"The Future Is Degrowth" - 1. Introduction

Manifesto in 2020 in the Netherlands, advocating to:

  • Move away from development focused on GDP growth
  • Framework focused on redistribution (eg. UBI)
  • Agricultural transformation towards being regenerative
  • Reduction of consumption and travels
  • Debt cancellation

But establishment pointed then the "misery of degrowth".

{i} Degrowth (as defined by scholars): criticizes hegemony of growth, proposes reorganization of society. Even if "green" or "inclusive", economic growth in industrialized countries is unsustainable. Need to reduce material throughput for the wealthy.

"Spirit of Davos" vs "Spirit of Porto Alegre" (Wallerstein, 2000's):

  • "Davos" (includes green capitalists, feudal authoritarians, neo-fascists, etc):

    • No need to change current system, we just need better tech, more efficiency, etc. Neo-fascists wants to close borders, extract more resources, etc.
    • They want to change things to preserve what's seen as "the order of things". In favor of growth.

  • Porto Alegre": 2 sub-camps

    • Progressive productivists ("socialists"): growth + redistribution. "Overcoming" work through better productivity and efficiency.
    • Left libertarians: they question growth, focus on self-organizations coming from below. Degrowth belongs here.

While Green New Deal (GND) emphasizes growth of everything sustainable, degrowth also and at least rigorously puts the focus on the many things that will have to go. Policies to achieve downscaling and de-accumulation of economic activities like advertising, planned obsolescence, etc.

But that will lead to reduction of GDP: societies need to be prepared by reorganizing institutions (GND has been criticized for continuing rather than challenging, uneven neo-colonial relationships - eg. poor countries mining lithium for solar panels).

Where did degrowth come from? "Décroissance" dated back to 1972 (André Gorz). Got momentum in the 1970's with activists, but receded in the background with rise of neoliberalism in the 1980's. 2002: "Décroissance conviviale" (positive vision). Implies that GDP isn't good.

Degrowth often seen through economy and ecology, less so from social science angle (patriarchy, colonialism, imperialism, racism, capitalism). That's what this book is trying to address.

What is degrowth?

Proponents largely agree that economic growth without destruction of nature is illusion: need to equitably downscale production and consumption. Transformation to a degrowth society will come from below, will be peaceful, will overcome capitalism and patriarchy. It requires downscaling of some industries.

Degrowth involves set of policies for how to get to the future we need.

Degrowth attempts to reconfigure economics (and is also a radical critique economics itself, as economics has become too tangled with growth)

{i} Degrowth is an "umbrella term" as it is a set of critiques, proposals an strategies.

What degrowth is not

  • It's not a proposal for recession and result in social catastrophe

    • Degrowth is the opposite of recession (degrwoth is planned, recessions are not). Degrowth reduces inequality, recession lead to cuts in public services.
    • Degrowth is not a crisis, capitalism is.

  • It's not against modernity or progress.

    • Degrowth claims that systems built on economic growth obstructs progress towards global justice, well-being.

  • It's not another word for austerity (eg. "cutting public services is good as it increases competitiveness, leads to growth")

    • Degrowth policies focuses on democratizing production, reducing massive wealth, increasing equality between societies: private sufficiency and public abundance. More collective forms of provisioning.

  • It's not about reducing across-the-board undifferentiated types of production

    • Degrowth criticizes dominance of consumer culture (but it's not against consumption as such).
    • Degrowth takes aim at policies promoting GDP growth because growth does not differentiate between useful and destructive, essential and superfluous.

  • But what about "shift to sustainable energy requires growth" argument?

    • Degrowth dissociates socially & ecologically necessary improvements from the idea of growth.

Degrowth aims to decolonize the Global North to make space for the Global South (reperative justice, transfer of resources).

It's only because our economies are dependent on growth that stagnation is seen as problematic.

"Degrowth" names the "enemy", which is productive in starting conversation ("Post-growth" does not activate the growth frame as much).

What we argue

That degrowth contributes a holistic critique and proposal capable of deconstructing the dominant ideology driving capitalism today.

We argue that growth is a 3 interlinked process:

  1. Economic growth as a policy goal
  2. A social process that preceded hegemony of growth (cultural norms, mode of living).
  3. A material process: expanding use of land, materials, etc.