Radical Abundance: A Political Agenda for Cities

In their new book, Radical Abundance: how to win a green democratic future, Kai Heron, Keir Milburn and Bertie Russell argue that capitalism has created a world of bullshit abundance, where we have too much of what we don’t need and too little of what we do. Through this system’s pursuit of profits, we have been put on a collision course with social and ecological limits that can no longer be ignored. We need an alternative. We need radical abundance: a world of human and non-human flourishing made possible by democratically planned production. But radical abundance can’t just be voted into existence through parliamentary means, it must be made by taking control of our collective reproduction in the here and now. We will explore the content of this book through a discussion with the authors. We will reflect on the potential of ‘radical abundance’ for the future politics of the city of Amsterdam.  

Speakers 

​Miriam Meissner is an Assistant Professor of Culture and Political Ecology at Maastricht University and currently a Visiting Professor at the School of Arts and Humanities, Royal College of Art, London. Miriam’s current research focuses on postgrowth and cultural politics, middle classes discontent in affluent societies and its potential to reimagine urban futures. Miriam’s latest publication is Less Is Not Enough: Minimalist Desires and Postgrowth Politics (forthcoming, Bloomsbury).

Bertie Russell is a research fellow at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona with expertise in radical municipalism, ecosocialist transition, organizational theory and commoning. A former co-editor of Red Pepper with a history in climate justice organising, he has published in numerous academic and popular journals. He is co-author of Radical Abundance: How to Win a Green Democratic Future and Radical Municipalism: The Politics of the Common and the Democratization of Public Service. He is co-director of the UK organisation Abundance.

​Keir Milburn is a writer, researcher, and activist. He has a background as an academic in political economy and organisational theory. He has written over a hundred articles and book chapters in venues ranging from academic journals, such as Urban Studies, to media commentary in outlets such as The Guardian, The Independent, and The Nation. He is co-director of the action-research organisation Abundance. ​

Federico Savini is associate professor in environmental planning, institutions and politics at the University of Amsterdam. He is coordinator of a research program on postgrowth cities, and creator of the Postgrowth Cities Coalitions. His research spans across issues of urban development, housing cooperatives, land politics, waste and circular economy.

Ruben Vezzoni is Post-doctoral researcher in ecological political economy and planning at the University of Amsterdam. His research addresses the European politics of renewable energy, hydrogen and building materials. He has authored several papers on renewable energy deployment in capitalist societies and the limits of transitions premised on green growth.​