Special issue on new economic theory and practice invites contributions

Yorkshire-based Dr Anne Velenturf (Leeds University) and Dr Simon Mair (Bradford University) have teamed up with Prof Dalia D'Amato from the University of Helsinki and Dr Patrick Schroeder from Chatham House to lead a special issue on novel economic theory and practice for a sustainable circular economy.

The special issue in the circular economy section of Frontiers in Sustainability builds on earlier research that has shown that circular economy has a tremendous potential to contribute to sustainable development, but that the current manner in which the concept is being implemented is unlikely to make the most of the opportunities to improve environment and equal opportunities while maintaining economic prosperity.

Circular economy has gained momentum within government and industry circles because it fits neatly into the prevailing neoliberal economic narrative. Framed this way, circular economy claims to offer a way to decouple environmental impacts from economic growth: to get more profits from less environmental impact. However, there is little evidence that decoupling can happen at a sufficient scale and sufficient speed to address current environmental crises. Some argue this decoupling may never happen.

Average material consumption per person must be drastically reduced to bring resource use within sustainable environmental limits and provide development space for low income countries with a low material footprint. This requires far reaching changes to political-economic models that cannot continue to rely on continued growth of the material and monetary economy.

The special issue aims to investigate how alternative economic theories for a sustainable circular economy can be developed and implemented. How does circular economy fit into alternative economic systems? What can circular economy bring to alternative economics research? How can circular economy researchers and practitioners co-produce new theories and democratically engage those in power as well as citizens to put theory into practice?

Contributions from within and outside the circular economy community are welcome. Abstracts can be submitted until 15 October 2021, and full papers until 25 February 2022. A budget to support the publication charges is available for a number of publications for those without access to sufficient funding. Find out more about the call for papers on the Frontiers webpage for Rethinking Economic Theory and Practice for a Sustainable Circular Economy.