Dr Miriam Meissner (M.M.)

My research bridges cultural studies and political ecology, with a central focus on how popular culture responds to complex economic and ecological challenges. In particular, my work examines how film, literature, and lifestyle movements within popular culture engage with—or at times fail to engage with—the political dimensions of capitalist accumulation and the crises that emerge from it.

While my PhD centered on urban imaginaries of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, my recent research focuses on the challenges of transitioning from a cultural hegemony based on economic growth to one grounded in postgrowth principles. Drawing on insights from environmental sciences, political economy, and decolonial theory, I view postgrowth as a crucial project for social and environmental justice, with its intricate cultural dimensions requiring deeper exploration.

Current research

In 2024, I completed the research project From Minimalist Forms to Postgrowth Economies?, funded by the Veni Innovation Scheme of the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

The project, grounded in critical and postcritical cultural theory, explores contemporary minimalism—a lifestyle trend that has gained popularity among affluent audiences and is spearheaded by self-help authors, digital content creators, and social media influencers. Lamenting “a world of too much” clutter, stress, and distraction, minimalism advocates for reducing possessions, work, commitments, and media use. In doing so, it highlights a growing dissatisfaction among affluent individuals with their work-intensive and consumerist lifestyles, which are often shaped by neoliberal precarity. But could this discontent potentially fuel a political movement aimed at challenging capitalist growth?

Through an analysis of minimalist books, TV shows, and online forums, I reveal how minimalist lifestyles often obstruct such a development. Moving from minimalist tidying to minimalist mindfulness, the research illustrates how the ideologies and subjectivities promoted by minimalism tend to depoliticize frustrations with the status quo and ultimately reinforce the hegemony of capitalist growth.

However, the project also identifies political potential within minimalism. It uncovers how even those who ostensibly benefit from capitalist growth—namely, the affluent middle classes in wealthy countries—are expressing discontent with their current way of life and look for alternatives.

Drawing on Stuart Hall’s vision of cultural politics, Caroline Levine’s method of strategic formalism, and Kate Soper’s concept of alternative hedonism, the research advocates for the politicization of this sentiment. It examines cultural strategies that an organized postgrowth movement could adopt to build broad support for a politics that challenges the global exploitation of labor and ecologies, while democratizing the broader benefits of minimalist living.

Public engagement

The development of cultural strategies for postgrowth politics is a central theme in my research and public engagement. To this end, I collaborate with various social and environmental justice movements, including the Dutch degrowth network Ontgroei, the Postgrowth Cities Coalition, De Nieuwe Meent, and Scientist Rebellion.