Growth is a complicated business. Over the centuries, economists have not only been divided over how to make it come about, but over whether it is really a good thing in the first place. On the one hand, we want to live comfortable existences free of struggle, but then again many of us would prioritise greater social equality or preserving the environment over endless economic enrichment. As we shudder through the collective hangover, growth for growth's sake now finds itself under fresh scrutiny.

Ironically it is in affluent Germany, the only place in Europe that currently seems to have any hope of economic growth, where the consensus on the intrinsic value of growth is most sceptical. A recent survey commissioned by Bertelsmann Stiftung found that eight out of ten Germans crave a new economic order. The number of Germans who see growth as very important was down 14% compared with two years ago. The proportion of Germans who highly value money and possessions also dropped. Nearly two-thirds disagreed with the idea that a higher income could increase their quality of life. Many Germans now value protection of the environment over material prosperity, according to the findings.

Academic research seems very much in line with the popular mood: German thinkers are increasingly publishing work, which denounces growth and touts drastic alternative economic policies. One of the more high-profile members of this movement is Niko Paech from the University of Oldenburg, who recently published a controversial new book called Liberation from Affluence, in which he lambasts growth , argues that societies need to shrink their economies, and calls for an embrace of self-sufficiency models and regional exchange. His policies for the ideal society include a 20-hour week, the introduction of regional currencies, and decommissioning large development projects such as motorways and airports.

Reinhard Loske is another member of the so-called "post-growth" movement. In Where Now With the Growth Question? he advocates the formation of innovative transition towns featuring social banking, taxation according to environmental consumption rather than labour, and an enforced basic income. Meanwhile, conservationist Angelika Zahrnt, in her co-edited book on a post-growth economy, rallies for less paid work and more free time for the workforce.

Many adherents to this burgeoning academic bloc can barely conceal their contempt for the financial architecture underlying the German economy and those of other western countries. To them, the modern financial sector is responsible for the current economic downturn, and in need of complete overhaul. They include economic commentator Thomas Jorberg, who has argued for a ban on financial services that don't service the real economy and claims that banks should only be allowed to partake in activities that address basic human needs.

Some of these ideas seem far-fetched. But they have received a genuine hearing in Germany: a review of the books by Paech and Loske was published in the leading national newspaper Zeit earlier in September with the title: Frau Merkel, lesen Sie diese Bücher ("Frau Merkel, read these books").

Perhaps a convergence of two factors helps to explain this shift. First, the financial crisis may have made some Germans more wary of growth as an ultimate end goal for a country. Second, their relative wealth gives Germans the luxury of security, and that security in turn makes them more likely to indulge in postmaterialist musings.

This idea fits neatly within the theories of the modern father of post-materialism, Ronald Inglehart. Writing in the 1970s, Inglehart argued that prosperity alone would ensure that humanity's values would gradually shift from materialism to postmateralist values like autonomy and self-expression. It also chimes with common sense: is it not natural that Germans, who are more likely to have steady jobs and can pay the mortgage, are less concerned with economic enrichment than Greeks who struggle to find a job?

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell, the controversial author Edward Abbey once said. That might seem like a rather brutal declaration. But since the financial crisis, it seems many Germans, both exposed to crisis and isolated from the worst effects, would be tempted to agree.