The International Society for Quality-of-life Studies (ISQOLS) has released a brief video summarising its 2026 conference, which took place in Lexington, Kentucky earlier in August. Below are some screenshots from the video involving me.
I am also featured in some photos in ISQOLS´ conference summary online, as well as in a photo album shared among conference participants.
Today, at the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026), «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», which is held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA) August 11–14th, I have presented my paper «Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice» as part of Session 7A «Well-being policy and measurement». Some 11 people attended. The session was chaired by Joseph Sirgy.
Today, at the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026), «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», which is held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA) August 11–14th, I have presented my paper «Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth» as part of Session 4E «Ecological sustainability, agriculture, and wellbeing». Some 11 people attended. The session was chaired by Jane Kolodinsky.
I have just composed and submitted the abstracts below to the organizers of the ISQOLS 2026 Annual Conference, "Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality-of-Life", which is to be held in Kentucky, USA, August 11-14.
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Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth
KEYWORDS: Climate economics; climate imaginaries; degrowth; economic growth; green growth
Conflicting views on economic growth comprise a controversial issue related to climate economics. While the mainstream of climate economists assert that continued and practically endless economic growth can be taken for granted, critics dispute this and advance alternative economic ideas about a post-growth, degrowth or steady-state economy. Growth of different magnitudes is likewise expected according to most climate scenarios. I assess different ideas about economic growth in the climate discourse by relating them to the notion of climate imaginaries, which can be understood as socio-semiotic systems of shared ideas about issues related to climate change. The powerful influence of climate imaginaries can be decisive with regard to how climate policy and governance is understood and implemented, for instance whether incremental or radical change is pursued. Climate imaginaries range from anticipating apocalypse or radical societal change to relying on business-as-usual scenarios or techno-optimism. Core issues in climate ethics related to equity and intergenerational justice are often framed on the background of the common expectation that future generations will be better off in economic terms. Using climate imaginaries to frame a discussion of conflicting views on the future of economic growth, I will trace the history of green growth and degrowth ideas as applied to the climate issue, with a main focus on the last 30–40 years.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES / TAKEAWAYS
* Expectations about future economic growth matters for policy discussions
* Climate scenarios incorporate only one side of the debate (pro-growth)
* Criticism of mainstream climate economics is required to account for future welfare
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Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice
KEYWORDS: human development; Human Development Index; income; methodology, UNDP
For several years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) misquoted Kahneman & Deaton´s article “High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being” (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2010) in its technical notes, which describes its methodology for computing the Human Development Index (HDI). This article was erroneously used as basis for capping Gross National Income (GNI) per capita at $75,000. Since the HDRO23/24 Technical notes, released in Spring 2024, the reference to Kahneman & Deaton has been removed in the UNDP´s methodological descriptions, but when computing the HDI the UNDP still caps Gross National Income (GNI) per capita at $75,000. On the background of how the HDI is currently computed, the UNDP has been criticized for promoting policies that weaken environmental sustainability by presenting rich yet unsustainable Western countries as role models for economic development. I will describe how the HDI´s income metrics have changed over time, and outline what difference it would make for HDI rankings of various countries if Gross National Income (GNI) per capita were capped at a) a level just above extreme poverty ($1.095); b) the world average ($20.327); c) the OECD average ($52.698), or d) kept but without any maximum. As these alternative HDI computations will show, simply changing the maximum threshold for income per capita radically changes what countries appear as role models for human development.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES / TAKEAWAYS
* The Human Development Index´ maximum income threshold is not justified by current research
* With a high maximum threshold for income, rich yet unsustainable Western countries appear as role models for human development
* Alternative HDI computations, with different thresholds for maximum income, demonstrate what difference these metrics make for policy advice
Today, on the last day of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), held in Luxembourg (organised by STATEC Research and ISQOLS) July 22-25th with the theme “Redefining Progress: Achieving Sustainable Well-being for All”, I presented the paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics” in session 22A, “Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability”, which was chaired by Joonas Uotinen. Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen were credited as co-authors. Some 20-25 people attended.
The paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics", submitted on behalf of Jan Karlstrøm, Thomas Hylland Eriksen and myself, has been scheduled for presentation (by me) at the 2025 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), which is held in Luxembourg July 22-25th. The paper will be presented on Friday July 25th at 14.14-14.36 as part of the session 21A, "Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability".
I have been notified by the organizers of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), “Redefining Progress: Achieving Sustainable Well-being for All”, to be held in Luxembourg July 22-25th, that my paper submission "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" has been accepted for oral presentation. My paper will be based on a Norwegian-language article co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and was submitted tied to the topic "Disciplinary Approaches to Well-Being, Happiness and Quality-of-life".
I have just composed and submitted the abstract below to the organizers of The 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), which is to be held 22-25 July, 2025, in Luxembourg.
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What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics
By Morten Tønnessen (presenter), Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen (deceased 2024)
The Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss (1912-2009) criticized modern economics for its lack of philosophical awareness and interdisciplinarity, suggesting that economists should draw inspiration from the field’s origins in philosophy. Næss’ views on how the economy should be organized and studied are significant for a proper understanding of his overall philosophy, particularly in light of his differentiation between a deep and shallow understanding of environmental issues. In this paper we review Næss’ critique of economics as an academic discipline and discuss his proposals for transforming our approach to economics, considering both its historical development and the ongoing environmental crisis. Specifically, we emphasize the importance of philosophy, ecology, and social anthropology as foundational elements for economics. Our primary reference is the Norwegian-language chapter “New tasks for political economy” from Næss’ major work in environmental philosophy, "Ecology, Community and Lifestyle". We deal with Næss’ view on the use of models and the relationship between theory and reality, the fundamental connection between ecology and the economy, what role normative systems thinking can play for economics, and how economics can be informed by economic anthropology. Our treatment of Næss´ philosophy of economics includes an investigation of his views on relations between people´s quality of life and GDP growth, and his conception of progress and welfare. In conclusion we reflect on the implications of our analysis of Arne Næss’ economic viewpoints for the future of economics. We see a need for a reorientation within economics with an increased focus on environmental issues as understood by ecologists, a reframed focus on values and goods as understood by philosophers, and a renewed emphasis on promotion of welfare as the primary goal of economics. In practice, the latter reorientation will imply adopting John Stuart Mill's categorization of economics as a branch of social philosophy.
Topic: Disciplinary Approaches to Well-Being, Happiness and Quality-of-life
Keywords: Arne Næss, Deep ecology, Ecological economics, Environmental philosophy, GDP growth, Interdisciplinarity, John Stuart Mill, Normative systems thinking, Philosophy of economics, Political economy, Quality of life, Social anthropology, Welfare
I arrived in Kota Kinabula, Malaysia, two days ago, to take part in the 22nd annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, which has the theme "Human Happiness and Wellbeing in an Uncertain World" and is held June 26–28th. This will be the fifth ISQOLS conference in a row I am attending (the 2020 and 2021 conferences were held digitally).
Today I have attended a pre-conference cultural excursion in Sabah, to Kiulu, organised by University Malaysia Sabah with Lingga Eco-Tourism Kiulu.
The paper "Can welfare and environmental concerns be measured in extension of GDP?", developed by Jan Karlstrøm and me, has been scheduled for oral presentation at ISQOLS 2024, the 22nd annual conference of International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), which is to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, June 25-28th. Our paper will be presented on Friday June 28th at 15.30, as part of session 23C "Beyond GDP: New Understandings and Measures of Progress".
I have been notified by the organizers of ISQOLS 2024 that the paper "Can welfare and environmental concerns be measured in extension of GDP?", prepared by Jan Karlstrøm and myself, has been accepted for oral presentation at the conference, which will take place in Malaysia June 25-28th. I still have to figure out whether I can get my participation funded.
I have just submitted the abstract below to the organizers of the 2024 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), which will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, June 24-28th.
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Can welfare and environmental concerns be measured in extension of GDP?
Morten Tønnessen, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger
Jan Karlstrøm, Research assistant, Department of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger
What the purpose of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is as a measure of economic activity has been debated ever since the term was launched and adopted in the 1930s. In this paper we go through the history of the concept of GDP, the criticism GDP has been met with, and proposed alternatives to GDP. Originally, GDP was constructed based on a need for more overview and a better basis for planned government management of the economy during the Depression and the Second World War. In the post-war period, GDP growth became a central political goal in and of itself. Even though from the very beginning it has been pointed out that GDP is not intended as a measure of welfare, GDP growth has constantly been associated with welfare development. Modern criticism of GDP as a measure of the state of the economy and social development has largely addressed the fact that GDP is poorly suited as a measure of welfare and that the target of GDP growth is unfortunate given the environmental consequences of increasing production and consumption. Several alternative measures of welfare development and environmental concerns have been launched, but none of them have succeeded in becoming as central as GDP. The new measure that has gained the most traction, namely the UN's Human Development Index, has incorporated GDP rather than replaced GDP. We look at alternatives for measuring welfare, alternatives that address environmental concerns, and alternatives that address both welfare and environmental concerns and evaluate these critically.
My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is mentioned in the email newsletter "October 2023 News from the International Society for Quality-Of-Life Studies", circulated today.
See also:
"Wasted GDP in the USA" featured in ISQOLS monthly newsletter (which concerned the "members only" newsletter)
Mention of my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is featured in the latest monthly email newsletter of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), "Members Only ISQOLS October 2023 updates and info".
Today I have presented my paper "Wasted GDP in the USA" at the 21st annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2023), as part of session 6J, “Well-being Indicators”, chaired by Nuno Nunes. S
This is the fourth ISQOLS conference I am attending and presenting at, in a row (the 2020 and 2021 conferences were held digitally).
I have been notified by the conference organizers that my paper «Wasted GDP in the USA» has been scheduled for presentation as part of Session 6J, “Well-being Indicators” at 2023 International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies 21st Annual Conference: "Toward a People First Economy: A World to Win" (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, August 21-26th). The session takes place Wednesday August 23rd at 9-10:30 am., with my paper scheduled for 9.44-10.06.
See the preliminnary conference program - as well as authors overview and keywords overview.
I have been notified by the conference organizers that my paper "Wasted GDP in the USA" has been accepted for presentation at the 21st annual conference of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (21st-25th August, Rotterdam, The Netherlands).
Today I have given my presentation "The true value of „doing well“ economically" in session 4.1, "Promoting Well-Being: Public Policy and Development", at the 2022 ISQOLS conference. Around 20 people attended physically or online.
I also chaired the session, which included 2 in-person and 3 virtual presentations. After this I was impromptu asked to chair the next session as well, session 5.1, "Social Relations and Well-Being", including another 2 in-person and 3 virtual presentations. Altogether this means I chaired 10 presentations.
My paper presentation "The true value of „doing well“ economically", which was initially scheduled for oral presentation at ISQOLS 2022 (the annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, to be held in Burlington, Vermont, USA, August 3-6th) on Saturday August 6th, has now been rescheduled to Friday August 5th in Session 4.1, "Promoting Well-Being: Public Policy and Development", which takes place 9-00-10:30 AM.
See also the final conference program.
I have just received the conference program of ISQOLS 2022 (the annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies), to be held in Burlington, Vermont, USA, August 3-6th. My paper "The true value of „doing well“ economically" has been scheduled for oral presentation in session 8.5, "Quality of Life and Environment", which will take place Saturday August 6th at 13.15-14.45.
