Joe Herbert | Newcastle University (original) (raw)
Journal articles by Joe Herbert
Globalizations, 2022
In this paper, we identify localization(s) as an expanding set of spatial processes by which key ... more In this paper, we identify localization(s) as an expanding set of spatial processes by which key economic and social mobilities are shifting towards regional, municipal and neighbourhood scales in response to interconnected crises of globalization, ecology, economy, politics, and public health. Localizations are already underway, and are likely to proliferate as these various crises intensify. They are diverse in their politics and have implications for all scales of social organization. Localizations raise important questions around inequalities and injustices, new topologies of (dis)connected communities, ethical dilemmas of obdurate globalizations, contesting turns to nativism, and ensuring the just and democratic construction of open-locales. Observing this trend of localizations from within the UK lockdowns of the global coronavirus pandemic, we argue that more geographically embedded but socially and politically interconnected futures are both an implication of this paper and should constitute the format of an important emerging research agenda around localizations.
Area, 2021
In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of t... more In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of the socio‐ecological imagination, which I define as a variant of political‐geographical imagination(s) concerned with envisioning (and progressing) the transformation of relationships between human society and the rest of the planetary environment. In response to escalating ecological breakdown, and a recent surge in environmental movement mobilisation(s) led in many places by young people, this paper seeks to contribute to expanding understandings of the socio‐ecological imagination, drawing on interviews and participant observation with young environmental activists in the North East of England.
The paper performs two major tasks. First, through analysing the ways in which the environmentalists narrate their imaginaries of socio‐ecological transformation(s), it is argued that dominant oppositional tendencies within participant narratives result from a tension between antagonistic and imaginative forms of transformative politics. Second, the paper explores in more depth the main forces constraining the imagination of alternative socio‐ecological futures, proposing three major inter-connected barriers that emerge from the environmentalists' narratives: crisis lock‐in; colonisation of the social imaginary; and dualistic temporal imaginaries of transformation. In sum, I suggest that these barriers warn of an imaginative gap between our current social reality and just and sustainable futures, driven by structural and psychological pressures faced by activists in the current era of multi‐dimensional crisis. Bridging this gap can be aided by a greater engagement of geographers and environmental movements with a socio‐ecological imagination and a processual understanding of space–time.
Visions for Sustainability, 2020
In this letter to the editors of Visions for Sustainablity, we offer a degrowth perspective on th... more In this letter to the editors of Visions for Sustainablity, we offer a degrowth perspective on the coronavirus crisis, making three key arguements: the coronavirus crisis does not equate to degrowth; the coronavirus crisis provides further evidence that degrowth is needed; and the coronavirus crisis provides evidence that a degrowth transformation is possible
Book chapters by Joe Herbert
Degrowth & Strategy: How to bring about social-ecological transformation, 2022
From the book 'Degrowth & Strategy: How to bring about social-ecological transformation'. Our cha... more From the book 'Degrowth & Strategy: How to bring about social-ecological transformation'. Our chapter discusses who can be considered degrowth actors, and the predominant strategies these actors have utilised so far. Critically analysing these strategies and their shortcomings, we argue the need for greater structures within the degrowth networks in order to avoid perpetuating typical hierarchies, and better facilitate strategising and action for social-ecological transformation. We suggest these greater structures could take the form of a 'Degrowth International'.
Social Geographies: An Introduction, 2020
This chapter on Environmental Justice comes from the book 'Social Geographies: An Introduction' b... more This chapter on Environmental Justice comes from the book 'Social Geographies: An Introduction' by the Newcastle Social Geographies Collective. The book is designed to introduce undergraduate human geographers to key concepts in social geography.
I explain why environmental justice should be a concept of interest to social geographers, given its integration of environmental concerns with social justice, alongside key considerations of space, place and scale.
Online articles by Joe Herbert
degrowth.info, 2021
Degrowthers have recently seemed to find a lot of inspiration in Erik Olin Wright’s framework of ... more Degrowthers have recently seemed to find a lot of inspiration in Erik Olin Wright’s framework of political strategies for transformations beyond capitalism. In this blog post, we wish to highlight some crucial insufficiencies of Wright’s framework in relation to degrowth transformations, and propose some adaptations which can enhance its utility for further strategy discussions
degrowth.info, 2021
The idea of the ‘15-minute city’ has recently gained traction amongst policy-makers as an urban i... more The idea of the ‘15-minute city’ has recently gained traction amongst policy-makers as an urban innovation with the potential to address intersecting social and ecological challenges of the post-COVID world. But its lack of an embedded politics presents a danger as much as it does an opportunity.
degrowth.info, 2020
This piece closes a ten-part degrowth.info series on strategy, highlighting some of the key insig... more This piece closes a ten-part degrowth.info series on strategy, highlighting some of the key insights and charting the development of the strategy debate within degrowth. We offer some insights on how our own understanding of strategy and degrowth has changed over two years since we first urged the community to engage with this topic more. Finally, we consider the promising idea of a Degrowth International and offer some potential pathways forward for the degrowth movement.
Circular Conversations, 2020
This essay summarises some of the themes I explore in my PhD thesis on young environmental activi... more This essay summarises some of the themes I explore in my PhD thesis on young environmental activists and narratives of socio-ecological crisis and transformation.
It was an invited contribution to the 'Young Researchers' series on Circular Conversations.
Common Dreams, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that, when confronted with a major crisis, we must stop activities... more The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that, when confronted with a major crisis, we must stop activities that threaten well-being, regardless of the impact on growth.
degrowth.info, 2020
Hickel succeeds once more in making a clear yet robust case for degrowth, providing an accessible... more Hickel succeeds once more in making a clear yet robust case for degrowth, providing an accessible introductory text that the movement has long required.
degrowth.info, 2019
An introduction to the case for degrowth as a means to tackle climate breakdown
The Conversation, 2018
Brexit is a looming crisis, but the ensuing chaos is an opportunity to create a radical alternati... more Brexit is a looming crisis, but the ensuing chaos is an opportunity to create a radical alternative vision for the UK. Degrowth is the future we need.
degrowth.info, 2018
There seems to exist a gap in the degrowth discourse around the question of how to move towards a... more There seems to exist a gap in the degrowth discourse around the question of how to move towards a degrowth society. This brings to our attention an important concept – that of strategy. Having spent a number of years probing into the degrowth discourse and literature, we found it to be seemingly open to all strategies for pursuing radical transformation towards a socially and ecologically sustainable degrowth society. However, there is little debate on which strategy – or mix of strategies – might be more effective in different contexts (geographical, institutional, sectoral, cultural, etc.). Therefore, we argue that degrowth’s articulation of how the ends can be achieved by the means, can roughly be characterised by a ‘strategic indeterminance’.
Fiction writing by Joe Herbert
Envisioning the Future: A Story Contest, 2020
This short story placed second in a contest called Envisioning the Future run by the Narrative St... more This short story placed second in a contest called Envisioning the Future run by the Narrative Storytelling Initiative at Arizona State University. The contest asked for stories which present an "idea of what the future holds, given the environmental and societal changes underway". The winning stories were chosen by an interdisciplinary group of judges with expertise in climate science, sustainability, creative writing, and environmental literature.
In my story, the narrator speaks from a time when the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic is intersecting with the escalating ecological crisis and economic depression. The narrator reflects on the social, envronmental and climate injustices driven by these intersecting crises, and describes how a grassroots movement of people came together in response, inspired by ideas of degrowth and dual power.
Theses by Joe Herbert
PhD thesis, 2021
Environmental movements have evolved and expanded across recent years in response to escalating e... more Environmental movements have evolved and expanded across recent years in response to escalating
ecological crisis. Developments include an increasingly prominent role for young people, more
concerted efforts to integrate environmental and social struggles, and renewed critiques of global
capitalism and its growth imperative. Underexplored throughout extensive scholarship in this field is
how young environmental activists are (re)imagining socio-ecological crisis and transformation. This
thesis aims to develop a deeper understanding of how young environmental activists envisage crisis
and the types of futures they seek. The project draws on 30 semi-structured interviews and participant
observation with young environmental activists (aged 16-28) in North East England. I develop an open
case study approach in which data collected through local, low-impact empirical research is analysed
through a theoretical lens centred around the burgeoning transnational academic-activist discourse of
degrowth. The project evolved from a (pre)embedded position within this local activist milieu.
In contrast with earlier environmentalist discourse, the narrative analysis in this thesis reveals
how young activists pursue ecologically sustainable and socially just futures as an integrated ambition.
Such approaches reflect the ascendant influence of climate justice frames which foreground the
intersections of climate breakdown with existing social-geographical inequalities and oppressions.
Bound up with these framings, however, are risks: I caution against the neglect of dimensions of
ecological crisis beyond climate, as well as the underappreciation of complex interdependencies
between human and non-human wellbeing. I also uncover a predominant oppositional orientation
characterising both the forms of action young activists engage in and how they envisage
transformation(s). Tensions between antagonistic and imaginative politics are manifest in the way that
many activists appear to defer the development of alternative socio-ecological imaginaries until an
abstract future moment. For some this deferral is unconscious whilst, for others, it is expressed as a
deliberative prioritisation of an oppositional politics in the present. I argue, however, that this
‘imaginative deficit’ obstructs both the potential of alternative imaginaries to inspire mobilisation and
possibilities to prefigure desired macro-scale transformation(s). In response, I propose an integration
of revived radical socio-ecological imaginations with processual understandings of space-time which
empower efforts to begin constructing alternative futures in the here and now. I argue that by bringing
together analysis of multi-dimensional crisis, multi-scalar strands of transformative action, and a vital
utopian impulse, degrowth provides a powerful framework to aid this task.
Papers by Joe Herbert
Area, 2021
In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of t... more In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of the socio‐ecological imagination, which I define as a variant of political‐geographical imagination(s) concerned with envisioning (and progressing) the transformation of relationships between human society and the rest of the planetary environment. In response to escalating ecological breakdown, and a recent surge in environmental movement mobilisation(s) led in many places by young people, this paper seeks to contribute to expanding understandings of the socio‐ecological imagination, drawing on interviews and participant observation with young environmental activists in the North East of England. The paper performs two major tasks. First, through analysing the ways in which the environmentalists narrate their imaginaries of socio‐ecological transformation(s), it is argued that dominant oppositional tendencies within participant narratives result from a tension between antagonistic and imaginative forms of transformative politics. Second, the paper explores in more depth the main forces constraining the imagination of alternative socio‐ecological futures, proposing three major inter-connected barriers that emerge from the environmentalists' narratives: crisis lock‐in; colonisation of the social imaginary; and dualistic temporal imaginaries of transformation. In sum, I suggest that these barriers warn of an imaginative gap between our current social reality and just and sustainable futures, driven by structural and psychological pressures faced by activists in the current era of multi‐dimensional crisis. Bridging this gap can be aided by a greater engagement of geographers and environmental movements with a socio‐ecological imagination and a processual understanding of space–time.
1 Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development – Vienna University of Economics and Busine... more 1 Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development – Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020, Vienna, Austria. 2 Degrowth.info Editorial Team, Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, Klingenstraße 22, 04229 Leipzig, Germany 3 Independent Researcher, Italy 4 School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom. 5 International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 29776, 2502 LT The Hague, The Netherlands. 6 Institute for International Political Economy Berlin, Campus Schöneberg, Building B, Badensche Straße 5051, 10825 Berlin, Germany. 7 Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands. 8 Institut für Ökonomie, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Bahnhofstraße 5, Bernkastel-Kues 54470, Germany.
Globalizations, 2022
In this paper, we identify localization(s) as an expanding set of spatial processes by which key ... more In this paper, we identify localization(s) as an expanding set of spatial processes by which key economic and social mobilities are shifting towards regional, municipal and neighbourhood scales in response to interconnected crises of globalization, ecology, economy, politics, and public health. Localizations are already underway, and are likely to proliferate as these various crises intensify. They are diverse in their politics and have implications for all scales of social organization. Localizations raise important questions around inequalities and injustices, new topologies of (dis)connected communities, ethical dilemmas of obdurate globalizations, contesting turns to nativism, and ensuring the just and democratic construction of open-locales. Observing this trend of localizations from within the UK lockdowns of the global coronavirus pandemic, we argue that more geographically embedded but socially and politically interconnected futures are both an implication of this paper and should constitute the format of an important emerging research agenda around localizations.
Area, 2021
In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of t... more In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of the socio‐ecological imagination, which I define as a variant of political‐geographical imagination(s) concerned with envisioning (and progressing) the transformation of relationships between human society and the rest of the planetary environment. In response to escalating ecological breakdown, and a recent surge in environmental movement mobilisation(s) led in many places by young people, this paper seeks to contribute to expanding understandings of the socio‐ecological imagination, drawing on interviews and participant observation with young environmental activists in the North East of England.
The paper performs two major tasks. First, through analysing the ways in which the environmentalists narrate their imaginaries of socio‐ecological transformation(s), it is argued that dominant oppositional tendencies within participant narratives result from a tension between antagonistic and imaginative forms of transformative politics. Second, the paper explores in more depth the main forces constraining the imagination of alternative socio‐ecological futures, proposing three major inter-connected barriers that emerge from the environmentalists' narratives: crisis lock‐in; colonisation of the social imaginary; and dualistic temporal imaginaries of transformation. In sum, I suggest that these barriers warn of an imaginative gap between our current social reality and just and sustainable futures, driven by structural and psychological pressures faced by activists in the current era of multi‐dimensional crisis. Bridging this gap can be aided by a greater engagement of geographers and environmental movements with a socio‐ecological imagination and a processual understanding of space–time.
Visions for Sustainability, 2020
In this letter to the editors of Visions for Sustainablity, we offer a degrowth perspective on th... more In this letter to the editors of Visions for Sustainablity, we offer a degrowth perspective on the coronavirus crisis, making three key arguements: the coronavirus crisis does not equate to degrowth; the coronavirus crisis provides further evidence that degrowth is needed; and the coronavirus crisis provides evidence that a degrowth transformation is possible
Degrowth & Strategy: How to bring about social-ecological transformation, 2022
From the book 'Degrowth & Strategy: How to bring about social-ecological transformation'. Our cha... more From the book 'Degrowth & Strategy: How to bring about social-ecological transformation'. Our chapter discusses who can be considered degrowth actors, and the predominant strategies these actors have utilised so far. Critically analysing these strategies and their shortcomings, we argue the need for greater structures within the degrowth networks in order to avoid perpetuating typical hierarchies, and better facilitate strategising and action for social-ecological transformation. We suggest these greater structures could take the form of a 'Degrowth International'.
Social Geographies: An Introduction, 2020
This chapter on Environmental Justice comes from the book 'Social Geographies: An Introduction' b... more This chapter on Environmental Justice comes from the book 'Social Geographies: An Introduction' by the Newcastle Social Geographies Collective. The book is designed to introduce undergraduate human geographers to key concepts in social geography.
I explain why environmental justice should be a concept of interest to social geographers, given its integration of environmental concerns with social justice, alongside key considerations of space, place and scale.
degrowth.info, 2021
Degrowthers have recently seemed to find a lot of inspiration in Erik Olin Wright’s framework of ... more Degrowthers have recently seemed to find a lot of inspiration in Erik Olin Wright’s framework of political strategies for transformations beyond capitalism. In this blog post, we wish to highlight some crucial insufficiencies of Wright’s framework in relation to degrowth transformations, and propose some adaptations which can enhance its utility for further strategy discussions
degrowth.info, 2021
The idea of the ‘15-minute city’ has recently gained traction amongst policy-makers as an urban i... more The idea of the ‘15-minute city’ has recently gained traction amongst policy-makers as an urban innovation with the potential to address intersecting social and ecological challenges of the post-COVID world. But its lack of an embedded politics presents a danger as much as it does an opportunity.
degrowth.info, 2020
This piece closes a ten-part degrowth.info series on strategy, highlighting some of the key insig... more This piece closes a ten-part degrowth.info series on strategy, highlighting some of the key insights and charting the development of the strategy debate within degrowth. We offer some insights on how our own understanding of strategy and degrowth has changed over two years since we first urged the community to engage with this topic more. Finally, we consider the promising idea of a Degrowth International and offer some potential pathways forward for the degrowth movement.
Circular Conversations, 2020
This essay summarises some of the themes I explore in my PhD thesis on young environmental activi... more This essay summarises some of the themes I explore in my PhD thesis on young environmental activists and narratives of socio-ecological crisis and transformation.
It was an invited contribution to the 'Young Researchers' series on Circular Conversations.
Common Dreams, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that, when confronted with a major crisis, we must stop activities... more The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that, when confronted with a major crisis, we must stop activities that threaten well-being, regardless of the impact on growth.
degrowth.info, 2020
Hickel succeeds once more in making a clear yet robust case for degrowth, providing an accessible... more Hickel succeeds once more in making a clear yet robust case for degrowth, providing an accessible introductory text that the movement has long required.
degrowth.info, 2019
An introduction to the case for degrowth as a means to tackle climate breakdown
The Conversation, 2018
Brexit is a looming crisis, but the ensuing chaos is an opportunity to create a radical alternati... more Brexit is a looming crisis, but the ensuing chaos is an opportunity to create a radical alternative vision for the UK. Degrowth is the future we need.
degrowth.info, 2018
There seems to exist a gap in the degrowth discourse around the question of how to move towards a... more There seems to exist a gap in the degrowth discourse around the question of how to move towards a degrowth society. This brings to our attention an important concept – that of strategy. Having spent a number of years probing into the degrowth discourse and literature, we found it to be seemingly open to all strategies for pursuing radical transformation towards a socially and ecologically sustainable degrowth society. However, there is little debate on which strategy – or mix of strategies – might be more effective in different contexts (geographical, institutional, sectoral, cultural, etc.). Therefore, we argue that degrowth’s articulation of how the ends can be achieved by the means, can roughly be characterised by a ‘strategic indeterminance’.
Envisioning the Future: A Story Contest, 2020
This short story placed second in a contest called Envisioning the Future run by the Narrative St... more This short story placed second in a contest called Envisioning the Future run by the Narrative Storytelling Initiative at Arizona State University. The contest asked for stories which present an "idea of what the future holds, given the environmental and societal changes underway". The winning stories were chosen by an interdisciplinary group of judges with expertise in climate science, sustainability, creative writing, and environmental literature.
In my story, the narrator speaks from a time when the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic is intersecting with the escalating ecological crisis and economic depression. The narrator reflects on the social, envronmental and climate injustices driven by these intersecting crises, and describes how a grassroots movement of people came together in response, inspired by ideas of degrowth and dual power.
PhD thesis, 2021
Environmental movements have evolved and expanded across recent years in response to escalating e... more Environmental movements have evolved and expanded across recent years in response to escalating
ecological crisis. Developments include an increasingly prominent role for young people, more
concerted efforts to integrate environmental and social struggles, and renewed critiques of global
capitalism and its growth imperative. Underexplored throughout extensive scholarship in this field is
how young environmental activists are (re)imagining socio-ecological crisis and transformation. This
thesis aims to develop a deeper understanding of how young environmental activists envisage crisis
and the types of futures they seek. The project draws on 30 semi-structured interviews and participant
observation with young environmental activists (aged 16-28) in North East England. I develop an open
case study approach in which data collected through local, low-impact empirical research is analysed
through a theoretical lens centred around the burgeoning transnational academic-activist discourse of
degrowth. The project evolved from a (pre)embedded position within this local activist milieu.
In contrast with earlier environmentalist discourse, the narrative analysis in this thesis reveals
how young activists pursue ecologically sustainable and socially just futures as an integrated ambition.
Such approaches reflect the ascendant influence of climate justice frames which foreground the
intersections of climate breakdown with existing social-geographical inequalities and oppressions.
Bound up with these framings, however, are risks: I caution against the neglect of dimensions of
ecological crisis beyond climate, as well as the underappreciation of complex interdependencies
between human and non-human wellbeing. I also uncover a predominant oppositional orientation
characterising both the forms of action young activists engage in and how they envisage
transformation(s). Tensions between antagonistic and imaginative politics are manifest in the way that
many activists appear to defer the development of alternative socio-ecological imaginaries until an
abstract future moment. For some this deferral is unconscious whilst, for others, it is expressed as a
deliberative prioritisation of an oppositional politics in the present. I argue, however, that this
‘imaginative deficit’ obstructs both the potential of alternative imaginaries to inspire mobilisation and
possibilities to prefigure desired macro-scale transformation(s). In response, I propose an integration
of revived radical socio-ecological imaginations with processual understandings of space-time which
empower efforts to begin constructing alternative futures in the here and now. I argue that by bringing
together analysis of multi-dimensional crisis, multi-scalar strands of transformative action, and a vital
utopian impulse, degrowth provides a powerful framework to aid this task.
Area, 2021
In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of t... more In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of the socio‐ecological imagination, which I define as a variant of political‐geographical imagination(s) concerned with envisioning (and progressing) the transformation of relationships between human society and the rest of the planetary environment. In response to escalating ecological breakdown, and a recent surge in environmental movement mobilisation(s) led in many places by young people, this paper seeks to contribute to expanding understandings of the socio‐ecological imagination, drawing on interviews and participant observation with young environmental activists in the North East of England. The paper performs two major tasks. First, through analysing the ways in which the environmentalists narrate their imaginaries of socio‐ecological transformation(s), it is argued that dominant oppositional tendencies within participant narratives result from a tension between antagonistic and imaginative forms of transformative politics. Second, the paper explores in more depth the main forces constraining the imagination of alternative socio‐ecological futures, proposing three major inter-connected barriers that emerge from the environmentalists' narratives: crisis lock‐in; colonisation of the social imaginary; and dualistic temporal imaginaries of transformation. In sum, I suggest that these barriers warn of an imaginative gap between our current social reality and just and sustainable futures, driven by structural and psychological pressures faced by activists in the current era of multi‐dimensional crisis. Bridging this gap can be aided by a greater engagement of geographers and environmental movements with a socio‐ecological imagination and a processual understanding of space–time.
1 Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development – Vienna University of Economics and Busine... more 1 Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development – Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020, Vienna, Austria. 2 Degrowth.info Editorial Team, Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, Klingenstraße 22, 04229 Leipzig, Germany 3 Independent Researcher, Italy 4 School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom. 5 International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 29776, 2502 LT The Hague, The Netherlands. 6 Institute for International Political Economy Berlin, Campus Schöneberg, Building B, Badensche Straße 5051, 10825 Berlin, Germany. 7 Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands. 8 Institut für Ökonomie, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Bahnhofstraße 5, Bernkastel-Kues 54470, Germany.