Canadian Mennonite University

James Magnus-Johnston

Assistant Professor, Business; Director, Centre for Resilience

James Magnus-Johnston

Program(s)Political Studies, Business

Emailjmagnus-johnston:@:cmu.ca

James is a political economist and entrepreneur.  His research interests lie at the intersection between institutions and ideology: energy and the environment, debt and crypto, governance and "the good life." He's particularly curious about the implications of post-growth ("steady state" or "degrowth") ideology in business and policy settings, applying both an affirming and a critical lens. 

He is the Director of the CMU Centre for Resilience, CMU's co-working lab; he teaches in the areas of business and political studies and is involved in a number of business endeavours.  He has an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University, where he studied the social and ecological dynamics of the debt-based money system, and he's presently building on that body of research in his PhD at McGill. 

James has first-hand experience evaluating the promise and peril of forward-looking policy in institutional settings. He previously served as a Board Director for Assiniboine Credit Union, one of Canada's largest independent financial institutions. Prior to that, he served as a financial counsellor in an insolvency firm, in public policy positions, and as an entrepreneur and business advisor. He has co-founded a local food distribution centre (The Fireweed Food Co-op), a coffee shop (Fools + Horses), a composting service (Compost Winnipeg), a housing initiative (Prairie Rivers CoLiving), and several arts initiatives as a performer and board director (Polycoro, Antiphony, Proximus 5). Presently, he works as a business consultant with functional medicine clinics in Europe and the US, is the co-founder/co-owner of Revive Labs, a health optimization centre, and sits on the board of the Light of the Prairies Retreat Centre.

Areas of Teaching

economics, governance, energy, finance, public policy, entrepreneruship, communications

Education

PhD candidate in Energy and Renewable Resources, McGill University; MPhil Economics, Cambridge University; Double BA (Hons.) in Political Studies, Theatre, and Rhetoric & Communications, University of Winnipeg

Work in Detail

Teaching

Research

(selected)

Book Chapter

What is the Steady State Economy? In Washington, H. and Twomey, P. (eds). A Future Beyond Growth: Towards a steady state economy.  London: Routledge, 2016.  

Researched policy reports

Energy East: Taking Manitoba in the Wrong Direction. with Fernandez, L., Hudson, M. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Winnipeg: 2016.

Winnipeg's Great Transition: Ideas and Actions for a Low-Carbon, Climate-Resilient City. Magnus-Johnston, J., ed., with the Transition Winnipeg Initiating Committee, Transition Winnipeg, 2014.

Response to the Government of Manitoba's Green Plan. Magnus-Johnston, ed. with Harvey Stevens and the Green Economy Working Group, Manitoba Eco-Network, December 2012.

Research Papers

Magnus-Johnston, J., and Knight, M., Sustainability through Song: Flow-seeking behaviour, procedural utility, and the subordination of consumer impulses. Prepared for the Canadian Resource and Environmental Economics Study Group. Saskatoon, 2014.

Interrogating Debt as a Driver of Growth: Links between financial and ecological indebtedness in rich-world economies. Cambridge University Press, May 2010. 

Editorials

Guess what Trudeau said about growth? Resilience.org. Nov, 2015.

What about innovating beyond the growth trap? Resilience.org. July, 2015.

Peace, Love, and the Gift. Resilience.org. December, 2014.

Hedonism, Survivalism, and the Burden of Knowledge. Resilience.org. November, 2014.

Art Valuable Regardless of Price. Winnipeg Free Press. July, 2011.

Making Sense of the Protests through a Post-Growth Lens. Resilience.org. Oct, 2010. 

More available here.

Performance

While unrelated to his scholarly interests,  James is a tenor who has sung with a range of professional ensembles, including Proximus 5, Polycoro, the Winnipeg Singers, Dead of Winter (Camerata Nova),  and Antiphony.  Some favourites: 

Applied

James has initiated or participated in a range of local organisations and business endeavours including: 

Community

James worked as a cantor with Holy Trinity Anglican Church, where he served for over 10 years. He currently sings from time to time with emeritus faculty member Dietrich Bartel at All Saints Anglican, Westminster United Church, and has occasionally participated as a soloist at First Mennonite. 

Printed from: ftp.cmu.ca/about/faculty/512