@conference {2177,
	title = {How should degrowth address the issue of {\textquotedblleft}planetary boundaries{\textquotedblright}?},
	booktitle = {Fourth International Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity},
	year = {2014},
	address = {Leipzig},
	abstract = {<p>Planetary boundaries can be understood generically as a notion describing our recognition of the Earth{\textquoteright}s biophysical limits e.g. in ecological economics and the limits to growth literature. However, it has recently become heavily associated with an article by Rockstr{\"o}m et al. that appeared in Nature in 2009. This is probably the first time that the notion has been used as an exclusively {\textquoteleft}scientific concept{\textquoteright}. That is, the concept has been presented with operational definitions and quantified thresholds for nine essential Earth-system processes. This paper aims to deconstruct the understanding being attributed to biophysical limits by such an approach and to question how a degrowth perspective might do better. A key part of the concern here is the divergence between a conceptualisation of limits (i.e., planetary boundaries) in terms of human instrumentalism from one recognising Nature{\textquoteright}s intrinsic value. The latter is argued to be more akin to a degrowth perspective. Can these perspectives be reconciled? Keywords: planetary boundaries, intrinsic value, democratic decision-making, objective knowledge, critical realism</p>},
	author = {Tone Smith-Spash}
}
