Marketing (for) a post-growth future

Abstract

Starting with the principles of degrowth, this commentary examines the scale and modes of action through which degrowth, defined as the planned reduction of production and consumption, may unfold. It considers four levels—the state, market, communities, and individuals—through which degrowth has been analyzed. While the individual level places responsibility on the consumer, thus emptying environmental issues of political significance, the first three levels outline numerous systemic proposals for a degrowth agenda. However, the role marketing can play depends on its ability to align not just the narrow interests of companies, capital owners, and consumers’ short-sighted desires, but also those of humans and the natural world without which the former cannot survive.