The limits to degrowth: Exploring a critical rationalist perspective

The term "limits to growth" refers to the limits of the ecosystem's ability to absorb waste and replenish raw materials to sustain the economy. The concept implies that, left unchecked, resource depletion will lead to a collapse in the human population. The notion of a limit to growth has been a cornerstone of futures studies thinking on sustainability since the early 1970s. Despite the vast utility of degrowth thinking, this presentation explores the counterintuitive notion, based on a critical rationalist perspective, that the “limits to growth” approach to sustainability may inadvertently limit the growth of knowledge about sustainability problems and, thus, our collective ability to solve problems sustainably. This thought experiment is explored based on insights from Karl Popper’s notion of an “open society” as applied to contemporary thinking about degrowth as a viable strategy for human sustainability on a global scale. Somewhat ironically, thinking about problems in the limits of growth intellectual space, which is fertile ground for degrowth solutions, unintentionally limits the range of future problems under consideration and also raises questions about the utility of developing solutions not based on the principles of degrowth.