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(Julien-Francois) JF Gerber

Profile

Julien-François Gerber is Assistant Professor of Environment and Development at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague.

My disciplinary area of work is in political ecology, economic anthropology, agrarian studies, and ecological economics. In broad terms, I am interested in the relationships between the economy and the conditions for sustainability, flourishing, alienation and resistance.

So far my empirical focus has been on the expansion of capitalism in the rural sphere, particularly through the lenses of ownership, credit/debt, (de)commodification, conflicts, social metabolisms and the plantationocene. My main geographic area of research is the Himalayan region and India. I also did fieldwork in Indonesia, Cameroon and Ecuador.

Besides this, I am interested in bridging science, activism and healing for building more viable systems. Here, my focus has been on the degrowth movement and on theories of needs, values, and the "good life". I am also intrested in the application of psychoanalysis to the understanding of capitalist modernity and transformation.

From 2018-19, I was an ISRF Visiting Fellow at the LSE Department of Anthropology. Prior to joining the ISS, I was at the Royal University of Bhutan (2015-16), Jawaharlal Nehru University and TERI School of Advanced Studies (2012-14) and Harvard University (2010-12). I have a PhD in political ecology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

I am in the Editorial Team of the Journal of World-Systems Research (USA) and Ecology, Economy and Society (India). I am currently co-supervising six PhD students: Antonio Roman-Alcalá, Yukari Sekine, Amod Shah, Anna Voss, Mohsen Yazdanpanah and Haris Zargar.

• Featured publications (9)

  • J.F. Gerber (2020). Degrowth and critical agrarian studies. Journal of Peasant Studies, 47 (2), 235-264. doi: 10.1080/03066150.2019.1695601 [go to publisher's site]
  • B. Akbulut, F. Demaria, J.F. Gerber & J. Martinez-Alier (2019). Who promotes sustainability? Five theses on the relationships between the degrowth and the environmental justice movements. Ecological Economics, 165:106418. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106418
  • J.F. Gerber & R.S. Raina (2018). Post-growth in the global South? Some reflections from India and Bhutan. Ecological Economics, 150, 353-358. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.02.020
  • J.F. Gerber & A. Scheidel (2018). In search of substantive economics: Comparing today's two major socio-metabolic approaches to the economy – MEFA and MuSIASEM. Ecological Economics, 144, 186-194. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.08.012
  • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2017). Basic principles of possession-based economies. Anthropological Theory, 17 (2), 217-238. doi: 10.1177/1463499616686009
  • J. Martínez-Alier, I. Anguelovski, P. Bond, D. DelBene, F. Demaria, J.F. Gerber, L. Greyl, W. Hass, H. Healy, V. Marín-Burgos, G.U. Ojo, M. Porto, L. Rijnhout, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, J. Spangenberg, L. Temper, R. Warlenius & I. Yánez (2014). Between activism and science: Grassroots concepts for sustainability coined by Environmental Justice Organizations. Journal of Political Ecology, 21, 19-60.
  • J.F. Gerber (2014). The role of rural indebtedness in the evolution of capitalism. Journal of Peasant Studies, 41 (5), 729-747.
  • J.F. Gerber (2011). Conflicts over industrial tree plantations in the South: Who, how and why? Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions, 21 (1), 165-176.
  • J.F. Gerber & S. Veuthey (2010). Plantations, resistance and the greening of the agrarian question in coastal Ecuador. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10 (4), 455-481.

• All publications (59)

  • Key publication (9)

    • J.F. Gerber (2020). Degrowth and critical agrarian studies. Journal of Peasant Studies, 47 (2), 235-264. doi: 10.1080/03066150.2019.1695601 [go to publisher's site]
    • B. Akbulut, F. Demaria, J.F. Gerber & J. Martinez-Alier (2019). Who promotes sustainability? Five theses on the relationships between the degrowth and the environmental justice movements. Ecological Economics, 165:106418. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106418
    • J.F. Gerber & R.S. Raina (2018). Post-growth in the global South? Some reflections from India and Bhutan. Ecological Economics, 150, 353-358. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.02.020
    • J.F. Gerber & A. Scheidel (2018). In search of substantive economics: Comparing today's two major socio-metabolic approaches to the economy – MEFA and MuSIASEM. Ecological Economics, 144, 186-194. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.08.012
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2017). Basic principles of possession-based economies. Anthropological Theory, 17 (2), 217-238. doi: 10.1177/1463499616686009
    • J. Martínez-Alier, I. Anguelovski, P. Bond, D. DelBene, F. Demaria, J.F. Gerber, L. Greyl, W. Hass, H. Healy, V. Marín-Burgos, G.U. Ojo, M. Porto, L. Rijnhout, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, J. Spangenberg, L. Temper, R. Warlenius & I. Yánez (2014). Between activism and science: Grassroots concepts for sustainability coined by Environmental Justice Organizations. Journal of Political Ecology, 21, 19-60.
    • J.F. Gerber (2014). The role of rural indebtedness in the evolution of capitalism. Journal of Peasant Studies, 41 (5), 729-747.
    • J.F. Gerber (2011). Conflicts over industrial tree plantations in the South: Who, how and why? Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions, 21 (1), 165-176.
    • J.F. Gerber & S. Veuthey (2010). Plantations, resistance and the greening of the agrarian question in coastal Ecuador. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10 (4), 455-481.

  • Article (30)

    • B. Büscher, G. Feola, A.M. Fischer, R. Fletcher, R., J.F. Gerber, K. Martijn, M. Spirenburg, V. Walstra & H. Wiskerke (2021). Planning for a World beyond COVID-19: Five Pillars for Post-Neoliberal Development. World Development, 140 (April). doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105357
    • J.F. Gerber (2020). Anti-mining conflicts and degrowth. Commodity Frontiers, 1, 28-31. doi: 10.18174/cf.2020a17968
    • J.F. Gerber (2020). Degrowth and critical agrarian studies. Journal of Peasant Studies, 47 (2), 235-264. doi: 10.1080/03066150.2019.1695601 [go to publisher's site]
    • J.F. Gerber & A. Arguelles-Caouette (2020). What is, and isn't, degrowth? DevISSues, 22 (2), 20-21.
    • B. Akbulut, F. Demaria, J.F. Gerber & J. Martinez-Alier (2019). Who promotes sustainability? Five theses on the relationships between the degrowth and the environmental justice movements. Ecological Economics, 165:106418. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106418
    • M. Adityanandana & J.F. Gerber (2019). Post-growth in the Tropics? Contestations over Tri Hita Karana and a tourism megaproject in Bali. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27 (12), 1839-1856. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1666857
    • J.F. Gerber (2018). Field notes from the Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics. Ecology, Economy and Society, 1 (1), 121-123.
    • J.F. Gerber (2018). Debt, law and discipline : How the capitalist cocktail is becoming Molotovian. The ISRF Bulletin, 16, 20-25. [go to publisher's site]
    • J.F. Gerber & R.S. Raina (2018). Post-growth in the global South? Some reflections from India and Bhutan. Ecological Economics, 150, 353-358. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.02.020
    • J.F. Gerber & A. Scheidel (2018). In search of substantive economics: Comparing today's two major socio-metabolic approaches to the economy – MEFA and MuSIASEM. Ecological Economics, 144, 186-194. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.08.012
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2017). A Reply to Patrick Neveling. Anthropological Theory, 17 (2), 255-260. doi: 10.1177/1463499617716681
    • J. Gerber & J.F. Gerber (2017). Decommodification as a foundation for ecological economics. Ecological Economics, 131, 551-556. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.08.030
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2017). Basic principles of possession-based economies. Anthropological Theory, 17 (2), 217-238. doi: 10.1177/1463499616686009
    • A. Bisht & J.F. Gerber (2017). Ecological distribution conflicts (EDCs) over mineral extraction in India: An overview. The Extractive Industries and Society: an International Journal (print), 4 (3), 548-563. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2017.03.008 [go to publisher's site]
    • J.F. Gerber (2016). The legacy of K. William Kapp. Development and Change, 47 (4), 902-917. doi: 10.1111/dech.12238
    • J.F. Gerber (2015). An overview of local credit systems and their implications for post-growth. Sustainability Science, 10 (3), 413-423.
    • J. Martínez-Alier, I. Anguelovski, P. Bond, D. DelBene, F. Demaria, J.F. Gerber, L. Greyl, W. Hass, H. Healy, V. Marín-Burgos, G.U. Ojo, M. Porto, L. Rijnhout, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, J. Spangenberg, L. Temper, R. Warlenius & I. Yánez (2014). Between activism and science: Grassroots concepts for sustainability coined by Environmental Justice Organizations. Journal of Political Ecology, 21, 19-60.
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2014). Some fundamentals of integral economics. World Futures: The Journal of New Paradigm Research, 70 (7), 442-463.
    • J.F. Gerber (2014). The role of rural indebtedness in the evolution of capitalism. Journal of Peasant Studies, 41 (5), 729-747.
    • J.F. Gerber (2013). The hidden consequences of credit: An illustration from rural Indonesia. Development and Change, 44 (4), 839-860.
    • S. Veuthey & J.F. Gerber (2012). Accumulation by dispossession in coastal Ecuador: Local organizational and women’s responses to the shrimp industry. Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions, 22 (3), 611-622.
    • S. Boillat, J.F. Gerber & F.R. Funes-Monzote (2012). What economic democracy for degrowth? Some comments on the contribution of socialist models and Cuban agroecology. Futures, 44 (6), 600-607.
    • S. Veuthey & J.F. Gerber (2011). Valuation contests over the commoditisation of the moabi tree in South-eastern Cameroon. Environmental Values, 20 (2), 239-264.
    • J.F. Gerber (2011). Conflicts over industrial tree plantations in the South: Who, how and why? Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions, 21 (1), 165-176.
    • J. Martínez-Alier, H. Healy, L. Temper, M. Walter, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, J.F. Gerber & M. Conde (2011). Between science and activism: Learning and teaching ecological economics with environmental justice organizations. Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 16 (1), 17-36.
    • J.F. Gerber & S. Veuthey (2011). Possession versus property in a tree plantation socio-environmental conflict in Southern Cameroon. Society & Natural Resources: an international journal, 24 (8), 831-848.
    • S. Veuthey & J.F. Gerber (2010). Moabi logging in Southern Cameroon: A feminist ecological economics perspective. Ecological Economics, 70 (2), 170-177.
    • J.F. Gerber & S. Veuthey (2010). Plantations, resistance and the greening of the agrarian question in coastal Ecuador. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10 (4), 455-481.
    • J.F. Gerber (2010). An overview of resistance against industrial tree plantations in the global South. Economic and Political Weekly, 45 (41), 30-34.
    • J.F. Gerber, S. Veuthey & J. Martínez-Alier (2009). Linking political ecology with ecological economics in conflicts over tree plantations in Ecuador and Cameroon. Ecological Economics, 68 (12), 2885-2889.

  • Part of book - Chapter (12)

    • J.F. Gerber, B. Akbulut, F. Demaria & J. Martínez-Alier (2020). Degrowth and environmental justice: An alliance between two movements? In B. Coolsaet (Ed.), Environmental justice: Key issues (Key Issues in Environment and Sustainability) (pp. 94-106). London: Routledge
    • M. Adityanandana & J.F. Gerber (2020). Post-growth in the Tropics? Contestations over Tri Hita Karana and a tourism megaproject in Bali. In R. Fletcher, I. Murray, A. Blanco-Romero & M. Blázquez-Salom (Eds.), Tourism and Degrowth: Towards a Truly Sustainable Tourism. London: Routledge
    • J.F. Gerber (2019). Gross National Happiness Bhutan. In K. Kothari, A. Escobar, A. Salleh, F. Demaria & A. Acosta (Eds.), Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary (pp. 194-197). New Delhi: Tulika Books
    • J.F. Gerber & R.S. Raina (2018). Introduction. In J.F. Gerber & R.S. Raina (Eds.), Post-growth thinking in India: Towards sustainable egalitarian alternatives (pp. 1-30). Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2016). Towards a theory of possession. In J. Beaufort & F. Decker (Eds.), "Eigentum, Zins und Geld"nach 20 Jahren: Festschrift für Gunnar Heinsohn (pp. 105-130). Marburg: Metropolis Verlag
    • J.F. Gerber (2015). Écologie des pauvres. In Dictionnaire de la pensée écologique. (Eds. D. Bourg & A. Papaux). Paris: Presses universitaires de France
    • J.F. Gerber (2015). The role of rural indebtedness in the evolution of capitalism. In New directions in agrarian political economy. (Eds. M. Fairbairn, J. Fox, S. R. Isakson, M. Levien, N. Peluso, S. Razavi, I. Scoones & K. Sivaramakrishnan). London: Routledge
    • J. Martinez-Alier, H. Healy, L. Temper, M. Walter, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, J.F. Gerber & M. Conde (2013). Between science and activism: Learning and teaching ecological economics and political ecology with EJOs. In Ecological economics from the ground up. (Eds. H. Healy, J. Martínez-Alier, L. Temper, M. Walter & J.-F. Gerber). London: Routledge
    • R. Djeukam, J.F. Gerber & S. Veuthey (2013). Forestry and communities in Cameroon. In Ecological economics from the ground up. (Eds. H. Healy, J. Martínez-Alier, L. Temper, M. Walter & J.-F. Gerber ). London: Routledge
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (2012). Introduction. In Towards an integrated paradigm in heterodox economics – Alternative approaches to the current eco-social crises. (Eds. J.-F. Gerber & R. Steppacher). Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan
    • R. Steppacher & J.F. Gerber (2012). Meanings and significance of property with reference to today’s three major eco-institutional crises. In Towards an integrated paradigm in heterodox economics – Alternative approaches to the current eco-social crises. (Eds. J.-F. Gerber & R. Steppacher). Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan
    • J.F. Gerber & S. Veuthey (2007). Ecological conflicts in Southern Cameroon from a classical institutionalist perspective. In Institutional analysis of sustainability problems. (T. Kluvánková-Oravská, V. Chobotová, J. Jílková & P. Šauer). Bratislava: Slovak Academy of Sciences

  • Book editorship (3)

    • J.F. Gerber & R.S. Raina (Ed.). (2018). Post-growth thinking in India: Towards sustainable egalitarian alternatives. Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan
    • H. Healy, J. Martínez-Alier, L. Temper, M. Walter & J.F. Gerber (Ed.). (2013). Ecological economics from the ground up. London: Earthscan/Routledge
    • J.F. Gerber & R. Steppacher (Ed.). (2012). Towards an integrated paradigm in heterodox economics – Alternative approaches to the current eco-social crises. London: Palgrave-Macmillan

  • Book / Monograph / Book editorial (1)

    • J.F. Gerber (2008). Résistances contre deux géants industriels en forêt tropicale: Populations locales versus plantations commerciales d’hévéas et de palmiers à huile dans le Sud-Cameroun. Montevideo: World Rainforest Movement

  • Report (3)

    • J.F. Gerber (2014). Socio-environmental valuation and liabilities: What strategies for environmental justice organisations? Barcelona: EJOLT Report No. 13
    • J.F. Gerber (2013). Guide on multicriteria evaluation for Environmental Justice Organisations. Barcelona: EJOLT Report No. 8
    • W. Overbeek, M. Kröger & J.F. Gerber (2012). An overview of industrial tree plantation conflicts in the global South: Conflicts, trends, and resistance struggles. Barcelona: EJOLT Report No. 3

  • Contribution weekly / daily journal (1)

    • J.F. Gerber & J. Alegado (2020, juni 6). A degrowth economy in a post-pandemic world. Philippine Daily Inquirer [go to publisher's site]

• Teaching (10)

  2101 The Making of Development

  Title

  2101 The Making of Development

  Year

  2020

  4150 Political Economy

  Title

  4150 Political Economy

  Year

  2020

  Board of Examiners

  Title

  Board of Examiners

  Year

  2020

  General Information

  Title

  General Information

  Year

  2020

  4229 Global Political Ecology

  Title

  4229 Global Political Ecology

  Year

  2020

  4240 Politics of Agrarian Transformation

  Title

  4240 Politics of Agrarian Transformation

  Year

  2020

  3105 Research Paper Preparation

  Title

  3105 Research Paper Preparation

  Year

  2020

  5401 Research Paper

  Title

  5401 Research Paper

  Year

  2020

  2102 The Making of Development (GMD)

  Title

  2102 The Making of Development (GMD)

  Year

  2020

  Major AFES

  Title

  Major AFES

  Year

  2020

• Editorial positions (1)

  Ecology, Economy and Society

  Role

  Associate Editor

• Present position

  Assistant Professor

  University

  Erasmus University Rotterdam

  School

  International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)

  Department

  Academic staff unit