Dr Richard Douglas

Richard McNeill Douglas is research fellow of CUSP, and an associate fellow of the Political Economy Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London. He obtained a PhD in 2020, with a thesis that used interpretive social science to make sense of those who defend the idea of indefinite growth in environmental debate. As part of CUSP, his work draws on the philosophical anthropology of Charles Taylor in examining the relationship of secular modernity to theology; this includes exploring an analysis of material progress as a form of theodicy.

Previously, Richard has worked as a committee specialist at the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee. In this role he supported the Committee on a range of inquiries, including those on the economics of climate change, emissions trading, carbon budgets, green taxation, sustainable transport, and sustainable housing. He has also been involved in the Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability project.

Work w/ CUSP

Following his PhD research within the CUSP work programme, Richard has written briefings and contributed to the centre’s secretariat support for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Limits to Growth.

Publications

He has written extensively on the environment, economics, and politics in a range of publications, including Environmental Politics, International Journal of Green Economics, Social Epistemology, Monthly Review, Capitalism Nature Socialism, Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy, Political Quarterly, Open Democracy, The Mint Magazine, Church Times, Inside Track – the Green Alliance blog, and the LSE’s Impact of Social Sciences blog. He has contributed to three books, Future Ethics (2010), Facing Up to Climate Reality (2019), and The Political Prospects of a Sustainability Transformation (2021).

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