A new star is born in the sky of the social movements: the degrowth-movement. The traditional left, however, observes this novelty somewhat critically – degrowth being a path that seems possible without the traditional left. Marxist, feminist and anti-racist analyses were largely missed at the latest Degrowth-Conference and where they were present, participants eyed them rather sceptically. On top of this and besides the insufficient action-orientation, also the social structure of the participants seemed a bit biased. It seems to have been mostly students and academics and as such parts of the (future) privileged groups. Lower classes or at least representatives of their interests – the targeted allies in most leftist strategies to capture the center – were missing. In addition, the critique of consumption and the focus on practical steps for “lifestyles of less” appear ambivalent at least, as they are suspected to legitimize redistribution from bottom to top.
When looking at the various titles of the conference events, there is indeed not much marxist, feminist or anti-racist vocabulary to be found – and even less pointing to regulation-theory and Gramscian approaches. The fatal impacts of the growth-economy here and in the Global South are rather described and bemoaned from a moral perspective and that of cultural critique.
And yet the movement is not at all conforming to a capital-dominated economy. I even dare to make the case that a new string of critique of capitalism might “objectively” emerge from here. A critique that is far more dangerous for this growth-dependent system than previous paradigms of critique which took the production of poverty, exclusions or economic disfunctionalities as their starting points.
Wanted: Societal structure for ecological sustainability and social equity
Already the title of the Leipzig “International Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity” points to the claim of integrally combining ecology with social justice. But did the conference actually live up to it?
At first sight, the abundance of events and topics did not allow a quick overview of the topical weighting. Roughly one half of this mega-meeting consisted of “theory”, and the other half of “practice”: of scientific and political reflections on necessities, concepts, transformation paths and obstacles for a postgrowth society on the one hand, and practical workshops for exchange and initiation of bottom-up interventions for a postgrowth culture on the other.
The following events from the “theoretical part” can be directly attached to the topic of social justice:
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Distribution of income and wealth, Rights to consume
“Well being, social capital and income change“
”Rewarding with a licence to commit ecocide: High incomes and climate change”
”Equity and emissions: How are household emissions are distributed,..”
”Ensuring equitable access to energy in the context of a cap”
”Equity within limits: Introducing convergance mapping and initiatives with contraction as well as equity processes”
”Happiness and income decrease. Am empirical study from Barcelona”
“Climate justice and post-growth”
”Solidary mobility” -
Social security/ Basic income
“Basic Income and Degrowth“
“Unconditional basic Income, human rights-based equality and economic degrowth“
” Ecological Basic Income – An Acceleration Brake?”
” Unconditional Basic Autonomy by income or infrastructure?” -
Concepts of work/ Shorter working hours
“Degrowth economy: What does this mean with regard to concepts of work“
”Work in degrowth societies”
”Exploring human labour in times of low carbon and no growth economies”
”Degrowth and unemployment”
”Downshifting – Rejecting the growth imperative or internalizing the neoliberal order?”
However, the topic of social justice was not only addressed in the narrow sense of distribution of income, consumption and work. Another bunch of events was rather devoted to the question of the necessary/suitable societal structure of a postgrowth society, as implied for example in the following topical complexes:
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Democracy, Localism, Participation
“Open localism“
“A historical exploration of ruralist ideology in Spain and its importance for the degrowth and democracy debate“
”Participation and economic growth in cooperatives“ -
Commons/ Solidarity Economy, etc.
”Social and solidarity economy as a transitional path towards a degrowth society”
”Solidarity economy in Brazil and Degrowth”
”Commoning in the new society”
”Participation and economic growth in cooperatives” -
Critique of the Green Economy
” Green economy and its others: conservation, scarcity, and buen vivir”
” Degrowth and the quest of overcoming capitalist conservation” -
Institutions
”Principles for institutional design of future degrowth eco-sustainable societies”
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The role of money: Systemic constraints/ Economization/ Eco-Taxation:
„Citizens vs. markets: Rethinking the economy in time of crises“
“Systems of finance in transition“
” Decommodification by constituting alternative monetary institutions”
” How does the monetary system work, does it require economic growth, and are there monetary policy options allowing degrowth?”
”100% Money and ‘Vollgeld’, no solution for stationary economy”
”Degrowth, the financial system and the pension system”
”How to draw the line between a helpful market adaptation and a destructive capitalization”
”Money, debt, growth – how are they connected?”
”Tax internationally traded commodities to safeguard biodiversity” -
Values, etc.
”Time Use in an alternative Society”
”Ecologically dangerous patriotism”
”Values and Ethics in an Alternative Degrowth society”
”Where do all the hours go? Time use, resource consumption and the dematerialisation of everyday practises” -
Technology
”Degrowth technologies – global experiences”
“Convivial and emancipatory technologies – suitable conceptions for technology in a degrowth society?“
” Attitudes towards technology: dominant technological optimism and challenges for the degrowth alternative”
Furthermore, it wasn’t about a distant utopia. The question of the political path was equally addressed in a broad variety:
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The Politics of Sufficieny
”Exploring consumption-focused policy mixes for absolute decoupling of well-being from resource-use..”
”Sustainable Consumption in Hungary – what is small-footprint-living and can we make it attractive?”
”Claiming sufficiency! An introduction to the policy of sufficiency”
”Politics of sufficiency vs. counterculture” -
Opportunities
„Degrowth as a concrete utopia: Perspectives, chances, obstacles“
“Cultural Agency – Potenziale und Grenzen kultureller Bewegungen“
“Degrowth as counter-hegemony? Lessons from Turkey“
”No good life in a bad life? Experiences of degrowth oriented actors in a growth economy” -
Actors/Strategies
”Drivers and strategies for societal transformation”
“Exploring transformation to a radical alternative society“
”Governance of sustainability transformation”
”Locking in or helping shift? Trends and developments affecting sustainable resource use and degrowth”
”The co-evolutionary relation of post-growth practises between production and consumption. “
”Political ecology and degrowth”
”The perspective of change agents…”
”Why degrowth and not class struggle?”
“Bridging movements and research for the great transformation”
Exit pathways from growth: Emancipatory claims
The minor role of traditionally left models of critique (feminism, marxism, anti-racism) was also due to the fact that these mainly concentrate on the analysis of the existing instead of daring to develop concrete alternatives to it. Models for alternatives can easily be exposed to all sorts of criticism: Cultural approaches might leave the principle of profit untouched, politics of sufficiency might legitimize extra profits, models of autonomy might delegate care-work back to women, eco-taxation might be perceived as commodification of nature, the discussion of alternative monetary systems might distract from the exploitation through the “productive” capital, etc. All these approaches could be dangerous – within the wrong framing of Green Capitalism.
However, it is common sense within the Degrowth-movement that a Green Economy or Green Capitalism is not sufficient and possibly counterproductive for a better relation of society with nature. Of course, the growth critique derived from this approach is not per se an emancipatory and left one, and its scope ranges from the conservative rejection of modern liberties to the radical questioning of any form of authority and representation.
However, as far as the Leipzig Degrowth Conference and also its broader support structure is concerned, emancipatory claims and approaches towards overcoming the forces of growth are prevailing by far. A few examples of the debate’s reference points may shed further light on this:
“Living environment” instead of “system”
The discussed alternative cultures of collective living/working/producing/consuming are shaped by the claim of direct participation and direct collectivization. Thereby, the concept of a “living environment” which is structured by communication, is being strengthened against the influence of the “systems” with their hidden systemic steering mechanisms money and/or authority. At the same time, the ideas of localism and ruralism are critically discussed.
Equality of rights to consume
On the one hand, the claim for degrowth – directed towards the industrialized societies of the north and their followers – is in direct opposition to their “imperial mode of living”. On the other hand, the harmfulness of wealth (as an enabler of waste) is explicitly addressed while the necessity of equal access to resources and basic goods is emphasized. The debate on basic income (in material or monetary form) is an example for this.
Liberated work
One aspect of the discussion are possible models and effects of shortened working hours and “good work”. Another one focuses on various autonomous types of work beyond wage labour, for example do-it-yourself and community work, leisure, etc. So the point is nothing less than the question of the possibility and substance of liberated work as well as its interaction with production and consumption.
These few examples show: Various mechanisms and structures of authority and inequality are analyzed as growth-drivers. With this, the growth-critical movement focuses on a central point.
Reference point: More equality, less authority
In the saturated countries of the North, further economic growth will only be possible if society as a whole becomes more unequal. The wider the gap between high and low income, the more people will be prepared to take up socially and ecologically problematic activities – in order to pay their rent as low-wagers or to maintain the distance to the lower class as members of the middle class. In addition, further economic growth needs an authoritarian society. It guarantees the growth of status consumption: Whoever feels suppressed at work, in the neighbourhood or in society will strive for status symbols in order to present a different picture in the public or at least for themself. This is not only “left” social-psychological theory, but also underpinned by empirical studies such as “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Picket.
In conclusion, this unveils the social-structural conditions of a postgrowth society: such a society will have to be more equal and free than the growth-dependent one, thus pursuing two central goals of modernity – which might only then unfold their full potential. This requires bottom-up initiatives and model projects, but can only be generalized through postgrowth policies that provide free spaces for all members of society and secure more equality throughout society– as a basis for spreading postgrowth cultures beyond small vanguards.
It is the duty of the left to develop attractive policy offers, paradigms, up to date claims and pointed analyses for this. A new society only grows in the lap of the old one, and also a new economy does not emerge from nowhere. It will have to link up to existing tendencies. In spite of this, these would still be “non-reformist reforms” (Andre Gorz). This is because policies that achieve more equality in distribution and liberty for everyone will have to push back structures of inequality, of racism, sexism and power of capital. These policies will lead to a new societal hegemony, a new of regulating the economy. Can this still be called capitalism?
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This article is based on a discussion paper presented at the workshop “Growth Critique and the Democratization of Societal Nature Relations” organized by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
Translation: Christiane Kliemann