What Does Degrowth Mean?

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Contents

  • Confronted with an environmentally, socially and culturally destructive crisis of over accumulation, economic growth appears more and more as the problem and not the solution. The critic of the standard economic system, on the one hand, and the awareness of the social and ecological issues, on the other hand, lead logically to a necessary degrowth of the economy. Such degrowth has to be ecologically sustainable and socially equitable.
  • Obviously, the economic degrowth does not intend to replace the standard economy proposing a "theory of everything", as John Gowdy says. Indeed, a degrowth society will take as many different forms as it will be necessary, depending on the resources and the culture of each local region.

Is There a Definition for Degrowth?

  • There is no one unique definition for degrowth. In reality, there are as many definitions as they are different standpoints. Here are some attempts of definition for degrowth depending on various standpoints:
Ecological Economics
  • "Degrowth is a reduction of production and consumption in physical terms through down-scaling (and not only through efficiency improvements)."[1]

to be completed...

What Degrowth Is Not?

There are several misconceptions about the degrowth and the steady state economy. Here are some arguments that decisively refute these misconceptions.

Myth

Reality

If the North degrows, the economic situation of the South will worsen.

It will be true only if the North keep preventing countries of the South from achieving self-sufficiency. "Countries of the South have lost their self-sufficiency [in food]", which was still a reality in Africa until the 1960s, at the time when "the development offensive began"[2].

Therefore, the North has to be careful not to Westernize the South still further even when using of good intentions that actually reflect "the usual ethnocentrism of development"[2]. Some people from the South sometimes say: "leave the poor alone and stop talking them about development" (Gras, 2003 in: Latouche, 2009)[2].

Finally as Serge Latouche says, "degrowth in the North is a precondition for the success of any form of alternative in the South"[2].

  • to be completed...

What Are The Different Strategies of Degrowth?

There are different strategies of degrowth that are complementary to each others. The following chart shows how these strategies of degrowth are organized.[3]

1) Anti-growth

The 'anti-growth' approach consists in being opposed to the institutions and policies that represent the growth society. The following examples are different forms that can take such an opposition to growth:
  • Civil disobedience to banks
  • Clown actions
  • Anti-nano action; anti-advertisement action
  • Blocking of mining site
  • Opposition to mega-projects of infrastructures
  • Landless demonstrations in India
  • Etc.

2) Alter-growth

The 'alter-growth' strategy consists in other ways of living as alternatives to the growth society through voluntary simplicity (or simple living) and frugal innovations.

3) A-growth

The 'a-growth' strategy stands in the way of "the religion of growth" in the sense in which we speak of 'a-theism'[2]. This will be possible through:
  • Theorization (R&D, Entropia, etc.) and vulgarization (DegrowthPedia, etc.) of the notion of degrowth
  • Degrowth work and sciences and arts

4) De-growth

'De-growth' is a political project but not in the electoral sense[2]. Such a strategy consists in political actions for the change of institutions:

5) No-growth

The 'no-growth' strategy consists in the steady-state of institutions through:
  • Political struggle to maintain non market relations
  • Conservation of art traditions
  • Defense of democratic institutions
  • Conservation of resources
  • Defense of ecosystems
  • Defense of equality rights

References

  1. ↑ Kallis, G., 2010. The Degrowth Propositions and Research Questions, Panel during the 2nd international conference on economic degrowth for ecological sustainability and social equity, March 26-29, 2010, Barcelona, Spain
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Latouche, S., 2009. Farewell to Growth. Malden, MA: Polity
  3. ↑ Schneider, F., 2010. Multiple Sources, Dimensions, and Strategies of Degrowth, Panel during the 2nd international conference on economic degrowth for ecological sustainability and social equity, March 26-29, 2010, Barcelona, Spain

See also

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