Exploring Degrowth: A Critical Guide (FireWorks)

225 Pages·2020·3.746 MB·English

by  Vincent Liegey, Anitra Nelson

Exploring Degrowth
FireWorks
Series editors:
Gargi Bhattacharyya, Professor of Sociology,
University of East London
Anitra Nelson, Associate Professor, Honorary Principal
Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute,
University of Melbourne
Wilf Sullivan, Race Equality Office, Trade Union Congress
Also available
Reinventing the Welfare State:
Digital Platforms and Public Policies
Ursula Huws
Pandemic Solidarity:
Mutual Aid During the Covid-19 Crisis
Edited by Marina Sitrin, Colectiva Sembrar
Fireworks
Exploring Degrowth
A Critical Guide
Vincent Liegey and Anitra Nelson
Foreword by Jason Hickel
First published 2020 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Vincent Liegey and Anitra Nelson 2020
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain
their permission for the use of copyright material in this book.
The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions in this respect
and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be
incorporated in future reprints or editions.
The right of Vincent Liegey and Anitra Nelson to be identified as
the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 4201 6 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4202 3 Paperback
ISBN 978 1 7868 0759 5 PDF eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0761 8 Kindle eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0760 1 EPUB eBook
Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Contents
List of Figures and Boxes vi
List of Abbreviations and Symbols vii
Glossary ix
Series Preface xiv
Foreword by Jason Hickel xv
Preface xix
Acknowledgements xxiv
1 Introduction: Exploring ‘Degrowth’ 1
2 Decolonising Our Growth Imaginaries 20
3 Degrowth in Practice 49
4 Political Strategies for Degrowth 86
5 The Degrowth Project: A Work in Progress 116
Postface: ‘Now Is the Time of Monsters’ 154
Appendix 1: A Platform for Degrowth 158
Appendix 2: The Content of the Unconditional
Autonomy Allowance 163
Appendix 3: Implementing the Unconditional
Autonomy Allowance: Transitionary Steps 168
Notes 170
Selected Further Reading and Links 186
Index 189
List of Figures and Boxes
FIGURES
1.1 Two imaginaries 13
2.1 Energy descent 29
2.2 Brands aren’t your friends 38
3.1 Seven types of ordinary happiness 61
3.2 Fifth International Degrowth Conference banner 75
4.1 Activist Patrick Jones at a climate change rally,
Melbourne 2019 93
4.2 Advertising 108
4.3 Pete Seeger – ‘If it can’t be reduced…’ 109
5.1 Fuck work 118
5.2 AdHack Manifesto 135
BOXES
2.1 The tourist and the fisherman 40
5.1 A lifestyle menu 144
5.2 Degrowth formation: Cargonomia 146
List of Abbreviations
and Symbols
aka also known as
CADTM Committee for the Abolition of
Illegitimate Debt
DIO do it ourselves
DIY do it yourself
EU European Union
FCAI Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries
GDP gross domestic product
GPI genuine progress indicator
IPBES Intergovernmental Science-Policy
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosys-
tem Services
IEA International Energy Agency
kWh kilowatts per hour
L litres
LETS labour/local exchange trading system/s
m metre/s
MAI (in French, maximum acceptable income (revenu
RMA) maximum autorisé)
NIMBY not in my back yard
PPLD Collectif Nous Sommes Parti.e.s Pour
La Décroissance
R&D Research and Degrowth
viii ◆ EXPLORING DEGROWTH
UAA unconditional autonomy allowance
UFO unidentified flying object
UK United Kingdom
US United States (of America)
ZAD Zone à Défendre
Glossary
Autonomy A central political concept for the degrowth
movement, mainly influenced by Cornelius Castoriadis’
work, where agency and subsidiarity are central. Refers to
the will, capacity and capability to self-define, to decide
and act responsibly within socio-political limits, whether
as an individual or a collective. Its opposite, heteronomy, is
effective submission, or giving power over, to an external
authority.
Commons and commoning Refer to co-created, co-gov-
erned and co-accessed cultural and natural resources and
associated activities. The key questions for degrowth, in
particular for the degrowth project, focus on creating and
experimenting with new types of co-governance which
are significantly more equal, transparent, democratic and
sustainable than those driven by the logic of the market.
Convivial A central concept for degrowth, coined and
developed by Ivan Illich. As a practice, it means a coop-
erative, mutual, sociable and sharing approach. As a
characteristic of societies, it means that citizens (not
experts or technocrats) directly control technologies and
institutions, so that technologies are selected to serve the
common interest and do not breach the counter-produc-
tivity threshold.