Dr Richard Bärnthaler

Profile

I am a lecturer in Ecological Economics at the University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment (Sustainability Research Institute, SRI) and board member at the European Society for Ecological Economics. In my research, I approach economics as the study of social provisioning. This emphasises that societies shape society-nature relations through diverse provisioning systems and that the provision of goods and services is a collectively organised social and political process. Against this pre-analytic background, my research focuses on: 1) needs-based economies; 2) post-growth industrial policy; 3) sufficiency as social organising principle, including means to realise it such as consumption and production corridors; 4) eco-social policies and associated potentials for new societal alliances; and 5) the political economy of climate change, including power complexes that stabilise the status quo and delay climate action.

Before joining SRI in December 2023, I was University Assistant at the Vienna University of Economics, Institute for Multi-Level Governance and Development. I am a member of the interdisciplinary research groups Economics and Policy for Sustainability (which I co-lead) and Social and Political Dimensions of Sustainability ​​​​​​at SRI. Beyond the University of Leeds, I am a member of the Postgrowth Cities Coalition, Regional Studies Association Research Network on Eco-Social Policy and Practice for Innovation and Transformation and the Foundational Economy Collective, academic adviser to the Competence Centre for Infrastructural Economics, Public Services and Social Provisioning, and Affiliate at the Vienna University of Economics, Institute for Multi-Level Governance and Development. Among others, I also hold memberships at the Society of Ecological Economics, the ECPR Standing Group on Environmental Politics, the Council for European Studies (Political Economy and Welfare; Environmental), the Association for Socio-Economic Education and Research, and the International Karl Polanyi Society. I have been a lead author of the APCC Special Report on “Structures for Climate-Friendly Living” as well as the APCC Assessment Report on “Climate Change in Austria 2.0”.

Responsibilities

• Research group leader Economics and Policy for Sustainability

Research interests

social-ecological economics; political economy; sufficiency; human needs; sustainable wellbeing; social provisioning; inequality & eco-social justice; eco-social policy; post-/degrowth; transformation

Research projects

Current research projects

• PI, ACRP Programme Grant "Transforming essential provisioning systems through eco-social corridors" (HABITATION-CORRIDORS; 2024-2027)
• Researcher Co-I, ACRP Programme Grant “Quantifying Qualitative Transformation Pathways towards Climate-Friendly Living” (Q2-PATHWAYS; 2023-2026)

For completed research projects granted before December 2023, please see:

• Richard Bärnthaler – Projects — Vienna University of Economics (wu.ac.at)

Qualifications

• PhD, Economics and Social Sciences, Social-Ecological Economics
• MSc, Social-Ecological Economics and Policy
• MA, History and Philosophy of Science

Student education

I manage and partly deliver the Postgraduate Module SOEE5095 Environmental Economics and Policy (in: Ecological Economics MSc).

Current PhD students

• Tom Webb, "Examining the role of inequality reduction for making welfare states more growth-resilient", University of Leeds, co-supervision with Milena Büchs (2024-2028)

Supervision of visting PhD students

• Tobias Riepl, “The role of the foundational economy to live well within limits”, University of Leeds, co-supervision with Diana Ivanova (2024)

Areas for PhD supervision

I welcome queries on doctoral dissertation projects on topics such as:

• Post-growth industrial policy
• Needs-based and sufficiency economy
• Eco-social policies
• Sustainable wellbeing and human needs
• Social provisioning, social-ecological infrastructures, foundational economy, universal basic services, social-ecological transformation of housing and mobilty
• Political economy of climate change
• Inequality and eco-social justice
• Eco-socialism

Research groups and institutes

• Economics and Policy for Sustainability
• Social and Political Dimensions of Sustainability
• Sustainability Research Institute

Current postgraduate researchers

• Tom Webb (he/him)