JOBNAME: Bryant PAGE: 1 SESS: 4 OUTPUT: Tue Jun 23 09:19:34 2015 41. From ecological modernization to socially sustainable economic degrowth: lessons from ecological economics Hali Healy, Joan Martinez-Alier and Giorgos Kallis Recent years have seen the emergence of an important debate over the ongoing relevance of political ecology as an area of academic enquiry. This state of affairs is undoubtedly related to the multidisciplinary origins of the field, and the intellectual push and pull of its component parts. Some opinions in the debate, for instance, emphasize the importance of preserving the field’s early biophysical roots. Here there are fears that a political ecology ‘without ecology’ risks forsaking a rich methodo- logical history and spawning a crisis of intellectual credibility (Walker, 2005). Others have urged that the future of the field lies in understanding how shifting political- economic configurations in today’s world contribute to ecological as well as political, economic and cultural transformations (Neumann, 2005). Still others, seeking to maintain the more radical edge of the field, have expressed a desire for the emergence of a political ecology capable of not merely understanding, but of influencing and helping to organize, a transition to a more just and sustainable society (Castree et al., 2010; Leff, 2012). In line with the latter position, this chapter introduces the emergent sub-field of ‘degrowth’ in ecological economics. The authors highlight the interconnected ways in which degrowth theory and practice challenge dominant modernization thinking and policies, and aim to develop concrete political alternatives for the construction of a ‘post-capitalist’ society. In the face of persistent critiques about the limited impact political ecology has had outside the confines of academia (Walker, 2006; Swyngedouw, 2008), we argue political ecology can learn valuable lessons from a ‘political’ branch of ecological economics engaged with grassroots movements and radical economic policy as part of the degrowth debate. Such insights are in our view crucial if, as Castree et al. (2010: 3) argue, ‘We are in this game to change things, directly or otherwise.’ This chapter describes the shared lineage and common purpose of the fields of political ecology and ecological economics, and highlights some of the ways in which cross-fertilization has occurred. It then presents a line of ecological-economics research that employs a particular political-ecological-economic vocabulary and analytic frame- work to analyse environmental conflicts and injustices, both of which are central subjects of political ecology. Emergent work by political-ecological economists around the eco-egalitarian imaginary of ‘degrowth’ is subsequently introduced and briefly described. We argue that this field offers valuable insights to political ecologists seeking to supplant the depoliticizing discourse of ecological modernization. We conclude, moreover, that a deepening of exchange and collaboration between political 577 Columns Design XML Ltd / Job: Bryant-International_handbook_political_ecology / Division: 41-chapter41HealyetalFINALts /Pg. Position: 1 / Date: 19/6