Is Overpopulation a Growth? The Pathology of Permanent Expansion

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira, Patricia
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/36336; https://doi.org/10.3366/olr.2016.0180

Both economic and population growth are commonly understood as an indefinite, quantitative increase that is both necessary and desirable for human well-being. In contrast, proponents of a steady state economy and of the de-growth movement have advocated for an end to the dominant ideology of growth as a way to tackle environmental problems, but have eschewed a deeper questioning of the meaning of growing. In the final section of the article, I put forth an alternative, qualitative notion of human growth that embraces both our unfolding as a species and a conscious acceptance of our finitude and limits.