Self-transformation towards degrowth : a critical-realist reflection on the necessary transformations in our inner being

Abstract

Degrowth might be one solution to the ongoing climate and social crisis. In order to bring this theory into practice, deep and structural changes in our way of living are necessary. The present research uses ‘the four planes of social being’ model, developed by philosopher Roy Bhaskar, to look into the different levels on which human acts take place and the transformations that are therefore necessary on all these levels simultaneously in order to bring degrowth into practice. Within this paper most attention will be paid to the necessary changes on the level of ‘inner being’, since this level has received (too) little attention within degrowth literature so far. The changes that would need to happen on this level will be divided into three pathways which will each be elaborated upon. Finally, a case study on the way these different changes seem to have taken place in the inner being of people living in ecovillages will function as an illustration of what these changes could look like in practice.

— Abstract, taken from the master dissertation.