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18May

Capitalism, climate change and inequality: what is the way forward?

Hosted by the Ralph Miliband Programme
In-person and online public event (Old Theatre, Old Building)
Monday 18 May 2026 6.30pm - 8.30pm

As today’s ecological and economic crises reveal the contradictions inherent in our productive model, the idea of degrowth — radically descaling production and consumption — has gained passionate advocates as well as critics. Should degrowth be our political priority? Can we downscale the economy and avoid the threat of recessionary crisis?

In this event, we are joined by Branko Milanović and Jason Hickel, whose discussions on degrowth have sparked global attention.

Meet our speakers and chair

Branko Milanovic is a senior scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality. He obtained his Ph. D. in economics from the University of Belgrade with a dissertation on income inequality in Yugoslavia. He served as lead economist in World Bank Research Department for almost 20 years and as a senior associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington from 2003 to 2005.

Jason Hickel is Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science & Technology (ICTA-UAB) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Distinguished Researcher at the Department of Political Science & Public Law. He is also a Visiting Professor at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Robin Archer is the director of the Ralph Miliband Programme and director of the postgraduate programme in political sociology at LSE. He is the author of Economic Democracy: The Politics of Feasible Socialism.

More about this event

Join us on campus or register to watch the event online at LSE Live. LSE Live is the home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Ralph Miliband (@RMilibandLSE) programme is one of the LSE's most prestigious public lecture series, receiving attention not only at the LSE but across London, the UK, and globally. The programme was set up in 1996 thanks to a generous anonymous benefaction from a former PhD student inspired by 'Ralph Miliband's contribution to social thought'. He specified that the funds be used in memory of his friend and mentor 'to advance his spirit of free social inquiry' and the diversity of thought that has always been the hallmark of LSE.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents

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