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**Introduction to Degrowth (D'Alisa et al. 2015) (2. Degrowth today (A…
**Introduction to Degrowth (D'Alisa et al. 2015)
1. The twists and turns of degrowth
continued consumption of scarce resources will inevitably result in exhausting them completely
No other way but to consume less AND LESS
Socialism is nothing more than extending capitalism for the middle classes
Political ecology- ecology was part and parcel to radical political transformation
Public debate on de-growth took off in 2002
Sustainable development was an oxymoron
Network growing in France and now in parts of Latin America
Entered academic journals with over 100 published articles and 7 special issues in peer-reviewed journals
2. Degrowth today
A critique of growth, establishment of economic growth as a social objective
Sharing, simplicity, care, commons
Down scaling of production and consumption
Not leaner but smaller
Criticism of growth, GDP, capitalism and commodification
Creation of new commons, eco-communitiies, work-sharing
A reduction of GDP, a green, caring, communal economy
The automatic association of growth with better is what degrowth wants to dismantle
Flourishing when talking about education, not growth
De-growth in the north will liberate ecological growth in the South, in order to liberate the conceptual space for countries to find their own trajectories on what they define as a good life.
The panorama of degrowth
Limits to growth, degrowth and autonomy, growth as re-politicisation
The limits of growth
Growth is uneconomic and unjust, ecologically unsustainable and never will be enough
The costs of growth mentally and physically
It is subsidised and sustained by invisible reproductive work in the household
Commodification is eroding sociality and mores
Profit motivations crowd out moral and altruistic behaviours and social well being diminishes as a result
At a certain level growth does not increase happiness
Social limits of growth: growth can never satisfy personal competition, growth will never produce enough for everyone
Growth is ecologically unsustainable- continuous global growth most planetary ecosystem boundaries will be surprassed
Private and public debt sustained an otherwise unsustainable rate of growth
Degrowth and autonomy
A desireable project for its own sake in the search for autonomy
Autonomy is freedom from paid work, bureaucratic institutions
Autonomy requires convivial tools ie tools which are understandable, manageable and controllable by their users
High tech projects for eco-modernisation reduce autonomy
Degrowth as repoliticisation
Re-politicise environmentalism and end the depoliticising consensus on sustainable development
Depoliticises genuine political antagonisms about the kind of future one wants to inhabit
About grener development not looking at alternative visions to modern development
Degrowth calls for the politicisation of science and technology
Post-normal science calls for a shift from a community of experts to decisions by expert communities
Political ecology attributes this depoliticisation to the rise of neo-liberalism. Neoliberal reforms justified in the name of growth , justified in the name of development
Degrowth and capitalism
Growth negatively impacts the biosphere but is imperative under capitalism
Lack of growth destabilises capitalism and liberal democracy
Growth avoids redistributive conflict and sustains capitalism politically
Enforcing resource gaps and social minima requires a radical redistribution of [political power and questions the survival of capitalism. Simply a revolution is needed
Degrowth nor just about reduced throughput, also about re imagining and constructing a different society
Alternatives, projects and policies that signify a degrowth imaginary are essentially non capitalist, diminishing the core principles of core capitalist institutions
The degrowth transition
Grassroots economic practices- eco-communities, cooperatives
Shift of production for exchange to production for use
Substitution of wage labour for voluntary activity
Dont have a desire to accumulate and expand
Process of communing. source of innovation for renewing public services and abetting privatisation
Preventative health care over high-tech diagnosis and treatments
The future of degrowth
Far from being accepted by academia and society at large
Political question concerns the social dynamics, the actors: the alliances and the processes that will create a degrowth transition