Dennis Badeen

My research revolves around two interrelated concerns – philosophy and methodological foundations of economics and political economy analysis of energy transitions.

In the philosophy of economics stream I have published critiques of mainstream economics, pluralism, economics education, and have contributed to Marxist political economy philosophy and analysis. Recently, my interests have shifted to examining the concept of pluralism in ecological economics and its implications for policy recommendations and institutional reform. In 2016 I was awarded a Marie-Sklodowska Curie Fellowship where I undertook an examination of the philosophical (ontological, epistemological, methodological, ethical and ideological) foundations of various approaches to ecological economics and assessed how well they explain energy transitions in various European and North American countries with an eye to providing an answer to which concept of pluralism is most appropriate for ecological economics.     

My future research will examine social economy responses to challenges posed climate change. I am particularly interested in examining the following: a) sustainability initiatives in cooperatives, especially ones engaged in the production and distribution of renewable energy; and b) Green State theory (no growth or steady state economies, in the context of the varieties if capitalism debates) and its relation with the political economy of energy transitions.  This research will enhance our understanding of how institutional structures and regulatory frameworks might work most effectively at the levels of both macro-governance and micro-performance. This research will include case studies of the global north, south (particularly the role of the recently established Green Climate Fund), and their interrelations.