Futures Forum – 7th May 2025 – with Ruth Irwin
In this FF, Ruth Irwin spoke about how Economic growth has been understood as progressive. With each year, working-class families can save more and eventually buy a fridge, a car, and a house. But young people today no longer have such expectations. Seventy-five years of economic growth have increased prices beyond their earning capacity.
At the same time, economic growth is 95% correlated with emissions growth. So what can we do about it? This talk is based on the new book Economic Futures; Climate Change and Modernity. It examines the drivers of growth and how to safely take the puff out of the system.
Ruth Irwin
Ruth writes on climate change, sustainability, philosophy, economics, and education. She has written five books and over sixty research articles. She is currently running a large Project called “Beyond the Metacrisis” with Professor Sandra Wooltorton for the Australian Journal of Environmental Education. She was the Dean of Education at the University of Aberdeen and Head of Education at the University of Fiji. Her new book is “Economic Futures, Climate Change and Modernity” (Routledge).
Watch the recording here: