Link to "Contradictionary - an almanac of resistance" online (Open Access)

The book Contradictionary - an almanac of resistance - is available for reading and download (Open Access) here. The book, which was edited by Bernd Herzogenrath and Nicol A. Barria-Asenjo and is published by Open Humanities Press, includes two entries written by me, namely "Environmental quality" and "Pollution". The concept of the book is that it lists and explains terms that have been "banned" (or rather black-listed) by the Trump administration in a research context.

HDI/UNDP paper presented at ISQOLS 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky

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.

Economic growth in climate imaginaries paper presented at ISQOLS 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky

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.

Pre-conference workshop and horse farm tour attended in Lexington, Kentucky (USA)

I arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, late on Sunday August 9th. On Monday (i.e. yesterday) I attended the pre-conference workshop «A “Walkthrough” of Public US Wellbeing Datasets», with instructors Harry Brisson and Robert Moore, both representing the NGO Gross National Happiness USA (GNHUSA), along with about ten others. Today I have attended a Half-Day Thoroughbred Horse Farm Tour in Kentucky, along with about 15 others.

Over the next three days I will be attending the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026), with the theme «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life». The conference venue is University of Kentucky´s Gatton Student Center, in Lexington, Kentucky.

See also:

ISQOLS 2026 papers scheduled for presentation in Lexington, Kentucky August 13th and 14th

Two papers accepted for presentation at ISQOLS 2026 (Lexington, Kentucky, USA)

I have been notified by the organizers of the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026), with the theme «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», that my papers «Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice» and «Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth» have been accepted for oral presentation. The conference will take place at University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA), August 11–14th.

#29

Today I have had half an article writing day, partly devoted to work on the revision of the book chapter manuscript "Steffens´ early outlook reconsidered: Nature conceptions of the industrial-age Anthropocene", with some 100 words added to the manuscript in the process. I also accepted to contribute with two entries in a prospective special issue (journal to be agreed) titled "CONTRADICTionary: An Almanac of Resistance", which will be organised around the ca. 200 words the Trump administration is attempting to ban from science.  

So far this Spring I have had 29 writing days, including 5 article writing days.

Eleventh Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the eleventh lecture in Ex.Phil. this Autumn, as part of the University of Stavanger´s bachelor degree in psychology. The topic was political philosophy, specifically political freedom. I also brought up aspects of US politics in this regard, as made pertinent by the presidential election results that are all over the news today.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" referenced in Mongabay news story and podcast; and South Africa Today

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is referenced in the news story "Can ‘degrowth’ solve our ecological, social & economic problems?" by Mike DiGirolamo and Rachel Donald which was published on the international environmental issues news site Mongabay on January 30th, along with a podcast featuring economist Timothée Parrique, who is currently based at Lund University, Sweden. In the podcast, Timothée talks about my research around 18m30s - 21m40s, and later on, around 59m - 1h05m, Mike and Rachel discuss it.

The Mongabay article has been republished by South Africa Today on February 2nd.

Excerpts:

Recent research indicates that the United States wastes 65% of its economic output on things that do not provide essential or quality-of-life needs, bolstering the argument that the economy could be strongly scaled back to decrease its impact on the environment. 

Research published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications finds that just in the United States, trillions of dollars are wasted on things that do not improve the quality of life for Americans. Podcast guest Timothée Parrique, an economist and researcher at the Lund University School of Economics and Management, argues this is strong evidence that the United States (and other wealthy, industrialized nations) could significantly scale back production and consumption, thereby decreasing their impact on the planet’s stretched ecological limits — the Planetary Boundaries — allowing low- and middle-income nations the latitude they need to raise their standards of living.

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" has now been referred to in media based in the USA, Spain, and South Africa, in addition to Mongabay.

See also:

News story on "Wasted GDP in the USA" article in Spanish online newspaper La Politica Online

"Wasted GDP in the USA" mentioned in Counterpunch news story 

"Wasted GDP in the USA" mentioned in Counterpunch news story

My article Wasted GDP in the USA, published recently in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, is mentioned today in an article by the US online news outlet Counterpunch, in the article "Roaming Charges: Politics of the Lesser Exterminators". Excerpts below.

UNDP´s USA page listing "Wasted GDP in the USA" article under Recent media

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is referred to on the UNDP´s USA representation office homepage, under "Recent media".

Article "Wasted GDP in the USA" published

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" has today been published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, in Open Access format.

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2023. Wasted GDP in the USA. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 10: 681. Published October 11th 2023. With Supplementary Information Appendix. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02210-y 

Abstract for ISQOLS 2023: "Wasted GDP in the USA"

I have just submitted the abstract below to the ISQOLS 2023 organizers:

***

Wasted GDP in the USA

Abstract

Many believe that the purpose of economic growth is to improve human welfare. Any economic activity has some degree of environmental impact, with higher activity as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) typically involving a more considerable environmental impact. In light of this circumstance, economic growth can be conceived of as wasted if it is not accompanied by improved welfare. In this paper, a concept of “wasted GDP” is introduced. In this perspective, GDP is wasted if it does not support welfare. By estimating what portion of a country´s GDP is wasted, we can assess how effectively the country promotes welfare. The paper is focused on a case study assessing the performance of the United States of America (USA), based on analysis of Human Development Index data. The USA started out as no. 2 in the world by HDI in 1990, but has since been sliding down the list in terms of ranking. While by 2010 the USA was no longer among the world´s 10 most developed countries by this measure, by 2021 it was no longer among the world´s 20 most developed countries. The average US citizen has an income that is considerably higher than the average income in most other countries, including in most rich countries. But despite solid economic growth, over the last three decades the USA has fallen behind several other highly developed countries in the Human Development Index (HDI). 27 countries, large and small, now outperform the USA in terms of nonincome human development, relating to the Health and Education dimensions of HDI. Of these, 22 countries outperforms the USA by nonincome HDI despite having a lower GNI per capita than the USA. I stipulate the share of US GDP that is wasted by comparing US HDI performance with the HDI performance of better performing countries by nonincome HDI that have a lower GDP per capita than the USA. I also estimate ecological pressures related to the USA´s suboptimal human development performance, specifically US CO2 emissions and material footprint related to wasted GDP.

#27

Today I have had a writing day, the 27th this Autumn, with some 1.100 words added to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA".

#24,5

Today I have had a writing day devoted to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA", with some 750 words added. Number of writing days this Autumn is up to 24,5.

#20,5; #21,5

The last 2 days - during sick leave - I have had two writing days (2 x 5 hours), with some 1.000 words added altogether to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA". Number of writing days this Autumn is up to 21,5.

#15,5

This evening, on the Autumn´s writing day #15,5, I have had half a writing day, with some 200 words added to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA".

#10

Today, on the 10th writing day this Autumn, I have had a writing day devoted to updating my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" and making a requested amendment to my recently finished Commentary article "The evolutionary origin(s) of the Umwelt", with some 200 words written altogether.

#6,5

Yesterday, while traveling to Thessaloniki, Greece, I had half an article writing day by reading while flying, related to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA".

#5

Today I have had the 5th writing day this Autumn, with some 100 words written altogether on our GDP review article and my article "Wasted growth in the USA".

Pre-conference workshop on psychology of wellbeing attended in Burlington, Vermont

Today I have attended a pre-conference workshop ahead of the ISQOLS 2022 conference here in Burlington, Vermont at University of Vermont, "A Crash Course in the Psychology of Well-Being and Quality of Life" by Joseph Sirgy.

I arrived yesterday.