Book Presentation & Discussion
Anitra Nelson: Are we behaving according to degrowth in the Czech Republic without even knowing it?

Anitra Nelson is one of the important representatives of degrowth, a global movement that originated in academic circles. Anitra will present her latest book, Routledge Handbook on Degrowth, and discuss with local authors of one of the book's chapters on ‘Accidental degrowth, Slavomíra Ferenčuhová, Eva Fraňková and Jan Malý Blažek. How is degrowth gaining ground in the world? Are we behaving according to degrowth in the Czech Republic without even knowing it?

"The Routledge Handbook on Degrowth takes stock of ‘degrowth’, a concept and movement, gaining increasing visibility in the 2020s. Contributors explain contexts for degrowth’s significance, elaborate its diverse history and detail its unique approaches, practices, challenges and potential futures."
„The chapter on Accidental Degrowth in Czechia challenges prevailing conceptualisations of degrowth, which portray it mainly as a result of deliberate political strategies. It argues that this perspective often overlooks practices that align with the degrowth movement in various ways, but which are undertaken outside of it, by actors who are unaware, who lack specific degrowth goals, and often result from trajectories which are not straightforward. Degrowth theory and the degrowth movement picture societal transition as a form of utopia, a form of societal organisation that does not exist (yet). Its materialisation, however, will necessarily be different from the picture painted by theory.“

ANITRA NELSON
Anitra Nelson works at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne,
Australia. She is the author or editor of books such as Housing for Degrowth: Principles, Models,
Challenges and Opportunities (Routledge), Small is necessary: Shared Living on a Shared Planet (Pluto
Press), and Exploring Degrowth: A critical guide (Pluto Press).

SLAVOMÍRA FERENČUHOVÁ
Slavomíra Ferenčuhová is a sociologist working at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of
Sciences. She has long been involved in the topic of (post)socialist cities and urban planning. She
leads the CESCAME research project, which focuses on exploring innovative approaches and
strategies in the everyday activities of city dwellers such as in securing food, housing or energy.

EVA FRAŇKOVÁ
Eva Fraňková is an ecological economist who has long been involved in the topic of economic
alternatives. She works at the Department of Environmental Studies at the Faculty of Social Studies
at Masaryk University and also at the organisation NaZemi, where she is involved in raising
awareness of degrowth in the Czech Republic.

JAN MALÝ BLAŽEK
Jan Malý Blažek is an interdisciplinary academic working at the Faculty of Architecture at Brno
University of Technology. He led a project on the development of participatory housing in the Czech
Republic. In his research, he also focuses on the concept of community economies.
The event is organised in cooperation with the House of Arts and the Faculty of Architecture at Brno
University of Technology.