Anthropause: The Beauty of Degrowth

A rallying cry to save the Earth with an "anthropause"--a term that can apply to any broad rollback of economic activity that gives nature room to recover and flourish.

"An iconoclast of the best kind, Stan Cox has an all-too-rare commitment to following arguments wherever they lead, however politically dangerous that turns out to be." --Naomi Klein

In the spring of 2020, people worldwide found themselves confined at home in response to pandemic lockdown orders. Global carbon emissions suddenly plunged 8.8 percent. Air and noise pollution levels plummeted, and streams, rivers, and lakes noticeably became cleaner. Animal life quickly filled spaces that humans had deserted. Scientists documenting how quickly nature flourished in response to less human activity called the phenomena an "anthropause." For a moment, humanity witnessed the beauty of degrowth.

In a world obsessed with getting and having more--more influence, more money, more fame, more stuff--the idea of degrowth seems counterintuitive. Yet, as environmental catastrophe becomes more widespread and severe, degrowth emerges as a necessary collective intervention to protect the living Earth--and civilization as we know it--from collapse.

In Anthropause, Stan Cox writes that by embracing degrowth, we are not turning our backs on progress. Instead, we are redefining it. We can produce enough goods to satisfy everyone's needs, Cox argues, while liberating ourselves from ecocidal economies and the injustices they impose. This book lays out a clear vision of what we will gain and how as we embrace this revolutionary transition. We are seeing climate change happening all around us--2024 was the hottest year on record. Storms are stronger, droughts are longer, and wildfires are everywhere. As we approach the tipping point toward irreversible climate catastrophe, it's clear that we must accept that endless expansion is destructive and reverse it through degrowth. Anthropause shows us how we and the living world will flourish if we succeed.

Author: Stan Cox
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 01/13/2026
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.41h x 5.61w x 1.11d
ISBN: 9781644215142


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/24/2025

About the Author
STAN COX is the author of seven books, including Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (2010), The Green New Deal and Beyond: Ending the Climate Emergency While We Still Can (2020), and The Path to a Livable Future: A New Politics to Fight Climate Change, Racism, and the Next Pandemic (2021). His writing about the economic and political roots of the global ecological crisis have been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, the Nation, the New Republic, Al Jazeera, Yes!, the Progressive, and local publications across 43 U.S. states. In 2012, The Atlantic named Cox their "Readers' Choice Brave Thinker" for his critique of air conditioning. He recently retired from the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, and now lives in Dearborn, Michigan.