Lindsey Cawrey, PhD Student

The Persistent Pursuit of Growth

Economic growth has been the primary focus for successive governments throughout most of the postwar period. It has also become a key indicator of a country's success and prosperity.

But just how important is it? Should the pursuit of a growing economy really be the end goal for governments, or is there a better way for our society and institutions to function in what has been seen by many as a post-growth era?

For PhD student Lindsey Cawrey, these are key questions and the focus of her politics research at Lincoln. “Governments are desperate for our economy to grow to pay for our public services, but is that the right approach?”, asks Lindsey. “After long periods of growth, maybe we now have the resources and infrastructure we require. They just need to be better utilised through more effective and efficient systems.”

A New Approach

For Lindsey, the solution may be the development of a circular economy, where things are made and consumed in a way that minimises the use of the world’s resources.

“The Marshall Plan after the Second World War imposed American-style expansionism on Europe, where growth became the main goal,” she explains. “By the 1960s, everything had slowed down, but a growing economy remained the core objective, which meant we have continued to exploit the environment in our pursuit of wealth and resources to supplement this slowdown. Perhaps we didn’t need to do this at all. Perhaps we just needed to organise our resources better, particularly at local government level.”

As part of her research, Lindsey, who sits on the North Kesteven District Council and is an executive member of Lincolnshire County Council, has been comparing local government approaches in England and Germany, finding that the latter is more autonomous and not just a branch of central government. She has also been interviewing key local stakeholders, such as council leaders, chief executives, finance directors, planners, political lobbyists, and housing developers, to see if there is a better approach that can deal with the growth issue while also addressing the potential gaps in funding for core services.

“It appears that it would be better for local authorities to work together and pool resources,” says Lindsey. “There is also a huge crossover in social care between the NHS and local councils where efficiencies can be implemented. My research is showing that there is so much more that can be achieved with a different focus and approach.”

Sharing Ideas

Lindsey had been formulating these ideas for some time and wanted to develop them further to really make an impact. She saw academia as the ideal place to do this. “I felt I needed a PhD, and everything associated with researching at this level, to reach a wide audience,” says Lindsey.

“I found a potential supervisor in politics on the University of Lincoln website and contacted him with my ideas. A few days later I received a response saying he liked my proposal, and within a couple of weeks I had signed up for the PhD, which has been great so far.

“I still have a couple of years to do before I submit my thesis, but I’d love to continue to do more research at Lincoln after graduation. I’d also like to join a think tank and use this as a platform to influence and change policy across the political spectrum. And it would be fantastic if I could do some teaching in this area. I’m really passionate about the subject and would love to share this with other students.”