Toward a Post-Growth Industrial Policy for Europe: Navigating Emerging Tensions and Long-Term Goals; April 24 2025 – 15h00-16h30

Amid mounting geopolitical, socio-economic, and ecological crises, industrial policy has returned to the forefront of policy debates. However, the EU’s industrial policy framework—centred on Single Market Resilience, Strategic Autonomy, and Competitive Sustainability—contains self-undermining contradictions. While aiming for resilience, it fails to strengthen foundational non-market institutions; in seeking strategic autonomy, it exacerbates resource dependencies and eco-imperialist tensions; and in promoting competitive sustainability, it remains reliant on profit-driven private sector strategies that delay necessary transitions. This talk critically examines these contradictions using immanent critique and conjunctural analysis, proposing an alternative post-growth framework based on Foundational Liveability, Peaceful Planetary Co-Existence, and Democratically Coordinated Sustainability. To bridge the gap between current constraints and transformative change, we outline contested but feasible next best transition steps within the current politico-economic order. By integrating post-growth insights into industrial policy, this article offers a roadmap for aligning economic activity with planetary boundaries and social well-being.

Richard Bärnthaler is an Assistant Professor in Social-Ecological Economics at the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds, where he co-leads the Economics and Policy for Sustainability (ECONOPOL) research group. He has served as a board member of the European Society for Ecological Economics, a lead author for the Austrian Panel on Climate Change (APCC), and an Associate Editor for Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy.

Any additional questions about the Vision Speaker Series, please email Catarina Neves at a.c.moiteirodasneves@uu.nl.