Degrowth in The Hague: Prof. Jason Hickel to Address Dutch Parliament

On Wednesday the 8th of March at 11 AM CET, Professor Jason Hickel, one of the leading figures in the emerging degrowth movement and author of Less is More, Why Degrowth Will Save the World, will address the Dutch parliament during a special hearing. The hearing is organized by the parliament itself, at the initiative of various MP’s from different parties, spearheaded by the Greens.

This will be the first time ever that a degrowth thinker is allowed to speak on the national political stage, and the first time that the debate in the Dutch parliament will be about degrowth. It is an historic moment not just for the global degrowth movement, but also for parliamentary history and economic thinking in The Netherlands.

During the hearing, Dutch MP’s will also hear from prof. Barbara Baarsma, author of Green Growth, The (Non)sense of Economic Growth.

The hearing in the Dutch parliament was arranged by Commons Network in collaboration with GroenLinks, as part of our new initiative to set up a special working group for members of parliament and the senate about degrowth. We will of course be there to cover the hearing live from the parliament. You can attend the debate in the House of Representatives by registering here or watch the livestream on the website of the House of Representives (link will follow soon).

For questions about this new initiative or about Professor Hickel’s visit to The Hague, please send an email to winne [@] commonsnetwork.org.

To find out more about degrowth, check out this book we published last year, this podcast in which we were interviewed about the book, or this series of blogs.

Note: Jason Hickels visit to the Dutch parliament was originally scheduled in October 2022 but was postponed due to his infection with the Coronavirus.

Professor Jason Hickel