Economics for Rebels

It is blatantly clear that if we ever want a good life for all within planetary boundaries, we need to tackle the question of distribution and redistribution. On the one hand, we must make sure that all can live in sufficiency and dignity and on the other that those who have an enormously unequal share of the resources are forced to make do with less. In today’s episode with Marlies Glasius, we look at the possibilities to tax the superrich in a world where they seem to have most of the political as well as the economic power. Hosted by Alexandra Köves. Edited by Aidan Knox.

Ecological economics teaches that the human economy is a subset of the biosphere, and that every single transaction occurring in the human economy implies some kind of physical work, an energy transformation or the use and transformation of resources. Thinking about the world in this way has radical implications for lifestyles, policy, practice, and the future of society. Our main discipline for tracking the flows of energy and matter through the economy is industrial ecology. In this episode we’re lucky to have leading industrial ecologist Prof Paul Behrens onto the show to give us a brilliant overview of industrial ecology. Hosted by Sophus zu Ermgassen. Edited by Aidan Knox.

A lot of ecological economists believe that one of the fundamental drivers of nature destruction is the historical creation of the human-nature dichotomy, and we often draw inspiration from cultures who don’t view people as distinct from nature. But what lessons can we draw in countries in the global North where that human-nature dichotomy is taken to its extreme, where the overwhelming policy pressure is towards the commodification of nature? We’ll dive into some of these discussions today with Prof Julia Martin-Ortega and Dr Josh Cohen, focusing on humanity’s relationship with rivers. Hosted by Sophus zu Ermgassen. Edited by Aidan Knox.

What if we accepted that human prosperity was about health rather than wealth? What if instead of growth, the economy would concern itself with care? In his new book Tim Jackson argues that our careless economy is jeopardising our physicaland mental health as well as the natural environment and the wellbeing of other species. The organising principle of the economy should therefore be centred on care. But what is care? And how can our growth-fetishist patriarchal societiesshift towards embracing a holistic understanding of care?

To achieve global biodiversity and climate policy goalswe have to restore nature at a massive scale. There’s a huge debate in ecological economics about what the correct policy approach is, and in a way different approaches represent very different visions of the future; some believe these should be driven by governments, others see a major role for private finance and corporations, others in empowering civil society and local communities and more decentralised approaches to nature recovery. We’ll diveinto some of these discussions today with Dr Tim Lamont, discussing the role of large businesses in biosphere stewardship. Hosted by Sophus zu Ermgassen. Edited by Aidan Knox.

Achieving planetary sustainability cannot be achieved using the same practices and reasoning that has induced the problems in the first place. Diverse indigenous and local knowledge has proven to be much better steward to localecological systems than the globalised culture that drives current mainstream economic and political decisions and is currently at the forefront of protection struggles. Our guest today, Victoria Reyes-Garcia explains why this is the case, how this knowledge differs and what can be done to promote its inclusion into collective decision-making processes. Hosted by Alexandra Köves. Edited by Aidan Knox.

Ecological economics is about understanding the entanglement of economic, political, social, and ecological systems and about finding ways to reduce the economy’s overwhelmingly aggressive power and dominance above allothers even if it is a supposed to be just a subsystem of them. While on an unreflective level we know that geopolitics is governed by economic interests, all too often we try and understand wars and power games only in terms of political or social processes. As an example, the monstrous war in Gaza has been predominantly explained by settler colonisation or Israeli lobbying power but has rarely been discussed from the wider perspective of how our dependence on oil fuels such atrocities. Our guest today, Adam Hanieh explains how the fossil fuel industry influences our geopolitical realities. Hosted by Alexandra Köves. Edited by Aidan Knox.

Ecological economists face true hardships when coming up against the long-lived myth of how markets can solve everything: from personal and collective wellbeing to ecological sustainability. But – of course - only if we leave them alone to work their magic. But how has this myth been created and why does it hold so strong despite all evidence underpinning its effectiveness? Our guest today, historian Naomi Oreskes will explain us in this episode. Hosted by Alexandra Köves. Edited by Aidan Knox.

Agriculture is a major driver of planetary boundaries being transgressed or facing severe pressure, including climate change, biosphere integrity, land-use change and freshwater use. Furthermore, it is rife with injustices, including exploitative labor practices, prioritizing profits over food security, and perpetuating land-inequality and land-grabbing. A socio-ecological transformation of agriculture is hence imperative. Movement building is necessary to achieve this, working together with and learning from people on the ground and in the field. To learn aboutthis, we have the pleasure to be joined by Julia and Jana from the young peasants association (junge AbL), a German association for young farmers, gardeners, students and apprentices who organize together to achieve a shift inagricultural policies and to promote peasant farming. Hosted by Matilda Gettins. Edited by Aidan Knox.

Ecological economics is the study of economics where remaining within the constraints of the biosphere is central to the analytical frameworks. Many of our disagreements with neoclassical economics stem from differences in the way we interpret and model our interactions with the environment. Ecological economics views us as part of the biosphere, with some branches of ecological economics really pushing back on instrumental and anthropocentric conceptions of nature and emphasising the deep connections and evolutionary history of humans' relationship with nature. So in this episode we’ll be unpacking the science of how people’s relationship with nature affects their wellbeing with Jessica C. Fisher. Hosted by Sophus zu Ermgassen. Edited by Aidan Knox.