“Degrowth can be a way out of the crisis”
On December 6, 2020 we gathered to make sense of the year behind us, and ahead of us, in a degrowth context. Speakers and organizers from across the nation and a variety of organizations made it happen, and we maxed out our Zoom account with attendees! Here’s a summary of the presentations and discussion:
What is/isn't Degrowth - DegrowBTV
Degrowth is an idea that criticizes any system that pursues economic growth first and foremost. It's a movement, a practice, and a body of scholarship.
Degrowth is not less of the same! It's not green growth, austerity, or collapse porn. It’s not just a policy package, anticapitalism, or about reducing out footprints, Degrowth is about collectively reimagining what it means to live well now and into the future.
What is Degrowth? video & transcript
Degrowth in this moment / Post-COVID Future - Susan Paulson
Susan calls for two radical changes at the heart of politics
Replace the drive for growth with attention to care for humans and other natures
Reject gendered practices adapted to facilitate economic expansion and embrace those supporting regeneration of life
Degrowth & Race - Brian Gilmore
Historically, African-Americans have not enjoyed equal participation and voice in movements involving human access to non human nature such as Degrowth.
Degrowth cannot avoid the questions of racial inequality, white supremacy, and environmental justice. This must be a concern of all degrowth discussions!
Article: "The World is Yours: Degrowth, Racial Inequality, and Sustainability"
Degrowth & Gender - Mariam Abazeri
By bringing up deeply normative questions such as What is a good life? Degrowth addresses all of us as active, society-shaping citizens, rather than consumers
A gender conscious degrowth approach must examine how subjectivities, such as gender, influence our understanding of a good life. e.g. commoning care work and questioning distributions of power and justice,
What are the transformations we seek where productivity is not the center of our communal and subjective values?
Degrowth & Decolonization - Erica Jung
Not only does the US military warfare have catastrophic effects on the environment, economic warfare, including sanctions, can force countries into adopting unsustainable practices. For example, as a result of economic sanctions, Iran has had to accelerate water-intensive infrastructure developments to increase agricultural output and safeguard food security.
In the United States, the police-, prison-, and military-industrial complexes serve as the engine that fuels racial capitalism.
The abolition of such is necessary in achieving an equitable and sustainable world, in transitioning to a degrowth society.
Degrowth & Economy - Mike Strode
Degrowth is seeking to counter the effects of systems which came to exist under global capitalism and should adopt a deep critique of capitalism which makes defining capitalism helpful.
Economies involve all activities that bring people into relation with each other and with their environment to forge ways of living which means degrowth is a world building activity.
Solidarity economy includes a set of values, principles, and practices which articulate a post-capitalist world and could be better aligned within degrowth as we contend with the issues of equity, decolonialism, and shifting power.
Read up on the Kola Nut Collaborative
Degrowth & Technology - John Mulrow & Lindsay Barbieri
The Biden Transition site makes it clear they think climate change can be solved with technological solutions rather than societal and systemic ones.
Conviviality is a key metric for evaluating our technologies. A convivial technology prioritizes shared accessibility and control of design and use.
Degrowth & Spirituality - Erik Assadourian
Spiritual communities shape people's worldviews and provide meaning; they wield moral authority and control both social and financial capital
Degrowth can be integrated with current conversations in faith communities AND eco-centric spiritual communities may have degrowth as a central principle.
Read up on Gaianism at www.gaianism.org
Degrowth: A Radical Alternative to the Crisis – Barbara Muraca
Remember: "Your crisis is not our degrowth!"
Capitalist societies stabilize themselves via acceleration, expansion, exploitation and externalization
"Degrowth" is a purposely controversial word. It shoves a wedge in the core of modern, industrial societies
See Barbara’s presentation for a list of degrowth-centric proposals for guiding society out of the COVID pandemic