Post-growth technologies: a scoping review of innovations related to degrowth, sharing economy and self-sufficiency

Journal article, 2026

This review focuses on technological infrastructure to support small-scale groups immersed in the development of local post-growth systems. It is inspired by two premises: first, that such countercultures - from ecovillages to maker collectives - are uniquely positioned to pioneer systemic change; and second, that the tools available to these groups have been upgraded since the onset of networked computers. Therefore, this article scopes literature on network-enabled innovations associated with three post-growth terms to distinguish digital tools that can operationally strengthen countercultures. The findings reveal a tentative toolbox corresponding to four functions of supporting technological infrastructure: collaborative Commons, assisted Administration, peer Production, and egalitarian Economy (CAPE), and five impact areas: Value, Autonomy, Collaboration, Trust, and Self-organization (VACTS). The analysis frames a conscious selection of technology as infrastructure that can strengthen countercultures both as entities and as a movement - transcending local marginalization and supporting locally rooted as well as globally connected alternative futures.