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Digital Degrowth – Beyond Solutionism

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After Latour: Globalisation, Inequity and Climate Change (IFIPJWC 2023)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 696))

Abstract

This paper argues that environmental sustainability should become a primary goal in IS research. Often, we tend to propose digital technology as a solution that contributes to environmental sustainability. Less frequently we recognize that the energy and material resource flows associated with ICTs in themselves have environmental impacts. The tendency to consider digital technology a solution instead of a challenge is one-sided and tends to drive growth in digital technologies. This is reinforced by the “green growth” discourse which exhibits a continued and unrealistic reliance on economic growth. Alternative paradigms under the larger “postgrowth” umbrella articulates other priorities, including degrowth and sufficiency-oriented approaches. In this Research-in-Progress paper I review some approaches, such as computing within limits, collapse informatics, permacomputing and debates about judicious digital design and frugal innovations, as a starting point for articulating implications and possible directions for how the IS field could engage with a degrowth agenda.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Blindern, P.O.Box 1080, N-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Margunn Aanestad

  2. University of Agder, P.O.Box 422, N-4601, Kristiansand, Norway

    Margunn Aanestad

Authors
  1. Margunn Aanestad
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Correspondence to Margunn Aanestad .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Matthew R. Jones

  2. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Arunima S. Mukherjee

  3. University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Devinder Thapa

  4. University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Yingqin Zheng

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Aanestad, M. (2023). Digital Degrowth – Beyond Solutionism. In: Jones, M.R., Mukherjee, A.S., Thapa, D., Zheng, Y. (eds) After Latour: Globalisation, Inequity and Climate Change. IFIPJWC 2023. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 696. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50154-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50154-8_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-50153-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-50154-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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