The Cost of Growth | Doc Screening + After-talk

- Who owns the economy? 
- Who pays the price for the never-ending thirst for economic growth? 
- How are communities resisting? 

Join us for a screening of The Cost of Growth, a feature-length documentary that connects local struggles against extractivism in Serbia, Italy and Sapmi with broader debates on justice, democracy, and war. Engaging with communities in the frontlines of socio-ecological devastation that economic growth leaves behind, the documentary also features interviews with key figures and thought leaders, such as Jason Hickel, Greta Thunberg, Brototi Roy, and Vijay Prashad. 

About the film: 
The Cost of Growth (2025, 93 min) challenges and confronts the story of Europe’s economic growth by exposing the extractive systems it relies on and focusing on the communities that pay the price of economic growth around the world. Economic growth, measured as GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth, is both uneven and unequal in terms of its impacts across human and more-than-human environments. Approaches such as degrowth/post-growth challenge growth-driven societies, whose economies have proved highly damaging to both people and the planet. This is what some scholars call ‘the imperial mode of living’, making growth the key aim of the global economy while the costs are outsourced to places and communities elsewhere.

About the After-Talk: 
After the film we will be joined by Lena Hartog (co-producer of the film and PhD candidate at Utrecht University), Dr. Ethemcan Turhan (Spatial Planning and Environment), Dr. Marc Esteve del Valles (Media and Journalism Studies).

This session will be moderated by Dr. Sirin Fulya Erensoy (Film Studies) and will be held in English. Access is free, no registration needed.