited by Lars Hochmann, 207–18. Murmann (with Steffen Lange and Helen Sharp).

• 2020. "Price Premiums and New Opportunities Benefit Fair Trade Producers and Workers", in: Fair Trade, edited by Ariana Agrios, 33–42. New York: Greenhaven Publishing LLC, 2020.

• 2020. "Stadt für alle jenseits des Wachstums: Was kann die Stadtforschung aus der Degrowthdebatte lernen? ", in: Postwachstumsstadt: Konturen einer solidarischen Stadtpolitik, edited by Anton Brokow-Loga and Frank Eckardt, 44–57. München: oekom (with Andrea Vetter).

• 2020. "What Comes After Bretton Woods? Neoliberals Debate and Fight for a Future Monetary Order", in: Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, edited by Philip Mirowski, Dieter Plehwe and Quinn Slobodian, 197-218. London: Verso.

• 2019. "Zur Genese des Wachstumsparadigmas", in: Transformationsgesellschaften: Zum Wandel gesellschaftlicher Naturverhältnisse, edited by Michaela Christ, Bernd Sommer, and Klara Stumpf, 111-130. Weimar: Metropolis.

• 2019. "Degrowth und Männlichkeiten – Zur Geschlechtlichkeit des relationalen Postwachstumssubjekts", in: Caring Masculinities? Auf der Suche nach Transformationswegen in eine demokratische Postwachstumsgesellschaft, edited by Andreas Heilmann and Sylka Scholz, 173-184. München: oekom (with Dennis Eversberg).

• 2018. "The growth paradigm: History, hegemony, and the contested making of economic growthmanship", in: Routledge Handbook of the History of Sustainability, edited by Jeremy Caradonna. London and New York: Routledge.

• 2017. "Public Sociology in der Bewegungsforschung. Zum Verhältnis von Soziologie, Gesellschaftskritik und sozialen Bewegungen", in: Öffentliche Soziologie: Wissenschaft im Dialog mit der Gesellschaft, edited by Brigitte Aulenbacher, Michael Burawoy, Klaus Dörre, and Johanna Sittel, 176–188. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus Verlag, 2017 (with Dennis Eversberg, Steffen Liebig, and Nina Treu).

• 2017. "Introduction: The End of Economic Growth in Long-Term Perspective", in: History of the Future of Economic Growth. Historical roots of current debates on sustainable degrowth (Routledge Studies in Ecological Economics Series), edited by Iris Borowy and Matthias Schmelzer, 1-26. London: Routledge (with Iris Borowy).

• 2017. "Sustainable Degrowth: Historical Roots of the Search for Alternatives to Growth in Three Regions", in: History of the Future of Economic Growth. Historical roots of current debates on sustainable degrowth (Routledge Studies in Ecological Economics Series), edited by Iris Borowy and Matthias Schmelzer, 174–197. London: Routledge (with Barbara Muraca).

• 2017. "Ohne Bewegungen keine Transformation: Das Mosaik der Alternativen als Kompass für Postwachstumspolitiken", in: Postwachstumspolitiken Wege zur wachstumsunabhängigen Gesellschaft, edited by Frank Adler and Ulrich Schachtschneider, 77–88. München: oekom (with Corinna Burkhart and Nina Treu).

• 2017. "Degrowth: In Bewegung, um Alternativen zu stärken und Wachstum, Wettbewerb und Profit zu überwinden", in: Degrowth in Bewegung(en). 32 Wege zu einer sozial-ökologischen Transformation, edited by Corinna Burkhart, Matthias Schmelzer, and Nina Treu. München: oekom (with Corinna Burkhart, Dennis Eversberg, and Nina Treu).

• 2017. "Degrowth: In Bewegung, um Alternativen zu stärken und Wachstum, Wettbewerb und Profit zu überwinden", in: Degrowth in Bewegung(en). 32 Wege zu einer sozial-ökologischen Transformation, edited by Corinna Burkhart, Matthias Schmelzer, and Nina Treu, 108–117. München: oekom (with Corinna Burkhart, Dennis Eversberg, and Nina Treu).

• 2017. "Degrowth als Teil des Mosaiks der Alternativen für eine sozial-ökologische Transformation", in: Degrowth in Bewegung(en). 32 Wege zu einer sozial-ökologischen Transformation, edited by Corinna Burkhart, Matthias Schmelzer, and Nina Treu, 402–414. München: oekom (with Corinna Burkhart and Nina Treu).

• 2016. "Selbstveränderung, Kapitalismuskritik, Organisierung: Transformationspotentiale der Degrowth-Bewegung", in: Wachstum - Krise und Kritik: Die Grenzen der kapitalistisch-industriellen Lebensweise, edited by AK Postwachstum, 179–200. Frankfurt a.M: Campus Verlag.

• 2016. "‘Die Vermessung ,der Wirtschaft’: Konstruktionen und Kontroversen in der internationalen Standardisierung der volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung, 1940er- und 50er-Jahre", in: Die Innenwelt der Ökonomie. Wissen, Macht und Performativität in der Wirtschaftswissenschaft, edited by Jens Maeße, Hanno Pahl, and Jan Sparsam, 287–310. Berlin: VS-Springer.

• 2014. "A club of the rich to help the poor? The OECD, ‘development’, and the hegemony of donor countries", in: International Organizations and Development, 1945 to 1990, edited by Marc Frey, Soenke Kunkel, and Corinna Unger, 171–195. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

• 2013. "The Crisis before the Crisis: The ‘Problems of Modern Society’ and the OECD, 1968-1974", in: Economic Crises and Global Politics in the 20th Century, edited by Alexander Nützenadel and Cornelius Torp, 151–172. London: Routledge.

Studies, working papers, dictionary entries

• 2024. Climate Debt and Reparations. Building Blocs for Climate Justice. Leipzig: Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie (with Ourmarou F. Mfochivé).

• 2024. Klimaschulden und Reparationen. Bausteine für Klimagerechtigkeit. Leipzig: Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie (with Ourmarou F. Mfochivé).

• 2024. Der neue sozial-ökologische Klassenkonflikt: Mentalitäts- und Interessengegensätze im Streit um Transformation. Forschungsbericht der BMBF-Nachwuchsgruppe "Mentalitäten im Fluss (flumen)", Jena (with Dennis Eversberg, Martin Fritz, and Linda Faber).

• 2024. The new socio-ecological class conflict: Conflicting mentalities and interests in the dispute over transformation, Research report of the Junior Research Group "Mentalities in flux: imaginaries and social structure in modern circular bio-based societies (flumen)" (with Dennis Eversberg, Martin Fritz, and Linda Faber).

• 2023. "Growth Paradigm", in: Dictionary of Ecological Economics: Terms for the New Millenium, edited by Brent Haddad, 259–260. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

• 2023. "Planning beyond Growth. The Case for Economic Democracy within Limits", Political Economy Working Papers 1/2023, University of Geneva, archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:166429 (with Cédric Durand and Elena Hofferberth).

• 2022. "Mit grüner Marktwirtschaft das Klima retten? Klimagerechtigkeits-Check der Ampel-Regierung", Leipzig: Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, konzeptwerk-neue-oekonomie.org/materialien/publikationen (with Lasse Thiele and Ruth Krohn).

• 2022. "Ende des Wachstums? Vorschläge für eine Postwachstumsgesellschaft", Politik & Kultur 4/2.

• 2021. "Germany: a declining ecological footprint", in: Happy Planet Index, happyplanetindex.org/germany.

• 2021. "Fossile Mentalitäten. Zur Geschichte der fossilen Durchdringung moderner Vorstellungswelten", Working Paper No. 3, Mentalitäten im Fluss (flumen), Jena (with Melissa Büttner).

• 2021. "Mentalities Matter. Sozial-ökologische Mentalitäten und ihre Bedeutung in post-fossilen Transformationen", Working Paper No. 5, Mentalitäten im Fluss (flumen), Jena. (with Dennis Eversberg, Martin Fritz, Jana Holz, Philip Koch, Lilian Pungas)

• 2021. Ist Klimagerechtigkeit wählbar? Eine Wahlprogramm Analyse, Leipzig: Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, konzeptwerk-neue-oekonomie.org/materialien/publikationen (with Kai Kuhnhenn and Lasse Thiele).

• 2019. Degrowth of Aviation. Reducing Air Travel in a Just Way. Vienna: Stay Grounded (with Adrian Haßler, Chandni Dwarkasing, Elli Reckmann, Filka Sekulova, Francois Schneider, Irene Iniesta-Arandia, Larry Edwards, Laura Machler, Manuel Grebenjak, Magdalena Heuwieser, Nuria Blázquez Sánchez, Rose Bridger, Sara Mingorría).Translations into German and Spanish.2017. Kein Wachstum ist auch (k)eine Lösung. Mythen und Behauptungen über Wirtschaftswachstum und Degrowth. Berlin: Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (mit Max Frauenlob, Kai Kuhnhenn, Christopher Laumanns, Nina Treu und Andrea Vetter).

• 2015. "Gutes Leben statt Wachstum: Degrowth, Klimagerechtigkeit, Subsistenz – eine Einführung in die Begriffe und Ansätze der Postwachstumsbewegung", in: Atlas der Globalisierung: Weniger wird mehr, edited by Le Monde diplomatique and DFG-Kolleg Postwachstumsgesellschaften, 116-121. Berlin: Le Monde diplomatique.

• 2015. Degrowth: Kapitalismuskritik muss praktisch werden! Grundkonsens und Differenzen einer entstehenden Bewegung, Working Paper (with Dennis Eversberg).

• 2014. "Thorkil Kristensen", in: Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations, edited by Bob Reinalda and Kent Kille, ru.nl/fm/iobio.

• 2012. White Paper of the Winter School on Limits to Growth Revisited, edited by F. Pütter and A. Kremers, Visselhövede, Hannover, Germany (co-author with many).

• 2010. "Postwachstum. 12 Fluchtlinien für eine solidarische Ökonomie jenseits des Wachstums", published at postwachstum.net, attac.de, Magazin Cultura21 and many others instances (with Alexis Passadakis).
  Translations into English, French, Japanese and Finnish.

• 2009. Alternatives to the Casino? A synopsis of intergovernmental, private sector and civil society proposals to reform the international financial system. Berlin: Weed.

• 2009. Towards a New Bretton Woods? A critical analysis of current debates on building a new financial architecture. Berlin: Weed.

• 2007. In or Against the Market? Is Fair Trade a neoliberal solution to market failures or a practical challenge to neoliberal trade and the free market regime in general? (Study written for Prof. Dr. Peter Evans an der University of California, Berkeley, published online in various instances).
  Translations into German and Spanish.

Press articles and interviews (irregular publication of articles and interviews)

• Climate Social Science Network (CSSN)

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS)

• Deutscher Hochschulverband

• European Parliament History Research Network

• Earth System Governance (ESG) – Senior Fellow

• EnJust Network for Environmental Justice

• Gesellschaft für sozioökonomische Bildung und Wissenschaft (GSÖBW)

• Institut für Protest- und Bewegungsforschung – AK Umwelt, Proteste, Ressourcenkonflikte

• International Network for Sufficiency Research & Policy (ENOUGH)

• Network "Wissen und Wirtschaft", ETH Zürich and University of Konstanz

• Post-growth Economics Network (PEN)

• The Global Politics of Post-Growth Network

Organization of Special Sessions, Roundtables or Panels

• World Congress of Environmental History (Oulu, Finland, 2024)

• Schweizer Geschichtstage (Geneve, 2022)

• Just Recovery Gathering (350.org, 2021)

• Fourth European Congress on World History (ENUIGH, Paris, 2014)

• World Economic History Conference (Kyoto, 2015)

• 4th International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity (Leipzig, 2014)

• 3rd International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity (Venice, 2013)

• Conference of the Socio-Economic History Society of Japan (Tokyo, 2013)

• 9th European Social Science History Conference (Glasgow, 2012)

Organization of Workshops or Conferences

• Mental Infrastructures of Modern Fossil and Bio-based Societies (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) 2022. International Workshop, 19.-20. May 2022

• It’s the (bio)economy, stupid! The future of growth and the promise of the bioeconomy (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) 2020. International Workshop

• Self-Determined and in Solidarity! Conference on Migration, Development and Ecological Crisis (University of Leipzig) 2017. Conference in three languages (German, English, French), organized amongst others with several self-organized refugee groups (approximately 700 participants)

• Warden of the West. The OECD and the global political economy, 1948 to present (University of Zurich) 2015. International conference at the University of Zurich, co-organized with Matthieu Leimgruber

• Degrowth in practice: Climate Justice Summer School (Rhineland) 2015. Large activist-academic summer school in the Rhenish lignite mining area south of Cologne (approx. 500 participants), co-organization and program

• 4th International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity (University of Leipzig) 2014. Large academic conference at the University of Leipzig (approx. 3000 participants)

• Beyond Growth?! (Technical University of Berlin) 2011. Large activist-oriented conference at the Technical University of Berlin (approx. 2500 participants)

• Arbeit? Geld? Leben! Feministische Perspektiven (Berlin) 2010. Attac, Werkstatt der Kulturen Berlin

The Concrete Age: The rise of the most widely used man-made material

Sub-project of the BMBF-funded research project at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena "Mentalities in flux. Imaginary worlds in modern bio-cycle-based societies (flumen)"
The project analyzes the socio-ecological transformation from fossil to bio-based, post-fossil societies with a focus on the relationships between the changing energy and resource base and social mentalities, practices and perceptions. The historical module conceptualizes "fossil mentalities" as a central obstacle to any sustainability transformation. The focus is on an empirical study that analyzes the rise of concrete and cement, combining material flow accounting, commodity frontiers and environmental, economic and mental history, as well as outlining challenges for a socio-ecological transformation based on sufficiency.

Beyond Capitalism: War Economy and Democratic Planning (The New Institute)

Fellowship at The New Institute in Hamburg in a project with Kohei Saito (Tokyo). More info here.

2024

• Sozial-ökologische Transformationskonflikte und die Bedeutung von Wirtschaftswachstum. Lecture at the Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin, 16 December 2024.

• Social-ecological planning as collective self-limitation. Keynote at POE – Politics Ontologies Ecologies, Seventh Annual Workshop "Democratic planning and labour alliances beyond growth", Scuola Normale Superiore – Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 28-29 November 2024.

• Sozial-ökologische Transformation gestalten. Invited lecture in the headquarter of Greenpeace, Hamburg, 15 October 2024.

• Wachstum. Workshop‚ Zeitbegriffe und die Temporalstruktur der Moderne‘, Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam, 20 September 2024.

• Planning in the climate emergency: The case for economic democracy within ecological limits. Invited keynote at the Green Academy, Vis, Croatia, 27 July 2024.

• How Do We Think about Population in the Anthropocene? Invited talk at a workshop at the University of Cambridge, UK, 2-4 July 2024.

• Panel: Postwachstum – Utopie oder Transformationspfad? Future Lounge #33, Initiative D2030, 5 June 2024.

• Wie können wir Wohlstand abseits von Konsum neu begreifen? Lecture, BNE-Circle, 27 May 2024.

• The semantics of growth: Progress, nature, development. Invited lecture at the University of Bologna, 15 May 2024.

• Planning for the Social Ecological Transformation. Keynote, discussed by a roundtable, Vienna University of Economics and Business, 22 May 2024.

• How Do We Think about Population in the Anthropocene? Workshop at University of Cambridge, UK, 2-4 July 2024

• Talk at the Annual Debate of the Freedom of Mobility Forum, organized by Stellantis (leading global automaker), 3 April 2024.

2023

• From Limits to Growth to Degrowth and Beyond: Critical historical observations on social-ecological transformation. Invited talk at the DISPUTE conference Less is More: Imagining a good life beyond growth, Istituto Svizzero, Rome, 9 November 2023.

• Bruch und Wandel, Übergang und Exodus: Aktivistische Vorstellungen von Transformation im Degrowth-Spektrum. Paper at the Tagung Transformationssoziologie, RWTH Aachen, 30 November (with Dennis Eversberg).

• Contesting the growthocene: From capitalist realism to ecological reduction. Keynote at the opening plenary of the Radboud Conference on Earth System Governance, Radboud University, Netherlands, 24 October 2023.

• Degrowth – a critical introduction. Invited talk at Lund University, 6 September 2023.

• Degrowing concrete - on the history and future of the world’s most used and most destructive material. Invited talk at the Center for Applied Ecological Thinking (CApE), 5 September 2023.

• Sozial-ökologische Transformation, Alternativen zu Wachstum und Strategien des Wandels. Invited lecture at the Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research in Bozen, 9 August 2023.

• Social-ecological transformation beyond growth. Keynote at the conference Growing Pains: Contemporary Culture and the Crises of Growth, University College Dublin, 23 June 2023.

• Sozial-ökologische Transformation, Wachstumskritik, und Postwachstum: Aktuelle Forschungen und Kontroversen. Colloquium at University of Hamburg, 19 June 2023.

• CASH frisst Klima auf: Wachstum, Kapitalismus, Degrowth. Invited lecture at re:publica, Berlin, 5 June 2023.

• Degrowth und Klimareparationen: Zur Notwendigkeit dekolonialer Perspektiven auf sozial-ökologische Transformation. Invited IPW-Lecture, University of Vienna, 11 May 2023.

• Kämpfe um künstlichen Stein: Einblicke in eine historische Studie zum Zeitalter des Betons mit Fokus auf Steinbruchkonflikte und Betonwerbung. Lecture in the colloquium of the Center for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF), 10 May 2023.

• Degrowth 101: A critical introduction to green growth and transformation. Opening lecture at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 30 April 2023.

• Suffizienz und Wirtschaft: zwei unvereinbare Ziele? Lecture at the annual meeting of the Ökonomenisches Netzwerk Klimagerechtigkeit, Aachen, 24 April 2023.

• Wie schreibt sich eine Einführung zur sozial-ökologischen Transformation? Invited lecture at the Geschichtskontor, University of Zurich, 18 April 2023.

• From downscaling to global justice: On the need of linking climate reparations and degrowth. Invited lecture, Nyt Europa, Copenhagen, 12 April 2023.

• Capitalism: Concept, theories, alternatives. Invited lecture for Oxfam, 4 April 2023.

• Welche Mentalitäten sind mit der zunehmenden Nutzung von Beton als fossilem Rohstoff verbunden? Einblicke aus einer historischen Fallstudie. Lecture at the sociological colloqium, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 9 February 2023.

• Mentalities in the bioeconomy as a social-ecological transformation: Historical and sociological perspectives. Paper presentation at the international conference Bioeconomy Policies, Actors, and Transformations: Achievements, Challenges, and Recommendations, Humboldt University Berlin, 22-23 February 2023 (with Martin Fritz).

2022

• Das Betonzeitalter: Zum Aufstieg des am meisten genutzten menschengemachten Materials. Invited lecture at the research colloqium Geschichtswissenschaft in der Diskussion, University of Innsbruck, 12 December 2022.

• The Future is Degrowth: Building blocs for systemic economic transformation. Invited lecture at the conference of IÖW and VÖW Ausgewachsen – Wirtschaften als gäbe es ein Morgen, 23 November 2022.

• From downscaling to global justice: On the need of linking climate reparations and degrowth. Invited lecture at the international conference The quest for economic and Monetary Sovereignty in 21st Century Africa: Facing the socio-ecological crisis: Delinking and the question of Global Reparations, 25-28 October at the Museum of Black Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal.

• Suffizienz – Konzept, Politiken, Grenzen. Invited input at expert meeting of the German Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen (SRU), Berlin, 30 September 2023.

• Planetary Emergency: Wachstum, Wachstumskritik, Alternativen. Invited lecture at the Conference of Akademie für Politische Bildung, Tutzing, 17 September 2023.

• Das Zeitalter des Betons: Eine Geschichte des meistgenutzten menschengemachten Materials. Invited lecture, organized by the Norbert Elias Center, University of Flensburg, 13 September 2022.

• Überlegungen zu den psychologischen Herausforderungen einer reduktiven Moderne. Keynote lecture at annual meeting of Psychologists4Future, 3 September 2023.

• Grenzen des Wachstums ‚nach dem Boom‘: Wirtschaftswachstum, Wachstumskritik und (Post-)Wachstumsgesellschaft seit den 1970er Jahren. Organisation of panel and comment at Schweizer Geschichtstage, Geneve, 1 July 2022.

• The Future is Degrowth. From the hegemony of growth towards a political economy of just futures within limits. Invited lecture at the International Summer School of Political Ecology, University of Ljubljana, 28 June 2022.

• Transforming the world through concrete: The rise of fossil materials and fossil mentalities. Lecture at the workshop Mental Infrastructures of Modern Fossil and Bio-based Societies, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 19 May 2022.

• Confronting the Obstacles to Climate Security. Panel at Red May Seattle with Kate Aronoff and David Schwartzman, 18 May 2022.

• Vom Luddismus zu den ‘Limits to Growth’: Zu einer Geschichte der Wachstumskritik. Invited lecture at the University of Bern, 23 May 2023.

• The Cement Age. Zu einer Geschichte des meistgenutzten menschengemachten Materials. Lecture at BTU Cottbus, 16 May 2022.

• Zementierte Zukünfte aufbrechen. Invited lecture at the Greenwashing Concrete an der University of Applied Art Vienna, 2 April 2022.

• How do we win when the world is on fire? Input at panel at Aktionsklimakonferenz AKKON 2022, 27 February 2022.

• Wirtschaften zwischen Green Growth und Degrowth. Invited lecture at Akademie Nordkirche, Hamburg, 2 February 2022.

• Postwachstumsgesellschaften im Anthropozän. Lecture at the Hochschule Wirtschaft und Recht (HWR) Berlin, 18 January 2022.

• Entfaltung des fossilen Kapitalismus in Europa. Invited lecture at the Schaubühne Berlin in the context of the festival ReEdoCation, 8 January 2022.

2021

• The making of the growth paradigm – and its future after Covid-19. Invited lecture at the conference How Future-Fit is our Economics Growth Model? University of Bozen-Bozano, 4 December 2021.

• Wirtschaft der Zukunft: Green Growth, Wachstumskritik und Degrowth in Zeiten der Klimakrise. Lecture at the Sustainability Week of the University of Rheinland-Pfalz, 4 December 2021.

• Utopie des Sozialismus. Comment on the book Klaus Dörre at colloquium Die nächste Gesellschaft – Soziologische Analysen und Prognosen, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 2 December 2021.

• Cementing capitalist modernity. Zu einer Geschichte des meistgenutzten menschengemachten Materials. Lecture in the sociological colloquium, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 11 November 2021.

• Do we have to stop growth to save the planet? Panel discussion with Frank van der Lerven and Dalia Gebrial, Goethe Institute London, 4 November 2021.

• Cementing capitalist modernity. Concrete as the dominant material within the metabolism of modern society – causes and consequences. Invited lecture at Manchester University, 26 October 2021.

• Ist Klimagerechtigkeit wählbar? Eine Wahlprogramm Analyse. Input at Konferenz der Visionen - Gerechtigkeit jetzt!, Heimathafen Neukölln, Berlin, 26 October 2021.

• Degrowth – Origins of the concept, theoretical background, objectives. Keynote at workshop Between Green Economy and Post-Growth: The role of economic growth in transformation towards a sustainable society, GIZ – Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, 6 September 2021.

• Die Postwachstumsdiskussion: Einführung und Überblick. Invited lecture in series Rechstphilosophie und ökologische Nachhaltigkeit at the legal faculty of the University of Leipzig, 15 June 2021.

• Degrowth – Economic Principles and Sustainability. Invited lecture at Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, 10 May 2021.

• Nicht mehr – Nicht weniger – Anders. Warum brauchen wir eine Postwachstumsgesellschaft? Invited lecture in series Wirtschaft im Umbruch. Plurale Perspektiven at the University Erfurt, 19 May 2021.

• Political challenges around implementing climate change policy. Panel discussion at the Climate & Economics Workshop of the Institut für Sozioökonomie, Universität Duisburg Essen, 22 April 2021.

• From Luddites to Malthus: Towards a history of growth critiques. Paper presentation at the Environmental History Week der American Society for Environmental History, 21 April 2021.

• Pathways to a just future: Degrowth and other alternatives. Input at panel with Carola Rackete, Tonny Nowshin and Ashish Kothari, Just Recovery Gathering, 350.org, 10 April 2021.

• The Critique of Growth in Historical Context. Paper presentation at the international workshop The Ecology of Economic Thought, Weatherhead Center, Harvard University, 3 February 2021.

2020

• Wachstum über alles? Zur Geschichte des Wachstumsparadigmas, Invited lecture at the Technical University of Berlin, 30 November 2020.

• So kann es nicht weitergehen. Wie könnte die Wirtschaft der Zukunft aussehen? Input at panel at Public Climate School, 27 November 2020.

• The Great Degrowth Debate: New Roots and Routes for a better post-2020 world. Panel discussion with Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa, Nina Treu and Vincent Liegey, 16 November 2020.

• On the possible alliance between degrowth and ecological economics. Panel with Julia Steinberger, Bina Agarwal, Emanuele Campiglio, Ekaterina Chertkovskaya and Ksenija Hanacek, at Economy and livelihoods after Covid-19, a global on-line symposium of the international degrowth network and the International Society for Ecological Economics, 1 September 2020.

• Anders Wirtschaften! Das Netzwerk Ökonomischer Wandel. Panel discussion at the conference Zukunft für alle, Leipzig, 27 August 2020.

• Inclusive Organizing in the Anthropocene: From Sustainability to Circularity to Degrowth. Invited lecture at the 36th EGOS Colloquium (European Group for Organizational Studies), Hamburg, 3 July 2020.

• Wirtschaft ohne Wachstum, geht das? Diskussion zu Degrowth und Postwachstum. Lecture and discussion at the festival re:publica, Berlin, 23 September 2020.

• Anders Wirtschaften Jetzt. Panel organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Netzwerk Ökonomische Wandel, 11 June 2020.

• Degrowth in Movement(s). Panel discussion at the conference SCORAI – Sustainable Consumption and Social Justice in an Urbanizing World, Boston University, 10 June 2020.

• The making of a transformative book. Input at book launch on Degrowth in Movement(s): Exploring pathways for transformation, at the conference Degrowth Vienna 2020 – Strategies for Social-Ecological Transformation, University of Vienna, 29 May 2020.

• Advancing a Degrowth Agenda in the Corona Crisis. Panel at the conference Degrowth Vienna 2020 – Strategies for Social-Ecological Transformation, University of Vienna, 30 May 2020.

• Degrowth – Visionen für eine bessere Welt. Lecture at Allerweltshaus Köln, 28 May 2020.

2019

• Postfossile Wirtschaft und Wachstum. Lecture at the University of Applied Arts Berlin, 4 December 2019.

• Introduction to degrowth/postgrowth thinking from a South-North perspective. Invited lecture at the Symposio International: Pensamiento Ambietal y Alternativas al Desarollo, Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Sede Bogotá, 22 November 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book discussion, University of Zürich, with Marcel Hänggi, 3 October 2019.

• Kritische Männlichkeit und Degrowth. Paper presentation at the Great Transformation: Die Zukunft moderner Gesellschaften, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 27 September 2019.

• Mehr Utopie wagen: Zukunftsvisionen einer Postwachstumsgesellschaft. Paper presentation at the Great Transformation: Die Zukunft moderner Gesellschaften, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 26 September 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book discussion, University of Jena, with Stephan Lessenich and Barbara Muraca, 25 September 2019.

• Postfossile Wirtschaft – postfossile Gesellschaft? Konturen des Sozialen nach Kohle und Öl. Panel at the Great Transformation: Die Zukunft moderner Gesellschaften, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 25 September 2019.

• Degrowth for Future? Wachstumskritik in Zeiten von Klimanotstand und Fridays for Future. Panel discussion at Café Décroissance with Gregor Hagedorn and Emma Fuchs at Prinzessinnengärten, 19 September 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book discussion, University of Flensburg, with Jule Govrin and Thore Prien, 12 September 2019.

• Imperiale Lebensweise und Degrowth. Workshop with Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Heidelberg (with Markus Wissen), 29 August 2019.

• Frequent Flyer Levy. Presentation at the Degrowth of Aviation conference in Barcelona, 13 July 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book discussion, University of Bayreuth, with David Stadelmann, Berlin, 19 June 2019.

• Ökologie als soziale Frage? Lebensweisen, Klimagerechtigkeit und Fridays for Future, input at conference Die Politik der Vielen, Berlin, Institut Solidarische Moderne, 15 June 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book discussion, Plural Economics Jena, with Elisabeth von Thadden and David J. Petersen, Berlin, 12 June 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book discussion, University of Leipzig, with Felix Ekardt and Nina Treu, Berlin, 27 May 2019.

• Degrowth/Postwachstum zur Einführung. Book launch, Humboldt-University Berlin, with Olga A. Statnaia, and Lisa Weinhold, Berlin, 23 May 2019.

• Degrowth und Fluchtlinien einer Postwachstumstadt. Keynote at the conference Postwachstumsstadt, Bauhaus-University Weimar, 10 May 2019.

• How to Sustain Social Justice in the Current Context of Limited Growth? Panel at the European Business Summit (EBS) in Brussels, 6 May 2019.

2011-2018 (SELECTION)

• 2018. The Hegemony of Growth. Invited lecture for the Humanities and Social Sciences Association, University of California in Berkeley.

• 2018. Degrowth and the Global South. Invited lecture at Brandeis University, Waltham.

• 2018. Postwachstum und Post-Kapitalismus? Über die Systemfrage. Keynote at the Vereinigung Ökologische Ökonomik (VÖÖ) Vielfalt der Postwachstumsperspektiven in Stuttgart.

• 2018. Opening keynote to introduce degrowth a the Degrowth Summer School (with Tonny Nowshin), Leipzig.

• 2017. Author meets Critics: Debate on The Hegemony of Growth. Lecture and discussion at the University of Copenhagen, CEMES (with Karen Gram-Skjoldager and Carl-Johan Dalgaard).

• 2017. Roundtable on The Hegemony of Growth. Panel at the 29th Annual EAEPE Conference, Corvinus University Budapest (with Matthieu Hughes, Gareth Dale, Jessica Lawrence and Richard Lane).

• 2016. Book presentation on The Hegemony of Growth, MaxPo Center at SciencesPo, Paris.

• 2016. Social-ecological transformation, climate justice and degrowth. Keynote at the 5th International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity, Corvinus University Budapest.

• 2016. Zwischen Kapitalismusreform und Postwachstumsökonomie – Wie kann ein zukunftsfähiges Wirtschaftssystem aussehen? Panel with Ulrike Hermann at Lettrétage Berlin.

• 2016. Book presentation on The Hegemony of Growth at the headquarter of the OECD in Paris, with exhibition and roundtable discussion.

• 2016. Keynote at the International Conference on Basic Income and Degrowth, Hamburg.

• 2016. Panel discussion at the Sustainability Week of the Universities of Zurich (with Rudolf Minsch, Lucas Bretschger, and Irmi Seidl).

• 2016. Panel discussion at the Heinrich Böll Foundation Sachsen, Kleines Schauspielhaus Dresden (with Angelika Zahrnt, Marco Lehmann-Waffenschmidt, and MdB Dieter Janecek).

• 2016. Taming democracy and liberalizing capital. The contested origins of neoliberal monetary politics and its influence. Paper presentation at the conference More Roads from Mont Pèlerin – Neoliberalism Studies, Wissenschaftszentrum (WZB) Berlin.

• 2016. The history of the OECD as Warden of the West. Paper presentation at the international conference Europe and International Organisations, 1918-1970s, University of Copenhagen.

• 2015. ‘Born in the corridors of the OECD’: The forgotten origins of the Club of Rome and the unraveling of the postwar confidence in economic growth. Paper presentation at the World Economic History Conference (WEHC) in Kyoto, Japan.

• 2015. Das Wachstumsparadigma: Geschichte und Hegemonie einer wirtschaftspolitischen Idee. Lecture in lecture series on Post-Growth Economies, University Oldenburg.

• 2015. ‘Born in the corridors of the OECD’: The forgotten origins of the Club of Rome and the unraveling of the postwar confidence in economic growth. Paper presentation at the History of Recent Economics (HISRECO), University Cergy-Pontoise, Paris.

• 2015. Promoting and questioning growth: The OECD and the remaking of the economic growth paradigm in postwar history. Lecture at OECD Seminar New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC), OECD Paris.

• 2014. Die Selbstevidenz des Wachstumsparadigmas. Hegemonie, Wirtschaftsexperten und internationale Organisationen. Invited lecture at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.

• 2014. The hegemony of growth. The making and remaking of the economic growth paradigm and the OECD. Invited lecture at the Centre Alexandre Koyré in Paris.

• 2014. ‘How undergrowthed do you consider your economy?’ Die OECD, ökonomische Experten und wie die Erwartung exponentiellen Wirtschaftswachstums sich durchsetzte. Paper presentation at the German Historikertag in Göttingen.

• 2014. A ‘watchdog’ watching itself? The historical origins and functioning of the OECD’s Aid Review. Paper presentation at the Fourth European Congress on World and Global History (ENUIGH) an der École Normale Supérieure Paris (with Patricia Hongler).

• 2014. More than a rational number cruncher: the OECD, political interests and restricted spaces. Lecture at the University of Basel.

• 2014. Hegemonie des Wachstums. Die Durchsetzung des ökonomischen Wachstumsparadigmas und die OECD. Lecture at the colloqium of the Institute for Contemporary History, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, 23 April 2014.

• 2013. A pilot fish for global capitalism? The OECD and international economic governance after 1945. Presentation at the Forschungskolloqium Soziologie, University of Luzern, 1 October 2013 (with Matthieu Leimgruber).

• 2013. Institutionalizing the hegemony of donor countries: the OECD as a key actor in the emerging field of 'development' during the 1960s. Paper presentation at the Annual Meeting der Socio-Economic History Society, University of Tokyo, Japan, 2 June 2013.

• 2013. The ‘development of others’ and the hegemony of donors countries. The historical origins of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. Paper presentation at the 8th pan-European Conference on International Relations, Warsaw.

• 2012. A ‚temple of growth‘ in crisis? The production of economic and environmental policy norms within the OECD in the 1970s. Paper presentation at the 9th European Social Science History conference (ESSHC) an der Glasgow University.

• 2011. Limits to Growth and Basic Needs. The OECD, the debate on 'problems of modern society' and shifting visions of development in the early 1970s. Paper presentation at the international conference Shifting Visions of Development: International Organizations, Non-Governmental Actors, and the Rise of Global Governance, 1945-1990, Jacobs University Bremen, 29-30 September 2011.

• 2011. Linke Strategien zu Postwachstum. Final panel of the conference Beyond Growth?! with Hans-Jürgen Urban, Angelika Zahrnt, and Barbara Muraca, 22 May 2011.

• 2011. ‘A temple of growth for industrialized countries’ Die OECD und das Wachstumsparadigma, 1950er bis 1980er Jahre. Paper presentation at the Zeithistorisches Doktorandentreffen, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 18 February 2011.