- Political Ecology, Human Geography, Ecological Economics, Environmental Justice, Waste, DeGrowth, and 24 moreWaste Pickers, Delhi, India, Pluriverse, Accumulation by Dispossession, Accumulation by Contamination, Serge Latouche, Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Renewable Energy, Herbert Marcuse, Utopian Studies, Sustainable Development, French Revolution, Politics, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Utopian Literature, Ecological Distribution Conflicts, Environmental Conflicts, Geography, and Urban Geographyedit
- I am an associate professor in ecological economics and political ecology at the University of Barcelona. Moreover, I... moreI am an associate professor in ecological economics and political ecology at the University of Barcelona. Moreover, I am also a researcher at ICTA UAB, a prestigious interdisciplinary centre of environmental research (ranked 8th in environmental studies by the Center for World University Rankings and awarded as a unit of research excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Economy). My main research interest is to understand the relationship between the environment and the economy. I have a consolidated experience in international and national competitive research projects, and until recently I was the deputy coordinator of the ERC project EnvJustice (led by Prof. Joan Martinez-Alier) which maps and analyses the social conflicts between the environment and the economy.
Overall, I have published more than 20 articles in highly ranked journals in socio-environmental sciences like Ecological Economics and Sustainability Science, 14 book chapters, as well as edited 5 special issues and 2 successful books (one of which translated into more than 10 languages). My last book is "The case for degrowth", co-authored with Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson and Giacomo D'Alisa. I have proven experience in teaching and mentoring, that I consider an essential part of my professional and intellectual activity.
I have given over 100 talks and presentations in more than 40 countries mainly at scientific conferences, but also for the general public and policy makers, including at the House of Commons, Oxford University, and the European Commission. I am also active on academic social networks with personal profiles at Academia.edu and ResearchGate (with more than 30.000 and 20.000 views, respectively). Lastly, aiming to ensure a wide outreach of my research, I regularly publish press articles in English, Spanish, French and Italian, in newspapers like The Guardian, The Ecologist, The Conversation, Open Democracy, eldiario.es (Spain) and Mediapart (France).
Ecological economics is a transdisciplinary field that aims to improve and expand economic theory to integrate the earth’s natural systems, but also human values, health and well-being. My research is related to its following central topics: 1) the relationships between the environment and growth, trade and/or technology (e.g. substitution between natural and man-made capital); 2) the scale issue deriving from the embeddedness of the economy in nature, and the ecological distribution conflicts related to it (i.e. “the calculations in nature”, such as social metabolism, that are the materials and energy flows within the economy); 3) valuation as well as decision- and policy-making (e.g. externalities or multicriteria assessment). In brief, ecological economics argues that economic theory needs to pay attention also to scale issues, since these cannot be reduced to either allocation or distribution.
The primary questions motivating my research in the coming years are these: 1) Why are natural resources and environmental impacts unequally distributed? And how does this occur? 2) Which public policies could promote more socially just and ecologically sustainable worlds? And how could this be achieved? In pursuit of answers to these questions I have developed an ambitious two-pronged research agenda that is mature enough to attract broad financial support, and will result in high-quality scholarly outputs as well as demonstrable impact. First, I plan to engage with a critique of growth-based development that depoliticizes genuine political antagonisms between alternative visions, as well as investigate the resistance it faces; and second, I will inquire into the alternative imaginaries. This gives coherence to my intellectual project as it pursues the following interrelated research interests related to the central topics of Ecological Economics: 1) Ecological Macroeconomics for Degrowth; 2) Economics of waste management; and 3) Mapping environmental justice and conflicts. In terms of geographical areas, I primarily focus on the Global South in general, and India in particular.
My work is interdisciplinary, and investigates the interactions between ecological and social processes putting emphasis upon spatial dimensions, biophysical dynamics, power relations, economic institutions, cultural narratives, political structures, and intersectionality of race, gender and class.edit - Joan Martinez Alier, Giorgos Kallis, Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Ashish Kothari, Alberto Acosta , Enric Telloedit
The debates on the sustainability of development have a long history. Although the Brundtland Report popularized "sustainable development", this slippery concept sidelined previous critiques of development and has been compatible with a... more
The debates on the sustainability of development have a long history. Although the Brundtland Report popularized "sustainable development", this slippery concept sidelined previous critiques of development and has been compatible with a wide range of conflicting agendas. A notable example of this contradiction is the uncritical promotion of capitalist growth in the pursuit of social justice and ecosystem health by the sustainable development goals. In contrast to this reliance on the "one world" of Euroamerican market economies, this special feature presents 12 case studies of "alternatives to sustainable development". These case studies question the anthropocentric universalism of the development project and enact radically different relational ontologies, often gathered under the conceptual umbrella of the "pluriverse". They focus on territorial, community, and network initiatives that intend to move methodologically beyond discourse analysis with a situated and empirical analysis of how pluriversal practices might flourish as well as generate tensions. We identify three frictions with capitalist modernity emerging from these contributions: (1) how alternatives to sustainable development relate to state institutions, (2) how they engage with the distribution of surplus, and (3) how they unsettle scientific epistemologies, at times regenerating past resources-and at other times radical futures. With this special feature, we hope to re-politicize the debates on the science and practice of sustainability, and weave the contributions of anticolonial and indigenous science studies into neo-Marxist and post-development critiques.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, Environmental Science, Economics, and 15 moreAnthropology, Political Economy, Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Marxism, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Environmental Sustainability, Post-Development Theory, Arturo Escobar, and Pluriverse
You can buy it for 15 dollars at AbeBooks (they ship worldwide): https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30337321496&searchurl=kn%3Dpluriverse%2Bdictionary%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1 FOR BUYING THE BOOK at a... more
You can buy it for 15 dollars at AbeBooks (they ship worldwide): https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30337321496&searchurl=kn%3Dpluriverse%2Bdictionary%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1
FOR BUYING THE BOOK at a discounted rate, please get directly in touch with our publisher AUF at info@authorsupfront.com.
"Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary" is a stimulating collection of over 100 essays on transformative alternatives to the currently dominant processes of globalized development, including its structural roots in modernity, capitalism, state domination, and masculinist values. In the post-development imagination, 'development' would no longer be the organizing principle of social life. The book presents worldviews and practices from around the world in a collective search for an ecologically wise and socially just world. It also offers critical essays on a number of false solutions that those in power are proposing in an attempt to 'greenwash' development. The 120+ contributors to the volume include activists, academics, and practitioners, with a wealth of experience in their respective fields of engagement.
The book focuses on the conceptualisation and practice of radical alternatives to ‘development’. It also challenges mainstream or superficial solutions to global crises, including ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development’. What has been missing is a broad transcultural compilation of concrete concepts, worldviews and practices from around the world, challenging the modernist ontology of universalism in favour of a multiplicity of possible worlds. This is what it means to call for a pluriverse.
The book follows the structure of an encyclopedia, with short 1000-word entries for each of the key terms. The entries are written by invited authors. In the list of authors you might recognize Vandana Shiva, Serge Latouche, Wolfgang Sachs, Silvia Federici, Nnimmo Bassey, Gustavo Esteva, Katherine Gibson, Maristella Svampa and many more.
FOR BUYING THE BOOK at a discounted rate, please get directly in touch with our publisher AUF at info@authorsupfront.com: https://www.authorsupfront.com/pluriverse.htm
Publisher: Authors Up Front (self-publishing platform for the creative community; Delhi, India). See: http://authorsupfront.com/
License: Creative Commons
EDITORS
Ashish Kothari is with Kalpavriksh and Vikalp Sangam in India, and co-editor of Alternative Futures: India Unshackled.
Ariel Salleh is an Australian scholar-activist, author of Ecofeminism as Politics and editor of Eco-Sufficiency and Global Justice.
Arturo Escobar teaches at University of North Carolina, and is author of Encountering Development.
Federico Demaria is with Autonomous University of Barcelona, and co-editor of Degrowth: A Vocubalary for a New Era.
Alberto Acosta is an Ecuadorian economist and activist, and former President of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador.
FOR BUYING THE BOOK at a discounted rate, please get directly in touch with our publisher AUF at info@authorsupfront.com.
"Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary" is a stimulating collection of over 100 essays on transformative alternatives to the currently dominant processes of globalized development, including its structural roots in modernity, capitalism, state domination, and masculinist values. In the post-development imagination, 'development' would no longer be the organizing principle of social life. The book presents worldviews and practices from around the world in a collective search for an ecologically wise and socially just world. It also offers critical essays on a number of false solutions that those in power are proposing in an attempt to 'greenwash' development. The 120+ contributors to the volume include activists, academics, and practitioners, with a wealth of experience in their respective fields of engagement.
The book focuses on the conceptualisation and practice of radical alternatives to ‘development’. It also challenges mainstream or superficial solutions to global crises, including ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development’. What has been missing is a broad transcultural compilation of concrete concepts, worldviews and practices from around the world, challenging the modernist ontology of universalism in favour of a multiplicity of possible worlds. This is what it means to call for a pluriverse.
The book follows the structure of an encyclopedia, with short 1000-word entries for each of the key terms. The entries are written by invited authors. In the list of authors you might recognize Vandana Shiva, Serge Latouche, Wolfgang Sachs, Silvia Federici, Nnimmo Bassey, Gustavo Esteva, Katherine Gibson, Maristella Svampa and many more.
FOR BUYING THE BOOK at a discounted rate, please get directly in touch with our publisher AUF at info@authorsupfront.com: https://www.authorsupfront.com/pluriverse.htm
Publisher: Authors Up Front (self-publishing platform for the creative community; Delhi, India). See: http://authorsupfront.com/
License: Creative Commons
EDITORS
Ashish Kothari is with Kalpavriksh and Vikalp Sangam in India, and co-editor of Alternative Futures: India Unshackled.
Ariel Salleh is an Australian scholar-activist, author of Ecofeminism as Politics and editor of Eco-Sufficiency and Global Justice.
Arturo Escobar teaches at University of North Carolina, and is author of Encountering Development.
Federico Demaria is with Autonomous University of Barcelona, and co-editor of Degrowth: A Vocubalary for a New Era.
Alberto Acosta is an Ecuadorian economist and activist, and former President of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador.
Research Interests: Religion, History, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Psychology, and 15 moreSocial Psychology, Geography, Gender Studies, Economics, Development Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Globalization, Marxism, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Ecology, and Environmental Sustainability
"Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary" is a stimulating collection of over 100 essays on transformative alternatives to the currently dominant processes of globalized development, including its structural roots in modernity,... more
"Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary" is a stimulating collection of over 100 essays on transformative alternatives to the currently dominant processes of globalized development, including its structural roots in modernity, capitalism, state domination, and masculinist values. In the post-development imagination, 'development' would no longer be the organizing principle of social life. The book presents worldviews and practices from around the world in a collective search for an ecologically wise and socially just world. It also offers critical essays on a number of false solutions that those in power are proposing in an attempt to 'greenwash' development. The 120+ contributors to the volume include activists, academics, and practitioners, with a wealth of experience in their respective fields of engagement.
The book focuses on the conceptualisation and practice of radical alternatives to ‘development’. It also challenges mainstream or superficial solutions to global crises, including ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development’. What has been missing is a broad transcultural compilation of concrete concepts, worldviews and practices from around the world, challenging the modernist ontology of universalism in favour of a multiplicity of possible worlds. This is what it means to call for a pluriverse.
The book follows the structure of an encyclopedia, with short 1000-word entries for each of the key terms. The entries are written by invited authors. In the list of authors you might recognize Vandana Shiva, Serge Latouche, Wolfgang Sachs, Silvia Federici, Nnimmo Bassey, Gustavo Esteva, Katherine Gibson, Maristella Svampa and many more.
Cover and Table of contents.
Forthcoming, 2018
Publisher: Authors Up Front (self-publishing platform for the creative community; Delhi, India). See: http://authorsupfront.com/
License: Creative Commons
The book focuses on the conceptualisation and practice of radical alternatives to ‘development’. It also challenges mainstream or superficial solutions to global crises, including ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development’. What has been missing is a broad transcultural compilation of concrete concepts, worldviews and practices from around the world, challenging the modernist ontology of universalism in favour of a multiplicity of possible worlds. This is what it means to call for a pluriverse.
The book follows the structure of an encyclopedia, with short 1000-word entries for each of the key terms. The entries are written by invited authors. In the list of authors you might recognize Vandana Shiva, Serge Latouche, Wolfgang Sachs, Silvia Federici, Nnimmo Bassey, Gustavo Esteva, Katherine Gibson, Maristella Svampa and many more.
Cover and Table of contents.
Forthcoming, 2018
Publisher: Authors Up Front (self-publishing platform for the creative community; Delhi, India). See: http://authorsupfront.com/
License: Creative Commons
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Information Systems, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, and 69 moreReligion, History, Sociology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Geography, Human Geography, Urban Geography, Mathematics, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Information Technology, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Development Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Art History, Education, Technology, Media Studies, Humanities, Development Studies, Educational Technology, Social Sciences, Architecture, Marxism, Human Rights, Poverty, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Community Development, History of Science, Spirituality, Ecological Economics, Yoga Meditation, Computer Networks, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Rural Development, Biology, Social Media, Pedagogy, Capitalism, Developing Countries, Ecology, Ecofeminism, Modernity, Energy and Environment, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Green architecture, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Natural Science, Post-Development Theory, DeGrowth, Transition Towns, Transition Economies, Society, Serge Latouche, Poverty and Inequality, Alternatives to Development, Social Metabolism, Ecosocialism, Buen vivir, Pluriverse, and Swaraj
"Pluriverso: Un diccionario del posdesarrollo" es una estimulante co-lección de más de 100 ensayos sobre alternativas transformado-ras a los actuales procesos dominantes del desarrollo globalizado, incluidas sus raíces estructurales... more
"Pluriverso: Un diccionario del posdesarrollo" es una estimulante co-lección de más de 100 ensayos sobre alternativas transformado-ras a los actuales procesos dominantes del desarrollo globalizado, incluidas sus raíces estructurales ancladas en los valores de la modernidad, el capitalismo, el dominio estatal y lo masculino. En el imaginario posdesarrollista, el «desarrollo» ya no se-ría el principio organizador de la vida social. El libro presenta cosmovisiones y prácticas de todo el mundo en una búsqueda colectiva de sociedades ecológicamente sabias y socialmente jus-tas. También ofrece ensayos críticos sobre una serie de falsas so-luciones que quienes detentan el poder están proponiendo, en un intento de «ecologizar» el desarrollo. Entre los más de 120 contribuyentes al volumen encontramos activistas, académicos y profesionales, con una vasta experiencia en sus respectivas áreas de investigación. La colección Antrazyt pretende ser una herramienta imprescindible para la co-munidad universitaria, estudiosa, gestora política y social, y todas aquellas per-sonas interesadas en profundizar en la temática que ofrece cada libro. Antrazyt recoge trabajos sobre aspectos de la realidad social, histórica o presente, y apuntes para el desarrollo de otros posibles modelos.
ISBN: 978 84 9888 884 3 489 Pluriverso Un diccionario del posdesarrollo
Colección: Antrazyt 492
Páginas: 464
Año: 2019
Descargar PDF: Índice Pluriverso
Compralo aqui: https://icariaeditorial.com/inicio/10-pluriverso-un-diccionario-del-posdesarrollo.html
ISBN: 978 84 9888 884 3 489 Pluriverso Un diccionario del posdesarrollo
Colección: Antrazyt 492
Páginas: 464
Año: 2019
Descargar PDF: Índice Pluriverso
Compralo aqui: https://icariaeditorial.com/inicio/10-pluriverso-un-diccionario-del-posdesarrollo.html
Research Interests: Historia, Economia, Cambio climático, Cooperación Internacional Para El Desarrollo, Ecologia, and 15 moreSociología, Antropología, Ciencias Sociales, Medio Ambiente, Capitalismo, Desarrollo Sustentable, Desarrollo Humano, Sostenibilidad, Ciencias Políticas, Ecología, Ecologia Política, Facultad de ciencias politicas y sociales, Desarrollo sostenible, Posdesarrollo, and Pluriverso
Pluriverso contiene oltre cento saggi sulle iniziative di trasformazione sociale e sulle alternative allo sviluppo oggi dominante, e più in generale ai processi di globalizzazione. Questi ultimi affondano le radici nella modernità, nel... more
Pluriverso contiene oltre cento saggi sulle iniziative di trasformazione sociale e sulle alternative allo sviluppo oggi dominante, e più in generale ai processi di globalizzazione. Questi ultimi affondano le radici nella modernità, nel capitalismo, nel dominio di Stato e nelle pratiche maschiliste.
In questo Dizionario del post-sviluppo sono contenute da un lato riflessioni critiche rispetto alle soluzioni di mercato, al greenwashing delle multinazionali e agli approcci riformisti. Dall’altro lato, il volume raccoglie pratiche globali e cosmovisioni radicalmente alternative: in esse trova espressione la consapevolezza che un mondo ecologicamente saggio e socialmente giusto non solo sia possibile e necessario, ma per certi versi già esista. Per conoscerlo, non resta che immergersi nella lettura di questo libro.
https://www.orthotes.com/prodotto/pluriverso/
In questo Dizionario del post-sviluppo sono contenute da un lato riflessioni critiche rispetto alle soluzioni di mercato, al greenwashing delle multinazionali e agli approcci riformisti. Dall’altro lato, il volume raccoglie pratiche globali e cosmovisioni radicalmente alternative: in esse trova espressione la consapevolezza che un mondo ecologicamente saggio e socialmente giusto non solo sia possibile e necessario, ma per certi versi già esista. Per conoscerlo, non resta che immergersi nella lettura di questo libro.
https://www.orthotes.com/prodotto/pluriverso/
Research Interests: Italian (European History), Italian Studies, Italian Cultural Studies, Italian Literature, Italian Cinema, and 15 moreSociologia, Italian, Letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Antropología filosófica, Ambiente, SCIENZE POLITICHE, Sostenibilità, Scienze della comunicazione, Italiano, Sviluppo Sostenibile, Scienze della formazione, Femminismo, Scienze Sociali, Antropologia, and Filosofia
Es besteht kein Zweifel daran, dass sich die Welt in einer Krise befindet – einer systemischen, multiplen und asymmetrischen Krise, die schon lange gedeiht und sich inzwischen über alle Kontinente hinweg ausbreitet. Noch nie zuvor waren... more
Es besteht kein Zweifel daran, dass sich die Welt in einer Krise befindet – einer systemischen, multiplen und asymmetrischen Krise, die schon lange gedeiht und sich inzwischen über alle Kontinente hinweg ausbreitet. Noch nie zuvor waren so viele entscheidende Aspekte des Lebens gleichzeitig bedroht, noch nie erscheinen die Erwartungen der Menschen an ihre eigene Zukunft und die ihrer Kinder so ungewiss. Die Krise macht sich in allen Bereichen bemerkbar, sie gefährdet Umwelt, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft, Politik, Ethik, Kultur, Spiritualität und vieles andere. Das Lexikon Pluriversum ist eine spannende Sammlung von transformativen Alternativen, die sich gegen die gegenwärtig vorherrschenden Prozesse der globalisierten Entwicklung stellen, einschließlich ihrer strukturellen Wurzeln in der Moderne, im Kapitalismus, in staatlicher Bevormundung, in den maskulinen Werten usw. Die heutigen Vorstellungen von Wachstum und Entwicklung können nicht länger das organisierende Prinzip unseres sozialen Lebens sein. Das Buch ist eine Enzyklopädie mit kurzen Beiträgen zu Schlüsselbegriffen. Es kann für Lehre und Forschung genutzt werden, um Aktivist*innen zu inspirieren, Neugierige initiativ werden zu lassen – und sogar diejenigen, die an der Macht sind und sich nicht mehr wohlfühlen in ihrer Welt.
Zu den mehr als 120 Autor*innen des Bandes gehören Aktivist*innen, Akademiker*innen und Praktiker*innen, die über einen großen Erfahrungsschatz in ihren jeweiligen Tätigkeitsbereichen verfügen.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Alberto Acosta: Pluriversum – eine Utopie im Aufbruch / Wolfgang Sachs: Das Development Dictionary im Rückblick / Vorwort der Herausgeber*innen / Kothari, Salleh, Escobar, Demaria, Acosta: Pluriverse Wege finden
I. Entwicklung und ihre Krisen: Globale Erfahrungen
Nnimmo Bassey: Die Ketten der Entwicklung durchbrechen / Vandana Shiva: Entwicklung für das eine Prozent / José María Tortosa: Fehlentwicklung / Philip McMichael: Das Projekt ‚Entwicklung‘ / Kirk Huffman: Ozeaniens Kastom-Ökonomie / Maristella Svampa: Die lateinamerikanische Kritik an Entwicklung
II. Universalisierung der Erde: Reformistische Lösungen
Ana Garcia / Patrick Bond: BRICS / George C. Caffentzis: Digitale Werkzeuge / Deepak Malghan: Effizienz / Jeremy Gould: Entwicklungshilfe / Ariel Salleh: Erdsystem-Governance / Silvia Ribeiro: Geo-Engineering / Ulrich Brand / Miriam Lang: Grüne Wirtschaft / Larry Lohmann: Handel mit Ökosystem-Dienstleistungen / Teresa Anderson: Klimasmarte Landwirtschaft / Giacomo D‘Alisa: Kreislaufwirtschaft / Erik Gómez-Baggethun: Nachhaltige Entwicklung / Samantha Hargreaves: Neo-Extraktivismus / Sam Bliss / Giorgos Kallis: Ökomodernismus / Renate Klein: Reproduktionstechnologie / John P. Clark: Rettungsboot-Ethik / Hug March: Smart Cities / Lukas Novak: Transhumanismus
III. Ein Pluriversum der Menschen: Initiativen der Umgestaltung
Aram Ziai: Abwicklung des Nordens / E. Ns. Ndushabandi / O. U. Rutazibwa: Agaciro (Wert, Würde, Selbstachtung) / Pablo Dominguez / Gary J. Martin: Agdale (kommunales Ressourcenmanagement) / Victor M. Toledo: Agrarökologie / Peter Nord: Alternative Währungen / Theodoros Karyotis: Arbeiter*innen-geleitete Produktion / Gustavo Estevá: Autonomie / Elina Vuola: Befreiungstheologie / Geoffrey Pleyers: Bewegung für eine alternative Globalisierung / Cândido Grzybowski: Biozivilisation / Julien-François Gerber: Bruttonationalglück Bhutan / Geshe Dorji Damdul: Buddhismus und auf Weisheit basierendes Mitgefühl / M. Chuji, G. Rengifo, E. Gudynas: Buen Vivir (Gutes Leben) / Liang Yongjia: Chinesische Religionen / P. Seán McDonagh: Christliche Öko-Theologie / Massimo De Angelis: Commons / Anne Poelina: Country das Land der First People Westaustraliens / Federico Demaria / Serge Latouche: Degrowth / Azize Aslan / Bengi Akbulut: Demokratische Wirtschaft in Kurdistan / Christos Zografos: Direkte Demokratie / D. Del Bene / J. Pablo Soler / T. Roa: Energie-Souveränität / Laura Gutiérrez Escobar: Ernährungssouveränität und -autonomie / Harry Halpin: Freie Software / LAU Kin Chi: FriedensFrauen / Arturo Guerrero Osorio: Gemeinschaftlichkeit / J.K. Gibson-Graham: Gemeinschaftsökonomie / Simone Wörer: Geschenkökonomie / Vasudha Narayanan: Hinduismus und soziale Transformation / Hou Yuxin: Hurai (‚all die besten Dinge‘) / Mabrouka M‘Barek: Ibadismus / G. Borrini-Feyerabend / M. Taghi Farvar: ICCAs – Territorien des Lebens / Oscar Ugarteche Galarza: Internationaler Schiedsgerichtshof für Staatsschulden / Nawal Ammar: Islamische Ethik / Rabbiner Michael Lerner: Jüdisches Tikkun Olam (Reparatur der Welt) / E. Caruso / J. P. Sarmiento Barletti: Kametsa Asaike („gut an diesem Ort zusammenleben“) / Patricia Gualinga: Kawsak Sacha (Der lebendige Regenwald) / Alain Caillé: Konvivialismus / David Barkin: Konvivialität / Enric Duran Giralt: Kooperative Ökosysteme / Wendy Harcourt: Körperpolitik / Ekaterina Chertkovskaya: Kulturökologie / MMotoi Fuse: Kyosei (Gemeinsam für das Gemeinwohl leben und arbeiten) / Sit Tsui: Ländlicher Wiederaufbau / Betty Ruth Lozano Lerma: Lateinamerikanische Feminismen / Mario Blaser: Lebensprojekte / Silvia Federici: Lohn für Hausarbeit / Onofrio Romano: Mediterranismus / Karin Amimoto Ingersoll: Meeres-Ontologien / Miloon Kothari: Menschenrechte / Deborah McGregor: Minobimaatisiiwin (Vollkommenes Wohlbefinden) / Farhad Mazhar: Nayakrishi Andolon (Neue Agrarbewegung) / Enrique Leff: Negentropische Produktion / Claudia von Werlhof: Neue Matriarchate / Jan Pokorný: Neues Wasserparadigma / Giorgos Velegrakis / Eirini Gaitanou: Offene Verortung (Open Localization) / Ted Trainer: Öko-Anarchismus / Martha Chaves: Ökodörfer / Christelle Terreblanch: Ökofeminismus / Satish Kumar: Ökologie im Jainismus / Janis Birkeland: Öko-positives Design / Michael Löwy: Ökosozialismus / Jonathan Dawson: Pädagogik / Yvonne Underhill-Sem: Pazifische Feminismen / Marco Deriu: Pazifismus / Terry Leahy: Permakultur / 248 Natalia Quiroga Díaz: Populäre Solidarische Ökonomie / Alberto Acosta: Post-Ökonomie / Aseem Shrivastava: Prakritik Swaraj (Natürliche Selbstbestimmung) / Arvind Narrain: Queere Liebe / Ashish Kothari: Radikalökologische Demokratie / Cormac Cullinan: Rechte der Natur / Eduardo Gudynas: Revolution / Patricia Botero Gómez / Sentipensar (fühlend Denken) / Michelle Boulous Walker: Slow-Movement / N. Johanisova / M. Vinkelhoferová: Soziale Solidarische Ökonomie / Brian Tokar: Sozialökologie / Charles Eisenstein: Spiritualität der Erde / Sutej Hugu: Tao-Weltanschauung / John Seed: Tiefenökologie (deep ecology) / Rob Hopkin: Transition-Bewegung / Ramiro Ávila-Santamaría: Tribunal für die Rechte der Natur / Lesley Le Grange: Ubuntu (Konzept gemeinschaftlicher Verbundenheit) / Joan Martinez-Alier: Umweltgerechtigkeit / Xochitl Leyva-Solano: Zapatistische Autonomie / Arturo Escobar: Zivilisatorische Umbrüche
Der Globale Wandteppich der Alternativen
Elisabeth Voß: Nachwort
Anhang
Glossar / Abkürzungsverzeichnis / Autor*innen / Herzlichen Dank
Zu den mehr als 120 Autor*innen des Bandes gehören Aktivist*innen, Akademiker*innen und Praktiker*innen, die über einen großen Erfahrungsschatz in ihren jeweiligen Tätigkeitsbereichen verfügen.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Alberto Acosta: Pluriversum – eine Utopie im Aufbruch / Wolfgang Sachs: Das Development Dictionary im Rückblick / Vorwort der Herausgeber*innen / Kothari, Salleh, Escobar, Demaria, Acosta: Pluriverse Wege finden
I. Entwicklung und ihre Krisen: Globale Erfahrungen
Nnimmo Bassey: Die Ketten der Entwicklung durchbrechen / Vandana Shiva: Entwicklung für das eine Prozent / José María Tortosa: Fehlentwicklung / Philip McMichael: Das Projekt ‚Entwicklung‘ / Kirk Huffman: Ozeaniens Kastom-Ökonomie / Maristella Svampa: Die lateinamerikanische Kritik an Entwicklung
II. Universalisierung der Erde: Reformistische Lösungen
Ana Garcia / Patrick Bond: BRICS / George C. Caffentzis: Digitale Werkzeuge / Deepak Malghan: Effizienz / Jeremy Gould: Entwicklungshilfe / Ariel Salleh: Erdsystem-Governance / Silvia Ribeiro: Geo-Engineering / Ulrich Brand / Miriam Lang: Grüne Wirtschaft / Larry Lohmann: Handel mit Ökosystem-Dienstleistungen / Teresa Anderson: Klimasmarte Landwirtschaft / Giacomo D‘Alisa: Kreislaufwirtschaft / Erik Gómez-Baggethun: Nachhaltige Entwicklung / Samantha Hargreaves: Neo-Extraktivismus / Sam Bliss / Giorgos Kallis: Ökomodernismus / Renate Klein: Reproduktionstechnologie / John P. Clark: Rettungsboot-Ethik / Hug March: Smart Cities / Lukas Novak: Transhumanismus
III. Ein Pluriversum der Menschen: Initiativen der Umgestaltung
Aram Ziai: Abwicklung des Nordens / E. Ns. Ndushabandi / O. U. Rutazibwa: Agaciro (Wert, Würde, Selbstachtung) / Pablo Dominguez / Gary J. Martin: Agdale (kommunales Ressourcenmanagement) / Victor M. Toledo: Agrarökologie / Peter Nord: Alternative Währungen / Theodoros Karyotis: Arbeiter*innen-geleitete Produktion / Gustavo Estevá: Autonomie / Elina Vuola: Befreiungstheologie / Geoffrey Pleyers: Bewegung für eine alternative Globalisierung / Cândido Grzybowski: Biozivilisation / Julien-François Gerber: Bruttonationalglück Bhutan / Geshe Dorji Damdul: Buddhismus und auf Weisheit basierendes Mitgefühl / M. Chuji, G. Rengifo, E. Gudynas: Buen Vivir (Gutes Leben) / Liang Yongjia: Chinesische Religionen / P. Seán McDonagh: Christliche Öko-Theologie / Massimo De Angelis: Commons / Anne Poelina: Country das Land der First People Westaustraliens / Federico Demaria / Serge Latouche: Degrowth / Azize Aslan / Bengi Akbulut: Demokratische Wirtschaft in Kurdistan / Christos Zografos: Direkte Demokratie / D. Del Bene / J. Pablo Soler / T. Roa: Energie-Souveränität / Laura Gutiérrez Escobar: Ernährungssouveränität und -autonomie / Harry Halpin: Freie Software / LAU Kin Chi: FriedensFrauen / Arturo Guerrero Osorio: Gemeinschaftlichkeit / J.K. Gibson-Graham: Gemeinschaftsökonomie / Simone Wörer: Geschenkökonomie / Vasudha Narayanan: Hinduismus und soziale Transformation / Hou Yuxin: Hurai (‚all die besten Dinge‘) / Mabrouka M‘Barek: Ibadismus / G. Borrini-Feyerabend / M. Taghi Farvar: ICCAs – Territorien des Lebens / Oscar Ugarteche Galarza: Internationaler Schiedsgerichtshof für Staatsschulden / Nawal Ammar: Islamische Ethik / Rabbiner Michael Lerner: Jüdisches Tikkun Olam (Reparatur der Welt) / E. Caruso / J. P. Sarmiento Barletti: Kametsa Asaike („gut an diesem Ort zusammenleben“) / Patricia Gualinga: Kawsak Sacha (Der lebendige Regenwald) / Alain Caillé: Konvivialismus / David Barkin: Konvivialität / Enric Duran Giralt: Kooperative Ökosysteme / Wendy Harcourt: Körperpolitik / Ekaterina Chertkovskaya: Kulturökologie / MMotoi Fuse: Kyosei (Gemeinsam für das Gemeinwohl leben und arbeiten) / Sit Tsui: Ländlicher Wiederaufbau / Betty Ruth Lozano Lerma: Lateinamerikanische Feminismen / Mario Blaser: Lebensprojekte / Silvia Federici: Lohn für Hausarbeit / Onofrio Romano: Mediterranismus / Karin Amimoto Ingersoll: Meeres-Ontologien / Miloon Kothari: Menschenrechte / Deborah McGregor: Minobimaatisiiwin (Vollkommenes Wohlbefinden) / Farhad Mazhar: Nayakrishi Andolon (Neue Agrarbewegung) / Enrique Leff: Negentropische Produktion / Claudia von Werlhof: Neue Matriarchate / Jan Pokorný: Neues Wasserparadigma / Giorgos Velegrakis / Eirini Gaitanou: Offene Verortung (Open Localization) / Ted Trainer: Öko-Anarchismus / Martha Chaves: Ökodörfer / Christelle Terreblanch: Ökofeminismus / Satish Kumar: Ökologie im Jainismus / Janis Birkeland: Öko-positives Design / Michael Löwy: Ökosozialismus / Jonathan Dawson: Pädagogik / Yvonne Underhill-Sem: Pazifische Feminismen / Marco Deriu: Pazifismus / Terry Leahy: Permakultur / 248 Natalia Quiroga Díaz: Populäre Solidarische Ökonomie / Alberto Acosta: Post-Ökonomie / Aseem Shrivastava: Prakritik Swaraj (Natürliche Selbstbestimmung) / Arvind Narrain: Queere Liebe / Ashish Kothari: Radikalökologische Demokratie / Cormac Cullinan: Rechte der Natur / Eduardo Gudynas: Revolution / Patricia Botero Gómez / Sentipensar (fühlend Denken) / Michelle Boulous Walker: Slow-Movement / N. Johanisova / M. Vinkelhoferová: Soziale Solidarische Ökonomie / Brian Tokar: Sozialökologie / Charles Eisenstein: Spiritualität der Erde / Sutej Hugu: Tao-Weltanschauung / John Seed: Tiefenökologie (deep ecology) / Rob Hopkin: Transition-Bewegung / Ramiro Ávila-Santamaría: Tribunal für die Rechte der Natur / Lesley Le Grange: Ubuntu (Konzept gemeinschaftlicher Verbundenheit) / Joan Martinez-Alier: Umweltgerechtigkeit / Xochitl Leyva-Solano: Zapatistische Autonomie / Arturo Escobar: Zivilisatorische Umbrüche
Der Globale Wandteppich der Alternativen
Elisabeth Voß: Nachwort
Anhang
Glossar / Abkürzungsverzeichnis / Autor*innen / Herzlichen Dank
Research Interests:
The social and environmental failure of successive Western development models imposed on the global South has led local communities to pursue alternatives to development. Such alternatives seek radical societal transformations that... more
The social and environmental failure of successive Western development models imposed on the global South has led local communities to pursue alternatives to development. Such alternatives seek radical societal transformations that require the production of new knowledge, practices, technologies, and institutions that are effective to achieve more just and sustainable societies. We may think of such a production as innovation driven by social movements, organizations, collectives, indigenous peoples, and local communities. Innovation that is driven by such grassroots groups has been theorized in the academic literature as "grassroots innovation". However, research on alternatives to development has rarely examined innovation using grassroots innovation as an analytical framework. Here, we assess how grassroots innovation may contribute to building alternatives to development using Zapatismo in Chiapas (Mexico) as a case study. We focus on grassroots innovation in autonomous Zapatista education because this alternative to formal education plays a vital role in knowledge generation and the production of new social practices within Zapatista communities, which underpin the radical societal transformation being built by Zapatismo. We reviewed the academic literature on grassroots innovation as well as gray literature and audiovisual media on Zapatismo and autonomous Zapatista education. We also conducted ethnographic fieldwork in a Zapatista community and its school. We found innovative educational, pedagogical, and teaching-learning practices based on the (re) production of knowledge and learning, which are not limited to the classroom but linked to all the activities of Zapatistas. Our findings suggest that innovation self-realized by Zapatistas plays a key role on the everyday construction of Zapatismo. Therefore, we argue that a specific theoretical framework of grassroots innovation for the pluriverse, based on empirical work carried out in different alternatives to development, is an urgent task that will contribute to a better understanding of how such alternatives grassroots groups imagine, design, and build, particularly across the global South.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Kaul, S.; Akbulut, B.; Demaria, F.; Gerber, J.F. (2022) Alternatives to sustainable development: What can we learn from the pluriverse in practice?. Sustainability Science
https://link.springer.com/journal/11625/topicalCollection/AC_7922a76297cca9da6fd8908f4abd4189
PAPER: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01172-5#citeas
SPECIAL FEATURE: Kaul, S.; Akbulut, B.; Demaria, F.; Gerber, J.F. (2022) Alternatives to sustainable development: What can we learn from the pluriverse in practice?. Sustainability Science
https://link.springer.com/journal/11625/topicalCollection/AC_7922a76297cca9da6fd8908f4abd4189
PAPER: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01172-5#citeas
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Information Technology, and 15 moreEconomics, Anthropology, Education, Technology, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Sustainability Education, Environmental Sustainability, Zapatistas, Chiapas, Innovación, and Zapatismo
This article lays out both a critique of the oxymoron ‘sustainable development’, and the potential and nuances of a Post-Development agenda. We present ecological swaraj from India and Degrowth from Europe as two examples of alternatives... more
This article lays out both a critique of the oxymoron ‘sustainable development’, and the potential and nuances of a Post-Development agenda. We present ecological swaraj from India and Degrowth from Europe as two examples of alternatives to development. This gives a hint of the forthcoming book, provisionally titled The Post-Development Dictionary, that is meant to deepen and widen a research, dialogue and action agenda for activists, policymakers and scholars on a variety of worldviews and practices relating to our collective search for an ecologically wise and socially just world. This volume could be one base in the search for alternatives to United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in an attempt to truly transform the world. In fact, it is an agenda towards the pluriverse: ‘a world where many worlds fit’, as the Zapatista say.
Keywords: Well-being, sustainability, degrowth, buen vivir, ecofeminism, transition
Keywords: Well-being, sustainability, degrowth, buen vivir, ecofeminism, transition
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Computer Science, and 41 moreEconomics, Development Economics, Islamic Economics, Environmental Economics, Anthropology, Art History, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Development Studies, Human Resource Development, Social Sciences, Climate Change, International Development, Renewable Energy, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Rural Development, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Social Media, Developing Countries, Well-Being, Ecofeminism, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Environmental Sustainability, Natural Science, Political Ecology (Anthropology), DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Transition, Décroissance, Arturo Escobar, Buen vivir, Pluriverse, Swaraj, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, and Sustainability
his article proposes that the ‘ Green Economy ’ is not an adequate response to the unsustainability and inequity created by ‘ development ’ (a western cultural construct), and puts forward alternative socio-environmental futures to (and... more
his article proposes that the
‘
Green Economy
’
is not an
adequate response to the unsustainability and inequity created by
‘
development
’
(a western cultural construct), and puts forward
alternative socio-environmental futures to (and not of) development.
‘
Sustainable development
’
is an oxymoron. Therefore, instead of the
‘
post-2015 development agenda
’
, we argue in favour of the
‘
2015
post-development agenda
’
. We discuss Buen Vivir from Latin America,
Degrowth from Europe and Ecological Swaraj (or Radical Ecological
Democracy) from India. The intention is to outline that there is politics
beyond a unilinear future, unsustainable and unjust, consisting
primarily of economic growth.
KEYWORDS: well-being; environmental justice; sustainability;
economic growth; equity; sustainable development
FULL ARTICLE (Open Access)
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v57/n3-4/pdf/dev201524a.pdf
SUMMARY published in The Guardian:
"Sustainable development is failing but there are alternatives to capitalism"
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jul/21/capitalism-alternatives-sustainable-development-failing
‘
Green Economy
’
is not an
adequate response to the unsustainability and inequity created by
‘
development
’
(a western cultural construct), and puts forward
alternative socio-environmental futures to (and not of) development.
‘
Sustainable development
’
is an oxymoron. Therefore, instead of the
‘
post-2015 development agenda
’
, we argue in favour of the
‘
2015
post-development agenda
’
. We discuss Buen Vivir from Latin America,
Degrowth from Europe and Ecological Swaraj (or Radical Ecological
Democracy) from India. The intention is to outline that there is politics
beyond a unilinear future, unsustainable and unjust, consisting
primarily of economic growth.
KEYWORDS: well-being; environmental justice; sustainability;
economic growth; equity; sustainable development
FULL ARTICLE (Open Access)
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v57/n3-4/pdf/dev201524a.pdf
SUMMARY published in The Guardian:
"Sustainable development is failing but there are alternatives to capitalism"
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jul/21/capitalism-alternatives-sustainable-development-failing
Research Interests: Sociology, Geography, Economics, Development Economics, Anthropology, and 27 moreDevelopment Studies, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Development anthropology, Social Justice, Feminism, Postcolonial Feminism, Anthropology of Development, Green Economy & Green Jobs Perspectives, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Post-Development Theory, Political Ecology (Anthropology), Equity, DeGrowth, Feminism and Social Justice, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Serge Latouche, Economic growth and development, Green Economy, Green Growth, Buen vivir, Swaraj, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and SDGs post-2015
There is a growing awareness that a whole-societal " Great Transformation " of Polanyian scale is needed to bring global developmental trajectories in line with ecological imperatives. The mainstream Sustainable Development discourse,... more
There is a growing awareness that a whole-societal " Great Transformation " of Polanyian scale is needed to bring global developmental trajectories in line with ecological imperatives. The mainstream Sustainable Development discourse, however, insists in upholding the myth of compatibility of current growth-based trajectories with biophysical planetary boundaries. This article explores potentially fertile complementarities among trendy discourses challenging conventional notions of (un)sustainable development – Human Development, Degrowth, and Buen Vivir – and outlines pathways for their realization. Human Development presents relative transfor-mative strengths in political terms, while Degrowth holds keys to unlocking unsustainable material-structural entrenchments of contemporary socioeconomic arrangements, and Buen Vivir offers a space of cultural alterity and critique of the Euro-Atlantic cultural constellation. The weaknesses or blind spots ('Achilles heels') of each discourse can be compensated through the strengths of the other ones, creating a dialogical virtuous circle that would open pathways towards a global new " Great Transformation ". As one of the main existing platforms for pluralist and strong-sustainability discussions, Ecological Economics is in a privileged position to deliberately foster such strategic discursive dialogue. A pathway towards such dialogue is illuminated through a model identifying and articulating key discursive docking points.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917303798
PDF: https://sci-hub.cc/http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0921800917303798
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917303798
PDF: https://sci-hub.cc/http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0921800917303798
Research Interests: Engineering, Environmental Engineering, History, Sociology, Environmental Science, and 33 moreEconomics, Development Economics, Financial Economics, Anthropology, Comparative Politics, Humanities, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Rural Development, Human Development, Karl Polanyi, Developing Countries, Ecology, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Environmental Sustainability, Post-Development Theory, DeGrowth, Transition Economies, Arturo Escobar, Ecologia Política, Buen vivir, Impact of Social Sciences and Humanities, Alberto Acosta, Environmental Sustainbility, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, Great Transformation, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and The Great Transition
Western industrial civilization rests on widespread beliefs regarding the virtues of development and growth as pathways to improved human welfare, prosperity, and happiness. Within this logic, continued expansion of production and... more
Western industrial civilization rests on widespread beliefs regarding the virtues of development and growth as pathways to improved human welfare, prosperity, and happiness. Within this logic, continued expansion of production and technology are presumed to make the future self-evidently better. These presumptions, however, are being destabilized from fields like ecological economics, post-development, and degrowth, which point to the unrecognized costs of growth and to the accelerating
destruction of biocultural diversity justified in the name of development and progress (Castoriadis, 1985; Escobar, 1995; Daly, 1996; Victor 2013).
Many attempts have been made to make growth and development greener and more humane. Post-development and degrowth mistrust such attempts as mostly rhetorical exercises that sustain status quo. Rather than just adding different adjectives (green, inclusive, sustainable) that keep the expansive core of development and growth unchecked, they call for changing the system’s structure and functions, and to envision and put into practice political alternatives where development and growth are not seen as ends in themselves (Rahnema and Bawtree, 1997; D’Alisa et
al., 2015). According to Gudynas and Acosta (2011: 75), post-development thinking strives ‘to search for alternatives in a deeper sense, that is, aiming to break away from the cultural and ideological bases of development, bringing forth other imaginaries, goals, and practices’. Hence, this chapter does not argue for making development greener or more inclusive, but for leaving development behind, undertaking a rupture with its ideological and ontological underpinnings to search for post-development alternatives.
Degrowth, we will argue, is one among those alternatives. It represents a means of braking apart from the imaginary of development and to open a passage to other forms of imagining and organizing society (Castoriadis, 1985). In so doing, this chapter makes a case for abandoning development and growth as organizing principles of social and economic life.
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-international-development-and-the-environment-9781800883772.html
destruction of biocultural diversity justified in the name of development and progress (Castoriadis, 1985; Escobar, 1995; Daly, 1996; Victor 2013).
Many attempts have been made to make growth and development greener and more humane. Post-development and degrowth mistrust such attempts as mostly rhetorical exercises that sustain status quo. Rather than just adding different adjectives (green, inclusive, sustainable) that keep the expansive core of development and growth unchecked, they call for changing the system’s structure and functions, and to envision and put into practice political alternatives where development and growth are not seen as ends in themselves (Rahnema and Bawtree, 1997; D’Alisa et
al., 2015). According to Gudynas and Acosta (2011: 75), post-development thinking strives ‘to search for alternatives in a deeper sense, that is, aiming to break away from the cultural and ideological bases of development, bringing forth other imaginaries, goals, and practices’. Hence, this chapter does not argue for making development greener or more inclusive, but for leaving development behind, undertaking a rupture with its ideological and ontological underpinnings to search for post-development alternatives.
Degrowth, we will argue, is one among those alternatives. It represents a means of braking apart from the imaginary of development and to open a passage to other forms of imagining and organizing society (Castoriadis, 1985). In so doing, this chapter makes a case for abandoning development and growth as organizing principles of social and economic life.
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-international-development-and-the-environment-9781800883772.html
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, Human Geography, Environmental Science, and 15 moreEconomics, Development Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Ecology, Environmental Sustainability, Post-Development Theory, and DeGrowth
We call for coupling degrowth with urban studies and planning agendas as an academically salient and politically urgent endeavour. Our aim is threefold: to explore ways for 'operationalising' degrowth concepts into urban and regional... more
We call for coupling degrowth with urban studies and planning agendas as an academically salient and politically urgent endeavour. Our aim is threefold: to explore ways for 'operationalising' degrowth concepts into urban and regional everyday spatial practices; to sketch pathways for taking degrowth conceptually and methodologically beyond localised experiments and inform larger scale planning practices and international agendas; and to critically assess the multiple ways in which such a radical urban degrowth agenda will have to differ in the Global North and in the Global South. We outline five steps for such a programmatic, yet paradigmatic, urban degrowth agenda. These are: (1) grounding current degrowth debates within their historical-geographical context; (2) engaging (planning) institutions in linking degrowth practices to urbanisation policies; (3) examining how urban insurgent degrowth alliances can be scaled up without co-optation; (4) focusing on the role of experts and professionals in bringing degrowth principles into everyday urban practice; and (5) prefiguring how degrowth agendas can confront the diverse and unequal urban social relations and uneven outcomes in the Global North and South.
This special issue brings together scholars from the fields of degrowth, urban planning, architecture, housing, mobility, urban history, geography, and urban political ecology, who all address empirically and theoretically the same key research question: how can we harvest, scale up, and institutionalise the potential of localised degrowth practices in order to transform the future of extensive urbanisation under a climate crisis emergency? The special issue’s geographical coverage spans the Global South and the Global North, with case studies from the Philippines (Metro Manilla), Estonia (Tallinn), China (Chengdu), France (Aubagne), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Argentina (Buenos Aires), England and Wales.
This special issue brings together scholars from the fields of degrowth, urban planning, architecture, housing, mobility, urban history, geography, and urban political ecology, who all address empirically and theoretically the same key research question: how can we harvest, scale up, and institutionalise the potential of localised degrowth practices in order to transform the future of extensive urbanisation under a climate crisis emergency? The special issue’s geographical coverage spans the Global South and the Global North, with case studies from the Philippines (Metro Manilla), Estonia (Tallinn), China (Chengdu), France (Aubagne), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Argentina (Buenos Aires), England and Wales.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, Urban Geography, Economics, and 15 moreDevelopment Economics, Anthropology, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Urban Planning, Urban Studies, Urbanism, Urban Sociology, Environmental Sustainability, Urban And Regional Planning, Cities, and Urban Design
Buy it for 8 euro here (discout code FAL20): https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509535620 Covid-19 has lain bare the fragility of existing economic systems. Any decline in market activity threatens systemic collapse. But it... more
Buy it for 8 euro here (discout code FAL20): https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509535620
Covid-19 has lain bare the fragility of existing economic systems. Any decline in market activity threatens systemic collapse. But it doesn’t have to be this way. To be more resilient to future crises –pandemic, climatic, financial, or political – we need to build systems capable of scaling back production in ways that do not cause loss of livelihood or life. We need to make the case for degrowth.
Degrowth is not simply a contraction of the economy, it is living meaningfully, enjoying simple pleasures, working less, and sharing and relating more with others and working less, in more equal societies. Its goal is to purposefully slow things down in order to minimize harm to humans and earth systems. The world will change after the virus, and there will be struggles over which paths to take. But the time is ripe for us to refocus on what really matters: not GDP, but the health and wellbeing of our people and our planet. In a word, degrowth.
You can buy it here for 8 euros, with the discount code: FAL20
Find here a short article about the book by the authors in Open Democracy: “The case for degrowth in a time of pandemic” https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/case-degrowth-time-pandemic/
We hope you like it. In case, please help us out with dissemination! 🙂
Best,
the authors (Giorgos, Susan, Giacomo and Federico)
Giorgos Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Susan Paulson is Professor at the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida.
Giacomo D’Alisa is a FCT post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra.
Federico Demaria is Serra Hunter lecturer in ecological economics and political ecology, University of Barcelona.
REVIEWS:
“COVID-19 is the symptom; the profit-driven destruction of natural and social habitants is the disease. There’s only one cure consistent with global social justice. Read this eloquent and urgent book and find out what it is.”
Mike Davis, University of California and author of Ecology of Fear and Planet of Slums
“This is a major contribution to the current debate on growth and degrowth. The authors lay bare the innards of each and show us the importance of degrowth. Wellbeing, equity, and sustainability are key vectors organizing this text. These should be understood in the fullness of their capacities to move us out of our current modernity –a decaying order that is today still dominant. But history has shown us across the centuries that no system of power can last for ever, and nor will our current system. Indeed, it is busy destroying itself.”
Saskia Sassen, Columbia University and author of Expulsions
“Degrowth is one of the most important ideas of the 21st century. Here it is in compact form. Clear, timely, urgent. Don’t miss this book.”
Jason Hickel, London School of Economics and author of The Divide and Less is More
“Is there life after economic growth? Kallis and his co-authors have taken up the baton from the early proponents of degrowth and created a vibrant, accessible discourse for the 21st Century. The Case for Degrowth provides the why, the where and the how of a better economy and a richer society. Its vision is needed now more than ever.”
Tim Jackson, Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity and author of Prosperity without Growth
“The COVID pandemic is laying bare dysfunctions of the growth model and the urgency of a pathway to sanity, climate protection, and security for all. This wonderful and accessible introduction by leading degrowth scholars is a vital resource for anyone interested in viable alternatives, rooted in cooperative economic relations and respect for planetary limits.”
Juliet Schor, author of After the Gig: how the sharing economy got hijacked and how to win it back
“A superb account of why capitalist economies fail life on Earth, even as peoples initiatives in community sharing already revive joy and hope for our futures. This small book teaches economics like no other. It will reply to your doubts about change. It should be on every public library shelf and every syllabus; give copies to your friends.”
Ariel Salleh, activist and editor of Eco-Sufficiency and Global Justice: Women write Political Ecology
“The case for degrowth as argued in this book is so well rounded and compelling that it is difficult to imagine how progressive politicians could avoid integrating the many policies advocated here into their party manifestos . . . unless of course they cannot escape the growth mentality that has suffocated progressive policies for decades. But even in this case, the book offers ways of changing that mentality through commoning and collective action.”
Massimo De Angelis, University of East London, editor of The Commoner, and author of Omnia Sunt Communia
“The degrowth movement now has its Manifesto. A rigorous, practical analysis that will guide grassroots and institutional politics so they can realize a transformation akin to degrowth and turn the current global crisis into a new opportunity and pathway towards more sustainable and carrying societies.”
Isabelle Anguelovski, Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (BCNUEJ) and author of Neighborhood as Refuge
“By this book, degrowth finally becomes adult. No longer a simple game of hide-and-seek with the growth regime. No longer a vague illusion postponed until the advent of a catastrophe that never comes. No longer a generous experimentation among circles of virtuosos nor an extreme form of resilience by the excluded from the banquet of the consumer society, but a mature and innovative political project, facing the hegemony challenge in the open field of the social arena. The authors are the best fruits of the degrowth movement: activists at the forefront and at the same time leading scholars.”
Onofrio Romano, University of Bari and author of Towards a society of degrowth
“Decrecer es la consigna. Más y más crecimiento económico en un mundo finito es una locura. Más todavía si éste ahonda las diferencias sociales, las frustraciones y la infelicidad. No podemos mantener ese ritmo despiadado de acumulación del que afloran múltiples pandemias, como la del coronavirus. No hay duda, requerimos una desaceleración programada de la actividad económica para reencontrarnos armónicamente con los ritmos de la Madre Tierra, así como para construir otras sociedades basadas en la diversidad, la sostenibilidad, la pluralidad y la reciprocidad; bases fundamentales del Pluriverso: un mundo donde quepan todos los mundos posibles que aseguren una vida digna a humanos y no humanos.”
Alberto Acosta, former president of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador and author of Buen Vivir
The Case for Degrowth
Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa, Federico Demaria
The relentless pursuit of economic growth is the defining characteristic of contemporary societies. Yet it benefits few and demands monstrous social and ecological sacrifice. Is there a viable alternative? How can we halt the endless quest to grow global production and consumption and instead secure socio-ecological conditions that support lives worth living for all?
In this compelling book, leading experts Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa and Federico Demaria make the case for degrowth – living well with less, by living differently, prioritizing wellbeing, equity and sustainability. Drawing on emerging initiatives and enduring traditions around the world, they advance a radical degrowth vision and outline policies to shape work and care, income and investment that avoid exploitative and unsustainable practices. Degrowth, they argue, can be achieved through transformative strategies that allow societies to slow down by design, not disaster.
Essential reading for all concerned citizens, policy-makers, and students, this book will be an important contribution to one of the thorniest and most pressing debates of our era.
More Info
September 2020
140 pages
Available Formats: Hardback £35.00 €39.60; Paperback £9.99 €11.30; Open eBook £8.49 €9.99
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. A case for degrowth
2. Sacrifices of growth
3. Making changes on the ground
4. Path-breaking reforms
5. Strategies for mobilization
Frequently asked questions
Notes
Covid-19 has lain bare the fragility of existing economic systems. Any decline in market activity threatens systemic collapse. But it doesn’t have to be this way. To be more resilient to future crises –pandemic, climatic, financial, or political – we need to build systems capable of scaling back production in ways that do not cause loss of livelihood or life. We need to make the case for degrowth.
Degrowth is not simply a contraction of the economy, it is living meaningfully, enjoying simple pleasures, working less, and sharing and relating more with others and working less, in more equal societies. Its goal is to purposefully slow things down in order to minimize harm to humans and earth systems. The world will change after the virus, and there will be struggles over which paths to take. But the time is ripe for us to refocus on what really matters: not GDP, but the health and wellbeing of our people and our planet. In a word, degrowth.
You can buy it here for 8 euros, with the discount code: FAL20
Find here a short article about the book by the authors in Open Democracy: “The case for degrowth in a time of pandemic” https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/case-degrowth-time-pandemic/
We hope you like it. In case, please help us out with dissemination! 🙂
Best,
the authors (Giorgos, Susan, Giacomo and Federico)
Giorgos Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Susan Paulson is Professor at the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida.
Giacomo D’Alisa is a FCT post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra.
Federico Demaria is Serra Hunter lecturer in ecological economics and political ecology, University of Barcelona.
REVIEWS:
“COVID-19 is the symptom; the profit-driven destruction of natural and social habitants is the disease. There’s only one cure consistent with global social justice. Read this eloquent and urgent book and find out what it is.”
Mike Davis, University of California and author of Ecology of Fear and Planet of Slums
“This is a major contribution to the current debate on growth and degrowth. The authors lay bare the innards of each and show us the importance of degrowth. Wellbeing, equity, and sustainability are key vectors organizing this text. These should be understood in the fullness of their capacities to move us out of our current modernity –a decaying order that is today still dominant. But history has shown us across the centuries that no system of power can last for ever, and nor will our current system. Indeed, it is busy destroying itself.”
Saskia Sassen, Columbia University and author of Expulsions
“Degrowth is one of the most important ideas of the 21st century. Here it is in compact form. Clear, timely, urgent. Don’t miss this book.”
Jason Hickel, London School of Economics and author of The Divide and Less is More
“Is there life after economic growth? Kallis and his co-authors have taken up the baton from the early proponents of degrowth and created a vibrant, accessible discourse for the 21st Century. The Case for Degrowth provides the why, the where and the how of a better economy and a richer society. Its vision is needed now more than ever.”
Tim Jackson, Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity and author of Prosperity without Growth
“The COVID pandemic is laying bare dysfunctions of the growth model and the urgency of a pathway to sanity, climate protection, and security for all. This wonderful and accessible introduction by leading degrowth scholars is a vital resource for anyone interested in viable alternatives, rooted in cooperative economic relations and respect for planetary limits.”
Juliet Schor, author of After the Gig: how the sharing economy got hijacked and how to win it back
“A superb account of why capitalist economies fail life on Earth, even as peoples initiatives in community sharing already revive joy and hope for our futures. This small book teaches economics like no other. It will reply to your doubts about change. It should be on every public library shelf and every syllabus; give copies to your friends.”
Ariel Salleh, activist and editor of Eco-Sufficiency and Global Justice: Women write Political Ecology
“The case for degrowth as argued in this book is so well rounded and compelling that it is difficult to imagine how progressive politicians could avoid integrating the many policies advocated here into their party manifestos . . . unless of course they cannot escape the growth mentality that has suffocated progressive policies for decades. But even in this case, the book offers ways of changing that mentality through commoning and collective action.”
Massimo De Angelis, University of East London, editor of The Commoner, and author of Omnia Sunt Communia
“The degrowth movement now has its Manifesto. A rigorous, practical analysis that will guide grassroots and institutional politics so they can realize a transformation akin to degrowth and turn the current global crisis into a new opportunity and pathway towards more sustainable and carrying societies.”
Isabelle Anguelovski, Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (BCNUEJ) and author of Neighborhood as Refuge
“By this book, degrowth finally becomes adult. No longer a simple game of hide-and-seek with the growth regime. No longer a vague illusion postponed until the advent of a catastrophe that never comes. No longer a generous experimentation among circles of virtuosos nor an extreme form of resilience by the excluded from the banquet of the consumer society, but a mature and innovative political project, facing the hegemony challenge in the open field of the social arena. The authors are the best fruits of the degrowth movement: activists at the forefront and at the same time leading scholars.”
Onofrio Romano, University of Bari and author of Towards a society of degrowth
“Decrecer es la consigna. Más y más crecimiento económico en un mundo finito es una locura. Más todavía si éste ahonda las diferencias sociales, las frustraciones y la infelicidad. No podemos mantener ese ritmo despiadado de acumulación del que afloran múltiples pandemias, como la del coronavirus. No hay duda, requerimos una desaceleración programada de la actividad económica para reencontrarnos armónicamente con los ritmos de la Madre Tierra, así como para construir otras sociedades basadas en la diversidad, la sostenibilidad, la pluralidad y la reciprocidad; bases fundamentales del Pluriverso: un mundo donde quepan todos los mundos posibles que aseguren una vida digna a humanos y no humanos.”
Alberto Acosta, former president of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador and author of Buen Vivir
The Case for Degrowth
Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa, Federico Demaria
The relentless pursuit of economic growth is the defining characteristic of contemporary societies. Yet it benefits few and demands monstrous social and ecological sacrifice. Is there a viable alternative? How can we halt the endless quest to grow global production and consumption and instead secure socio-ecological conditions that support lives worth living for all?
In this compelling book, leading experts Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa and Federico Demaria make the case for degrowth – living well with less, by living differently, prioritizing wellbeing, equity and sustainability. Drawing on emerging initiatives and enduring traditions around the world, they advance a radical degrowth vision and outline policies to shape work and care, income and investment that avoid exploitative and unsustainable practices. Degrowth, they argue, can be achieved through transformative strategies that allow societies to slow down by design, not disaster.
Essential reading for all concerned citizens, policy-makers, and students, this book will be an important contribution to one of the thorniest and most pressing debates of our era.
More Info
September 2020
140 pages
Available Formats: Hardback £35.00 €39.60; Paperback £9.99 €11.30; Open eBook £8.49 €9.99
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. A case for degrowth
2. Sacrifices of growth
3. Making changes on the ground
4. Path-breaking reforms
5. Strategies for mobilization
Frequently asked questions
Notes
Research Interests: Religion, History, Sociology, Economics, Development Economics, and 15 moreAnthropology, International Relations, Political Economy, Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Ecology, Biodiversity, Environmental Sustainability, and DeGrowth
Following Illich's (1974) notion of convivial tools and the distinction he makes between "self-propelled transit" and "motorized transport" of mobility, we apply the emerging paradigm of degrowth to urban mobility. Based on the degrowth... more
Following Illich's (1974) notion of convivial tools and the distinction he makes between "self-propelled transit" and "motorized transport" of mobility, we apply the emerging paradigm of degrowth to urban mobility. Based on the degrowth literature and Illich's work, we derive principles and criteria for the mobility of a degrowth society that include institutional, energy and material use, infrastructure, local environmental impacts, social impacts and justice, proximity and speed, and autonomy. To ground our analysis in realworld conditions, we consider the practical perspective of mobility and add another set of criteria: comfort and safety, travel time, monetary cost, and health. We then compare urban mobility options, including recently developed hybrid mobility and sharing schemes. Our results show that, although private means have an advantage in terms of personal practicality, they are not desirable from a degrowth perspective, due to their high social and environmental costs and as constituting a source of urban injustice. Public, hybrid, and self-propelled mobility options would become more practical if such injustices were recognised, and if effective public policies challenged the radical monopoly of cars. Further, hybrid options and sharing/pooling schemes have the potential to reduce the use of private means for metropolitan mobility. The adoption of this degrowth framework can enrich debates on sustainable urban mobility and moves beyond the common proposition of promoting public transport as the solution.
Acknowledgements
This paper is a product of the Research & Degrowth – Barcelona writing collective under the leadership of Claudio Cattaneo. Since 2009, this academic collective has been dedicated to research, training, awareness-raising and events organisation centred on degrowth. This paper forms part of our writing commons; a series of papers that we have discussed and worked on in common. All members of the collective listed as co-authors contributed to its development. Federico Demaria acknowledges the Serra Hunter programme, as well as the ERC projects EnvJustice (GA 695446), and PROSPERA (GA947713). This article also contributes to the Maria de Maeztu Unit of Excellence ICTA UAB (CEX2019-0940-M). We thank Jin Xue, Francois Schneider and Beatriz Rodriguez-Labajos for their useful comments and Ersilia Verlingheri and Roslyn Sorensen for their useful reviews.
Acknowledgements
This paper is a product of the Research & Degrowth – Barcelona writing collective under the leadership of Claudio Cattaneo. Since 2009, this academic collective has been dedicated to research, training, awareness-raising and events organisation centred on degrowth. This paper forms part of our writing commons; a series of papers that we have discussed and worked on in common. All members of the collective listed as co-authors contributed to its development. Federico Demaria acknowledges the Serra Hunter programme, as well as the ERC projects EnvJustice (GA 695446), and PROSPERA (GA947713). This article also contributes to the Maria de Maeztu Unit of Excellence ICTA UAB (CEX2019-0940-M). We thank Jin Xue, Francois Schneider and Beatriz Rodriguez-Labajos for their useful comments and Ersilia Verlingheri and Roslyn Sorensen for their useful reviews.
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Sociology, Computer Science, Economics, and 15 moreDevelopment Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Social Sciences, Environmental Studies, Political Science, Urban Planning, Urban Studies, Urbanism, Environmental Sustainability, Urban And Regional Planning, Political Ecology (Anthropology), DeGrowth, Urban Design, and Public transportation
The term 'décroissance' (degrowth) signifies a process of political and social transformation that reduces a society's material and energy use while improving the quality of life. Degrowth calls for decolonizing imaginaries and... more
The term 'décroissance' (degrowth) signifies a process of political and social transformation that reduces a society's material and energy use while improving the quality of life. Degrowth calls for decolonizing imaginaries and institutions from-in Ursula Le Guin's words-'a one-way future consisting only of growth'. Recent scholarship has focused on the ecological and social costs of growth, on policies that may secure prosperity without growth, and the study of grassroots alternatives pre-figuring a post-growth future. There has been limited engagement, however, with the geographical aspects of degrowth. This special issue addresses this gap, looking at the rooted experiences of peoples and collectives rebelling against, and experimenting with alternatives to, growth-based development. Our contributors approach such resurgent or 'nowtopian' efforts from a decolonial perspective, focusing on how they defend and produce new places, new subjectivities and new state relations. The stories told span from the Indigenous territories of the Chiapas in Mexico and Adivasi communities in southern India, to the streets of Athens, the centres of power in Turkey and the riverbanks of West Sussex.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2514848619869689?journalCode=enea
Download the PDF for free: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619869689
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2514848619869689?journalCode=enea
Download the PDF for free: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619869689
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, Human Geography, Cultural Geography, and 15 moreHistorical Geography, Political Geography and Geopolitics, Social Geography, Urban Geography, Physical Geography, Economics, Economic Geography, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Political Science, Tourism Geography, Critical Geography, Environmental Sustainability, and Political Geography
Environmental destructions, overconsumption and overdevelopment are felt by an increasing number of people. Voices for 'prosperity without growth' have strengthened and environmental conflicts are on the rise worldwide. This introduction... more
Environmental destructions, overconsumption and overdevelopment are felt by an increasing number of people. Voices for 'prosperity without growth' have strengthened and environmental conflicts are on the rise worldwide. This introduction to the special issue explores the possibility of an alliance between post-growth and ecological distribution conflicts (EDCs). It argues that among the various branches of post-growth and EDCs, degrowth and environmental justice (EJ) movements have the best potential to interconnect. This claim is discussed via five 'theses': We argue that both degrowth and EJ movements are materialist but also more than just materialist in scope (thesis I) and both seek a politico-metabolic reconfiguration of our economies (thesis II). We also show that both degrowth and EJ seek consequential as well as deontological justice (thesis III) and they are complementary: while EJ has not developed a unified and broader theoretical roadmap, degrowth has largely failed to connect with a wider social movement (thesis IV). Finally, both degrowth and EJ stress the contradiction between capitalist accumulation vs. conditions of social reproduction (rather than that between capital and labour) (thesis V). We conclude that an alliance between degrowth and EJ is not only possible but necessary.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919306160?dgcid=author#s0045
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919306160?dgcid=author#s0045
Research Interests: Sociology, Social Psychology, Geography, Computer Science, Economics, and 15 moreDevelopment Economics, Anthropology, Political Economy, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Marxism, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Social Media, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, and DeGrowth
Journal of Sustainability Science SPECIAL FEATURE: Editorial Socially sustainable degrowth as a social–ecological transformation: repoliticizing sustainability Viviana Asara, Iago Otero, Federico Demaria, Esteve... more
Journal of Sustainability Science
SPECIAL FEATURE: Editorial
Socially sustainable degrowth as a social–ecological transformation: repoliticizing sustainability
Viviana Asara, Iago Otero, Federico Demaria, Esteve Corbera
Degrowth, postdevelopment, and transitions: a preliminary conversation
Arturo Escobar
In search of lost time: the rise and fall of limits to growth in international sustainability policy
Erik Gómez-Baggethun, José Manuel Naredo
An overview of local credit systems and their implications for post-growth
Julien-François Gerber
Degrowth and health: local action should be linked to global policies and governance for health
Eduardo Missoni
More growth? An unfeasible option to overcome critical energy constraints and climate change
Iñigo Capellán-Pérez, Margarita Mediavilla, Carlos de Castro…
Collective ownership in renewable energy and opportunities for sustainable degrowth
Conrad Kunze, Sören Becker
http://link.springer.com/journal/11625/topicalCollection/AC_a1328cab4383ac9fedf4bd2cf5df943e/page/1
SPECIAL FEATURE: Editorial
Socially sustainable degrowth as a social–ecological transformation: repoliticizing sustainability
Viviana Asara, Iago Otero, Federico Demaria, Esteve Corbera
Degrowth, postdevelopment, and transitions: a preliminary conversation
Arturo Escobar
In search of lost time: the rise and fall of limits to growth in international sustainability policy
Erik Gómez-Baggethun, José Manuel Naredo
An overview of local credit systems and their implications for post-growth
Julien-François Gerber
Degrowth and health: local action should be linked to global policies and governance for health
Eduardo Missoni
More growth? An unfeasible option to overcome critical energy constraints and climate change
Iñigo Capellán-Pérez, Margarita Mediavilla, Carlos de Castro…
Collective ownership in renewable energy and opportunities for sustainable degrowth
Conrad Kunze, Sören Becker
http://link.springer.com/journal/11625/topicalCollection/AC_a1328cab4383ac9fedf4bd2cf5df943e/page/1
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, Environmental Economics, Development Studies, and 27 moreCommons, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Ubuntu, Green Economy & Green Jobs Perspectives, Environmental Sustainability, DeGrowth, Planetary Boundaries, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Public Debt, Green Growth, Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics, Green Economy, Peak Oil, Capitalism, Degrowth, Prosperity Without Growth, Décroissance, New Economy, Ubuntu philosophy, Ubuntu , Applied Ubuntu; role of Ubuntu in business, Decrescita Economica, Buen vivir, Post-Growth, Decrecimiento, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, Degrowth Sustainable Lifestyles, Growth Vs. Degrowth, and Piketty
Degrowth calls for the abolishment of economic growth as a social objective and signifies a desired direction where societies will use less natural resources and organize to live very differently than today. This article traces the... more
Degrowth calls for the abolishment of economic growth as a social objective and signifies a desired direction where societies
will use less natural resources and organize to live very differently than today. This article traces the origins of degrowth from
theorists of the 1970s, to the French activist movement of décroissance in the 2000s, to the contemporary international
activist-researcher movement. We identify 10 degrowth theses concerned with the limits to – and of – growth, the relationship
between growth, degrowth, and democratic politics, and the everyday and institutional alternatives that can facilitate
a degrowth transition.
Kallis, G., Demaria, F., D'Alisa, G., 2015. Degrowth. In: James D. Wright (editor-in-chief), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, Vol 6. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 24–30. ISBN: 9780080970868
will use less natural resources and organize to live very differently than today. This article traces the origins of degrowth from
theorists of the 1970s, to the French activist movement of décroissance in the 2000s, to the contemporary international
activist-researcher movement. We identify 10 degrowth theses concerned with the limits to – and of – growth, the relationship
between growth, degrowth, and democratic politics, and the everyday and institutional alternatives that can facilitate
a degrowth transition.
Kallis, G., Demaria, F., D'Alisa, G., 2015. Degrowth. In: James D. Wright (editor-in-chief), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, Vol 6. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 24–30. ISBN: 9780080970868
Research Interests: Sociology, Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, Energy Economics, and 27 moreHumanities, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Green Economy & Green Jobs Perspectives, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Post-Development Theory, Solidarity Economy, DeGrowth, Limits to Growth, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, GDP estimation, Serge Latouche, Tim Jackson, Décroissance, Buen vivir, Post-2015 Development Agenda, Post-Growth, Economical Growth, Degrowth Sustainable Lifestyles, Growth Vs. Degrowth, and Secular stagnation
Decrecimiento es la traducción literal de “décroissance”, una palabra francesa que significa reducción. Lanzada como lema por activistas en 2001 como un desafío al crecimiento económico, se convirtió en una palabra-misil que desencadena... more
Decrecimiento es la traducción literal de “décroissance”, una palabra francesa que significa reducción. Lanzada como lema por activistas en 2001 como un desafío al crecimiento económico, se convirtió en una palabra-misil que desencadena un debate contencioso sobre el diagnóstico y el pronóstico de nuestra sociedad. El “decrecimiento” se convirtió en un marco interpretativo para un nuevo (y antiguo) movimiento social en el que convergen numerosas corrientes de ideas críticas y acciones políticas. Es un intento de re-politizar los debates sobre los deseados futuros socioambientales y un ejemplo de una
ciencia dirigida por activistas, que ahora se está consolidando en un concepto en la literatura académica.
Este artículo analiza la definición, los orígenes, la evolución, las prácticas y la construcción del decrecimiento. El objetivo principal es explicar las múltiples fuentes y estrategias del decrecimiento, a fin de
mejorar su definición básica y evitar las críticas reduccionistas y los conceptos erróneos. Con este fin, el artículo presenta las principales fuentes intelectuales del decrecimiento, así como sus diversas estrategias (activismo de resistencia, construcción de alternativas y propuestas políticas) y actores (promotores de alternativas, activistas y científicos). Finalmente, el artículo argumenta que la diversidad del movimiento no le resta valor a la existencia de un camino común.
Traducción del original en inglés al castellano por María Fernanda Auz.
Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F., Martinez-Alier, J. (2013). What is degrowth? From an activist slogan to a social movement. Environmental Values 22 (2): 191-215.
¿Qué es el Decrecimiento?
ciencia dirigida por activistas, que ahora se está consolidando en un concepto en la literatura académica.
Este artículo analiza la definición, los orígenes, la evolución, las prácticas y la construcción del decrecimiento. El objetivo principal es explicar las múltiples fuentes y estrategias del decrecimiento, a fin de
mejorar su definición básica y evitar las críticas reduccionistas y los conceptos erróneos. Con este fin, el artículo presenta las principales fuentes intelectuales del decrecimiento, así como sus diversas estrategias (activismo de resistencia, construcción de alternativas y propuestas políticas) y actores (promotores de alternativas, activistas y científicos). Finalmente, el artículo argumenta que la diversidad del movimiento no le resta valor a la existencia de un camino común.
Traducción del original en inglés al castellano por María Fernanda Auz.
Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F., Martinez-Alier, J. (2013). What is degrowth? From an activist slogan to a social movement. Environmental Values 22 (2): 191-215.
¿Qué es el Decrecimiento?
Research Interests: Colombia, Cuban Studies, Political Science, Argentina, Venezuela, and 59 moreChile, Ecuador, Historia, Economia, Sociologia, Feminismo, Comunicación para el desarrollo sostenible, Desarrollo Local / Local Development, Movimientos sociales, Psicología, Derechos Humanos, Cambio climático, Socialismo, Marxismo, Cooperación Internacional Para El Desarrollo, Sociología, Antropología, Ciencias Sociales, Serge Latouche, Psicologia Del Desarrollo, Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil - ONG, Medio Ambiente, Desarrollo Sustentable, Economia Ecológica, Economia Política, Relacion Medio Ambiente Y Sociedad, Desarrollo Humano, Justicia climatica, Sostenibilidad, Antropología y Sociología Jurídica, Desarrollo rural, Economía Solidaria, Comunicación para el desarrollo y el cambio social, Ecología, Arturo Escobar, Justicia Constitucional, Historia Contemporánea de España, Crecimiento Y Desarrollo Economico-Social En Colombia Y America Latina, Facultad de ciencias politicas y sociales, Economía Ambiental, Ecologismo, Desarrollo sostenible, Revolución Mexicana, Anarchismo, Sociologia Ambiental, Buen vivir, Ecofeminismo, Tutoriales De Desarrollo Web, Penas Alternativas, Alberto Acosta, Posdesarrollo, Crecimiento Económico Y Balanza De Pagos, Desarrollo Sociopolìtico cultural y econòmico, Justicia Ambiental, Decrecimiento, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, Ecosocialismo, Joan Martinez-Alier, and Pluriverso
La búsqueda incesante del crecimiento económico es la característica definitoria de las sociedades contemporáneas. No obstante, beneficia a pocos y exige un enorme sacrificio social y ecológico. En este convincente libro, reconocidos... more
La búsqueda incesante del crecimiento económico es la característica definitoria de las sociedades contemporáneas. No obstante, beneficia a pocos y exige un enorme sacrificio social y ecológico.
En este convincente libro, reconocidos expertos abogan por el decrecimiento: vivir bien con menos, viviendo de manera diferente, priorizando el bienestar, la equidad y la sostenibilidad.
Ha llegado el momento de volver a centrarnos en lo que realmente importa: no el PIB, sino la salud y el bienestar de nuestros pueblos y de nuestro planeta.
(Traducción al castellano "The case for degrowth"; Polity, 2020)
La lectura de este libro es informativa, estimulante y demuestra que un nuevo mundo ya está en construcción.
Silvia Federici
En este libro podemos encontrar pistas para hacer que el inevitable decrecimiento sea justo y pacífico.
Yayo Herrero
Una verdadera transición ecológica (ecosocial, más bien) solo puede ser decrecentista.
Jorge Riechmann
ARTICULO DE PREMSA
"La necesidad del decrecimiento en tiempos de pandemia" (ElDiario.es)
https://www.eldiario.es/ultima-llamada/necesidad-decrecimiento-tiempos-pandemia_132_5964314.html
El decrecimiento no es privación forzada, sino la aspiración de asegurar lo suficiente para que todos puedan vivir con dignidad y sin miedo
La pandemia ha dejado al descubierto la fragilidad de los sistemas económicos existentes. Las naciones ricas tienen recursos más que suficientes para cubrir la salud pública y las necesidades básicas durante una crisis, y podrían sobrellevar las consecuencias reasignando el trabajo y los recursos de los sectores no esenciales de la economía hacia aquellos esenciales. Sin embargo, por la forma en que los sistemas económicos actuales se organizan en torno a la circulación continua, cualquier disminución de la actividad del mercado amenaza con desencadenar un colapso sistémico, provocando desempleo y empobrecimiento generalizados.
No tiene por qué ser así. Para hacernos más resistentes a las crisis -pandémicas, climáticas, financieras o políticas- tenemos que construir sistemas capaces de reducir la producción de manera que no se pierdan los medios de subsistencia ni la vida. En este sentido, abogamos por el decrecimiento.
Los medios conservadores como Forbes, Financial Times o Spectator, y en España Vozpópuli, han estado declarando que la crisis del coronavirus deja ver “la miseria del decrecimiento”. Pero lo que está sucediendo durante la pandemia no es decrecimiento. El decrecimiento es un proyecto por una vida enriquecedora y profunda, por el disfrute de los placeres simples, compartiendo y relacionándonos más, y trabajando menos, en sociedades más igualitarias. El objetivo del decrecimiento es desacelerar las cosas a propósito, con el fin de minimizar el daño a los humanos y a los sistemas terrestres y reducir la explotación.
La situación actual es terrible, no porque las emisiones de carbono estén disminuyendo ̶ lo cual es bueno ̶ sino porque se pierden muchas vidas; es terrible no porque los PIB estén cayendo ̶ ante lo cual somos indiferentes ̶ sino porque las dinámicas que protegen las fuentes de ingresos cuando el crecimiento se tambalea son sumamente insuficientes e injustos.
Quisiéramos ver que las sociedades se vuelvan más lentas por diseño, no por un desastre. Esta pandemia es un desastre inducido por el crecimiento, presagio de más por venir. Las fuerzas del crecimiento han acelerado los flujos globales de materiales y dinero, allanando el camino para la circulación vertiginosa de los cuerpos y las enfermedades. Las políticas económicas y los acuerdos sociales propuestos por el decrecimiento ofrecen formas de hacer que esas situaciones sean más vivibles y justas, de emerger mejor y más fuertes después de la crisis, y de reorientar las prácticas y las políticas hacia el cuidado y la solidaridad comunitaria.
El fin del crecimiento no implicará necesariamente una transición suave. Puede que ocurra de forma no planificada, no deseada y caótica, en condiciones no elegidas por nosotros. Condiciones como las que estamos viviendo ahora. La historia a menudo evoluciona súbitamente; los períodos de aparente parálisis pueden llegar a un punto de inflexión, cuando acontecimientos inesperados abren nuevas posibilidades y cierran otras violentamente. La pandemia de la COVID-19 es uno de esos acontecimientos. De repente, las cosas toman direcciones nuevas y radicales, y lo impensable se hace posible, para bien o para mal. Severas depresiones económicas fueron el preámbulo del 'New Deal' de Roosevelt y el Tercer Reich de Hitler. ¿Cuáles son hoy las posibilidades y los peligros?
En medio de esta pandemia, muchas autoridades científicas, políticas y morales están enviando el mensaje de que el cuidado de la salud y el bienestar de la gente debe estar por encima de los intereses económicos, y eso es excelente. El resurgimiento de una ética del cuidado, que defendemos en nuestro nuevo libro “The Case for Degrowth”, se ha hecho patente en la voluntad de las personas de quedarse en casa para proteger a sus mayores, así como en el espíritu de deber y sacrificio entre los trabajadores de la salud y el cuidado. Por supuesto, otros se quedan en casa porque temen al virus y se preocupan por ellos mismos, o para evitar las multas de la policía. Y muchos trabajadores sanitarios van a trabajar porque deben ganarse la vida. Actuar colectivamente contra las crisis, las pandemias o el cambio climático requiere esas combinaciones de sacrificio y solidaridad, interés propio y colectivo, medidas gubernamentales y participación de la población.
[...]
El mundo cambiará después de la pandemia, y habrá disputas sobre qué caminos tomar. La gente tendrá que luchar por dirigir el cambio hacia sociedades más equitativas y resistentes que tengan un menor impacto sobre los humanos y los ambientes naturales. Actores poderosos tratarán de reconstituir las estructuras y dinámicas del statu quo, y de trasladar los costos a aquellos con menos poder. Se requiere de organización y una confluencia de alianzas y circunstancias para asegurar que no sean el medio ambiente y los trabajadores los que paguen la factura, sino aquellos que más se beneficiaron del crecimiento que precedió a este desastre.
El decrecimiento no es privación forzada, sino la aspiración de asegurar lo suficiente para que todos puedan vivir con dignidad y sin miedo; de experimentar la amistad, el amor y la salud; de poder dar y recibir cuidados; de disfrutar del ocio y de la naturaleza, y de legitimar una vida que es también una experiencia de interdependencia y vulnerabilidad. Este objetivo no se alcanzará subvencionando a las empresas de combustibles fósiles, las líneas aéreas, los cruceros, los hoteles y las megaempresas turísticas. En su lugar, los Estados deben financiar Nuevos Acuerdos Verdes y reconstruir sus infraestructuras de salud y cuidado, creando puestos de trabajo a través de una transición justa hacia economías menos dañinas para el medio ambiente. A medida que caen los precios del petróleo, los combustibles fósiles deben ser fuertemente gravados, recaudando fondos para apoyar las inversiones medioambientales y sociales, y proporcionar exenciones fiscales y dividendos a los trabajadores. En lugar de utilizar el dinero público para rescatar empresas y bancos, instamos a que se establezca una renta básica de cuidado que ayude a las personas y las comunidades a reconstruir sus vidas y sus medios de subsistencia. Estas cuestiones fundamentales relacionadas con las estrategias de transformación socio-ecológica serán el centro de la conferencia internacional sobre el decrecimiento en Viena, que tendrá lugar como evento en línea a finales de mayo de 2020. Un buen punto de partida son los principios para la recuperación de la economía y las bases para crear una sociedad justa que figuran en la carta abierta “Decrecimiento: Nuevas raíces para la economía”.
Se puede decir que esta crisis abre más peligros que posibilidades. Nos preocupa la política del miedo que engendra la pandemia del coronavirus, la intensificación de la vigilancia y el control de los movimientos de las personas, la xenofobia y la culpabilización del otro. Una vez adoptadas medidas como los toques de queda, cuarentenas, leyes por decreto, controles fronterizos o aplazamientos de elecciones, estos pueden pasar fácilmente a formar parte permanente del arsenal político, abriendo horizontes distópicos.
Para contrarrestar estos riesgos, el decrecimiento nos motiva y nos guía a refundar las sociedades sobre la base de la ayuda y el cuidado mutuos, reorientando los objetivos colectivos lejos del crecimiento económico y hacia el bienestar y la equidad. No se trata sólo de aspiraciones elevadas; en nuestro próximo libro The Case for Degrowth identificamos prácticas cotidianas y políticas concretas para empezar a construir el mundo que queremos hoy, junto con estrategias políticas para sustentar la sinergia entre estos esfuerzos en la construcción de sociedades equitativas y de bajo impacto. Este libro no se parece a ningún otro sobre el decrecimiento, ya que es el primero en tratar de abordar la difícil cuestión del “cómo” en la actual coyuntura política.
Antes de la pandemia, tuvimos que trabajar duro para convencer a la gente de la necesidad del decrecimiento. Nuestro trabajo puede ser algo más fácil ahora en medio de evidencias tan palpables de que el sistema actual se está derrumbando por su propio peso. A medida que nos embarcamos en la segunda gran crisis económica mundial en poco más de una década, quizás algunos de nosotros estaremos más dispuestos a cuestionar la lógica de producir y consumir más y más, simplemente para mantener el sistema en funcionamiento. Ha llegado el momento de volver a centrarnos en lo que realmente importa: no el PIB, sino en la salud y el bienestar de nuestra gente y nuestro planeta.
En una palabra, el decrecimiento.
Traducido del ingles por Gonzalo Pradilla.
En este convincente libro, reconocidos expertos abogan por el decrecimiento: vivir bien con menos, viviendo de manera diferente, priorizando el bienestar, la equidad y la sostenibilidad.
Ha llegado el momento de volver a centrarnos en lo que realmente importa: no el PIB, sino la salud y el bienestar de nuestros pueblos y de nuestro planeta.
(Traducción al castellano "The case for degrowth"; Polity, 2020)
La lectura de este libro es informativa, estimulante y demuestra que un nuevo mundo ya está en construcción.
Silvia Federici
En este libro podemos encontrar pistas para hacer que el inevitable decrecimiento sea justo y pacífico.
Yayo Herrero
Una verdadera transición ecológica (ecosocial, más bien) solo puede ser decrecentista.
Jorge Riechmann
ARTICULO DE PREMSA
"La necesidad del decrecimiento en tiempos de pandemia" (ElDiario.es)
https://www.eldiario.es/ultima-llamada/necesidad-decrecimiento-tiempos-pandemia_132_5964314.html
El decrecimiento no es privación forzada, sino la aspiración de asegurar lo suficiente para que todos puedan vivir con dignidad y sin miedo
La pandemia ha dejado al descubierto la fragilidad de los sistemas económicos existentes. Las naciones ricas tienen recursos más que suficientes para cubrir la salud pública y las necesidades básicas durante una crisis, y podrían sobrellevar las consecuencias reasignando el trabajo y los recursos de los sectores no esenciales de la economía hacia aquellos esenciales. Sin embargo, por la forma en que los sistemas económicos actuales se organizan en torno a la circulación continua, cualquier disminución de la actividad del mercado amenaza con desencadenar un colapso sistémico, provocando desempleo y empobrecimiento generalizados.
No tiene por qué ser así. Para hacernos más resistentes a las crisis -pandémicas, climáticas, financieras o políticas- tenemos que construir sistemas capaces de reducir la producción de manera que no se pierdan los medios de subsistencia ni la vida. En este sentido, abogamos por el decrecimiento.
Los medios conservadores como Forbes, Financial Times o Spectator, y en España Vozpópuli, han estado declarando que la crisis del coronavirus deja ver “la miseria del decrecimiento”. Pero lo que está sucediendo durante la pandemia no es decrecimiento. El decrecimiento es un proyecto por una vida enriquecedora y profunda, por el disfrute de los placeres simples, compartiendo y relacionándonos más, y trabajando menos, en sociedades más igualitarias. El objetivo del decrecimiento es desacelerar las cosas a propósito, con el fin de minimizar el daño a los humanos y a los sistemas terrestres y reducir la explotación.
La situación actual es terrible, no porque las emisiones de carbono estén disminuyendo ̶ lo cual es bueno ̶ sino porque se pierden muchas vidas; es terrible no porque los PIB estén cayendo ̶ ante lo cual somos indiferentes ̶ sino porque las dinámicas que protegen las fuentes de ingresos cuando el crecimiento se tambalea son sumamente insuficientes e injustos.
Quisiéramos ver que las sociedades se vuelvan más lentas por diseño, no por un desastre. Esta pandemia es un desastre inducido por el crecimiento, presagio de más por venir. Las fuerzas del crecimiento han acelerado los flujos globales de materiales y dinero, allanando el camino para la circulación vertiginosa de los cuerpos y las enfermedades. Las políticas económicas y los acuerdos sociales propuestos por el decrecimiento ofrecen formas de hacer que esas situaciones sean más vivibles y justas, de emerger mejor y más fuertes después de la crisis, y de reorientar las prácticas y las políticas hacia el cuidado y la solidaridad comunitaria.
El fin del crecimiento no implicará necesariamente una transición suave. Puede que ocurra de forma no planificada, no deseada y caótica, en condiciones no elegidas por nosotros. Condiciones como las que estamos viviendo ahora. La historia a menudo evoluciona súbitamente; los períodos de aparente parálisis pueden llegar a un punto de inflexión, cuando acontecimientos inesperados abren nuevas posibilidades y cierran otras violentamente. La pandemia de la COVID-19 es uno de esos acontecimientos. De repente, las cosas toman direcciones nuevas y radicales, y lo impensable se hace posible, para bien o para mal. Severas depresiones económicas fueron el preámbulo del 'New Deal' de Roosevelt y el Tercer Reich de Hitler. ¿Cuáles son hoy las posibilidades y los peligros?
En medio de esta pandemia, muchas autoridades científicas, políticas y morales están enviando el mensaje de que el cuidado de la salud y el bienestar de la gente debe estar por encima de los intereses económicos, y eso es excelente. El resurgimiento de una ética del cuidado, que defendemos en nuestro nuevo libro “The Case for Degrowth”, se ha hecho patente en la voluntad de las personas de quedarse en casa para proteger a sus mayores, así como en el espíritu de deber y sacrificio entre los trabajadores de la salud y el cuidado. Por supuesto, otros se quedan en casa porque temen al virus y se preocupan por ellos mismos, o para evitar las multas de la policía. Y muchos trabajadores sanitarios van a trabajar porque deben ganarse la vida. Actuar colectivamente contra las crisis, las pandemias o el cambio climático requiere esas combinaciones de sacrificio y solidaridad, interés propio y colectivo, medidas gubernamentales y participación de la población.
[...]
El mundo cambiará después de la pandemia, y habrá disputas sobre qué caminos tomar. La gente tendrá que luchar por dirigir el cambio hacia sociedades más equitativas y resistentes que tengan un menor impacto sobre los humanos y los ambientes naturales. Actores poderosos tratarán de reconstituir las estructuras y dinámicas del statu quo, y de trasladar los costos a aquellos con menos poder. Se requiere de organización y una confluencia de alianzas y circunstancias para asegurar que no sean el medio ambiente y los trabajadores los que paguen la factura, sino aquellos que más se beneficiaron del crecimiento que precedió a este desastre.
El decrecimiento no es privación forzada, sino la aspiración de asegurar lo suficiente para que todos puedan vivir con dignidad y sin miedo; de experimentar la amistad, el amor y la salud; de poder dar y recibir cuidados; de disfrutar del ocio y de la naturaleza, y de legitimar una vida que es también una experiencia de interdependencia y vulnerabilidad. Este objetivo no se alcanzará subvencionando a las empresas de combustibles fósiles, las líneas aéreas, los cruceros, los hoteles y las megaempresas turísticas. En su lugar, los Estados deben financiar Nuevos Acuerdos Verdes y reconstruir sus infraestructuras de salud y cuidado, creando puestos de trabajo a través de una transición justa hacia economías menos dañinas para el medio ambiente. A medida que caen los precios del petróleo, los combustibles fósiles deben ser fuertemente gravados, recaudando fondos para apoyar las inversiones medioambientales y sociales, y proporcionar exenciones fiscales y dividendos a los trabajadores. En lugar de utilizar el dinero público para rescatar empresas y bancos, instamos a que se establezca una renta básica de cuidado que ayude a las personas y las comunidades a reconstruir sus vidas y sus medios de subsistencia. Estas cuestiones fundamentales relacionadas con las estrategias de transformación socio-ecológica serán el centro de la conferencia internacional sobre el decrecimiento en Viena, que tendrá lugar como evento en línea a finales de mayo de 2020. Un buen punto de partida son los principios para la recuperación de la economía y las bases para crear una sociedad justa que figuran en la carta abierta “Decrecimiento: Nuevas raíces para la economía”.
Se puede decir que esta crisis abre más peligros que posibilidades. Nos preocupa la política del miedo que engendra la pandemia del coronavirus, la intensificación de la vigilancia y el control de los movimientos de las personas, la xenofobia y la culpabilización del otro. Una vez adoptadas medidas como los toques de queda, cuarentenas, leyes por decreto, controles fronterizos o aplazamientos de elecciones, estos pueden pasar fácilmente a formar parte permanente del arsenal político, abriendo horizontes distópicos.
Para contrarrestar estos riesgos, el decrecimiento nos motiva y nos guía a refundar las sociedades sobre la base de la ayuda y el cuidado mutuos, reorientando los objetivos colectivos lejos del crecimiento económico y hacia el bienestar y la equidad. No se trata sólo de aspiraciones elevadas; en nuestro próximo libro The Case for Degrowth identificamos prácticas cotidianas y políticas concretas para empezar a construir el mundo que queremos hoy, junto con estrategias políticas para sustentar la sinergia entre estos esfuerzos en la construcción de sociedades equitativas y de bajo impacto. Este libro no se parece a ningún otro sobre el decrecimiento, ya que es el primero en tratar de abordar la difícil cuestión del “cómo” en la actual coyuntura política.
Antes de la pandemia, tuvimos que trabajar duro para convencer a la gente de la necesidad del decrecimiento. Nuestro trabajo puede ser algo más fácil ahora en medio de evidencias tan palpables de que el sistema actual se está derrumbando por su propio peso. A medida que nos embarcamos en la segunda gran crisis económica mundial en poco más de una década, quizás algunos de nosotros estaremos más dispuestos a cuestionar la lógica de producir y consumir más y más, simplemente para mantener el sistema en funcionamiento. Ha llegado el momento de volver a centrarnos en lo que realmente importa: no el PIB, sino en la salud y el bienestar de nuestra gente y nuestro planeta.
En una palabra, el decrecimiento.
Traducido del ingles por Gonzalo Pradilla.
Research Interests: Historia, Economia, Sociologia, Ciencia Politica, Economía, and 15 moreAntropología cultural, Marxismo, Antropología Social, Sociología, Antropología, Ciencias Sociales, Serge Latouche, Medio Ambiente, Desarrollo Sustentable, Desarrollo Humano, Sostenibilidad, Ecología, Arturo Escobar, Ecologia Política, and Decrecimiento
Despite renewed efforts to combat climate change, it remains uncertain how economies will achieve emission reduction by 2050. Among different decarbonisation strategies, knowledge about the potential role and contributions of social... more
Despite renewed efforts to combat climate change, it remains uncertain how economies will achieve emission reduction by 2050. Among different decarbonisation strategies, knowledge about the potential role and contributions of social movements to curbing carbon emissions has been limited. This study aims to shed light on the diverse contributions of social movements to staying within the global carbon budget, as well as on the specific outcomes and strategies employed in protests against hydrocarbon activities. For this purpose, we conduct a systematic literature review of 57 empirical cases of social movements contesting fossil fuel projects in 29 countries. Based on an exploratory approach, we identify a series of different movement strategies and a range of qualitative contributions that support staying within the carbon budget. These include raising awareness of risks and strategies, enhancing corporate responsibility, being informed about policy changes, laws and regulations, fostering just energy transitions, energy democracy, divestment, alternative market solutions, and forcing the postponement or cancellation of targeted hydrocarbon activities. While the institutional means are widely used and seem to support policy change and regulation, these strategies are not used to deliver awareness or postponement outcomes. Similarly, while movements tend to rely on civil disobedience to stop hydrocarbon projects in the short term, they rely on multiple strategies to cancel them in the longer term. Our study also indicates significant knowledge gaps in the literature, particularly, cases in Africa and Central Asia, women's participation in these movements, in addition to more quantitative assessments of the actual emissions reduced by social movements.
Keywords: Social movements, Environmental justice, Climate change mitigation, Carbon emissions, Carbon budget, Meta-analysis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800922000180?via%3Dihub
Keywords: Social movements, Environmental justice, Climate change mitigation, Carbon emissions, Carbon budget, Meta-analysis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800922000180?via%3Dihub
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Landscape Ecology, Sociology, Social Movements, Geography, and 15 moreComputer Science, Chemistry, Economics, Development Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy of Science, Humanities, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Marxism, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sustainability
- Support of environmental defenders requires better understanding of environmental conflicts. - Environmental defenders employ largely non-violent protest forms. - Indigenous environmental defenders face significantly higher rates of... more
- Support of environmental defenders requires better understanding of environmental conflicts.
- Environmental defenders employ largely non-violent protest forms.
- Indigenous environmental defenders face significantly higher rates of violence.
- Combining preventive mobilization, tactical diversity and litigation increases activists’ success.
- Global grassroots environmentalism is a promising force for sustainability.
Abstract
Recent research and policies recognize the importance of environmental defenders for global sustainability and emphasize their need for protection against violence and repression. However, effective support may benefit from a more systematic understanding of the underlying environmental conflicts, as well as from better knowledge on the factors that enable environmental defenders to mobilize successfully. We have created the global Environmental Justice Atlas to address this knowledge gap. Here we present a large-n analysis of 2743 cases that sheds light on the characteristics of environmental conflicts and the environmental defenders involved, as well as on successful mobilization strategies. We find that bottom-up mobilizations for more sustainable and socially just uses of the environment occur worldwide across all income groups, testifying to the global existence of various forms of grassroots environmentalism as a promising force for sustainability. Environmental defenders are frequently members of vulnerable groups who employ largely non-violent protest forms. In 11% of cases globally, they contributed to halt environmentally destructive and socially conflictive projects, defending the environment and livelihoods. Combining strategies of preventive mobilization, protest diversification and litigation can increase this success rate significantly to up to 27%. However, defenders face globally also high rates of criminalization (20% of cases), physical violence (18%), and assassinations (13%), which significantly increase when Indigenous people are involved. Our results call for targeted actions to enhance the conditions enabling successful mobilizations, and for specific support for Indigenous environmental defenders.
Keywords: Environmental justice, Environmentalism of the poor, Environmental conflicts, Sustainability, Statistical political ecology, EJAtlas
- Environmental defenders employ largely non-violent protest forms.
- Indigenous environmental defenders face significantly higher rates of violence.
- Combining preventive mobilization, tactical diversity and litigation increases activists’ success.
- Global grassroots environmentalism is a promising force for sustainability.
Abstract
Recent research and policies recognize the importance of environmental defenders for global sustainability and emphasize their need for protection against violence and repression. However, effective support may benefit from a more systematic understanding of the underlying environmental conflicts, as well as from better knowledge on the factors that enable environmental defenders to mobilize successfully. We have created the global Environmental Justice Atlas to address this knowledge gap. Here we present a large-n analysis of 2743 cases that sheds light on the characteristics of environmental conflicts and the environmental defenders involved, as well as on successful mobilization strategies. We find that bottom-up mobilizations for more sustainable and socially just uses of the environment occur worldwide across all income groups, testifying to the global existence of various forms of grassroots environmentalism as a promising force for sustainability. Environmental defenders are frequently members of vulnerable groups who employ largely non-violent protest forms. In 11% of cases globally, they contributed to halt environmentally destructive and socially conflictive projects, defending the environment and livelihoods. Combining strategies of preventive mobilization, protest diversification and litigation can increase this success rate significantly to up to 27%. However, defenders face globally also high rates of criminalization (20% of cases), physical violence (18%), and assassinations (13%), which significantly increase when Indigenous people are involved. Our results call for targeted actions to enhance the conditions enabling successful mobilizations, and for specific support for Indigenous environmental defenders.
Keywords: Environmental justice, Environmentalism of the poor, Environmental conflicts, Sustainability, Statistical political ecology, EJAtlas
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, and 15 moreAnthropology, Political Economy, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Sciences, Corporate Social Responsibility, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Ecology, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, and Environmental Conflicts
The environmental movement may be “the most comprehensive and influential movement of our time” (Castells 1997: 67), representing for the ‘post-industrial’ age what the workers’ movement was for the industrial period. Yet while strike... more
The environmental movement may be “the most comprehensive and influential movement of our time” (Castells 1997: 67), representing for the ‘post-industrial’ age what the workers’ movement was for the industrial period. Yet while strike statistics have been collected for many countries since the late nineteenth century (van der Velden 2007),1 until the present no administrative body tracks the occurrence and frequency of mobilizations or protests related to environmental issues at the global scale, in the way that the World Labour Organization tracks the occurrence of strike action.2 Thus until the present it has been impossible to properly document the prevalence and incidence of contentious activity related to environmental issues or to track the ebb and flow of protest activity. Such an exercise is necessary because if the twentieth century has been the one of workers struggles, the twenty-first century could well be the one of environmentalists. This Special Feature presents the results from such an exercise—The Global Atlas of Environmental Justice—a unique global inventory of cases of socio-environmental conflicts built through a collaborative process between academics and activist groups which includes both qualitative and quantitative data on thousands of conflictive projects as well as on the social response.
This Special Feature applies the lenses of political ecology and ecological economics to unpack and understand these socio-environmental conflicts, otherwise known as ‘ecological distribution conflicts’, (hereafter EDCs, Martinez-Alier 1995, 2002). The contributions in this special feature explore the why, what, how and who of these contentious processes within a new comparative political ecology.
The articles in this special issue underline the need for a politicization of socio-environmental debates, whereby political refers to the struggle over the kinds of worlds the people want to create and the types of ecologies they want to live in. We put the focus on who gains and who loses in ecological processes arguing that these issues need to be at the center of sustainability science. Secondly, we demonstrate how environmental justice groups and movements coming out of those conflicts play a fundamental role in redefining and promoting sustainability. We contend that protests are not disruptions to smooth governance that need to be managed and resolved, but that they express grievances as well as aspirations and demands and in this way may serve as potent forces that can lead to the transformation towards sustainability of our economies, societies and ecologies.
The articles in this collection contribute to a core question of sustainability science—why and through what political, social and economic processes some are denied the right to a safe environment, and how to support the necessary social and political transformation to enact environmental justice.
Open access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-018-0563-4
Journal Sustainability Science
This Special Feature applies the lenses of political ecology and ecological economics to unpack and understand these socio-environmental conflicts, otherwise known as ‘ecological distribution conflicts’, (hereafter EDCs, Martinez-Alier 1995, 2002). The contributions in this special feature explore the why, what, how and who of these contentious processes within a new comparative political ecology.
The articles in this special issue underline the need for a politicization of socio-environmental debates, whereby political refers to the struggle over the kinds of worlds the people want to create and the types of ecologies they want to live in. We put the focus on who gains and who loses in ecological processes arguing that these issues need to be at the center of sustainability science. Secondly, we demonstrate how environmental justice groups and movements coming out of those conflicts play a fundamental role in redefining and promoting sustainability. We contend that protests are not disruptions to smooth governance that need to be managed and resolved, but that they express grievances as well as aspirations and demands and in this way may serve as potent forces that can lead to the transformation towards sustainability of our economies, societies and ecologies.
The articles in this collection contribute to a core question of sustainability science—why and through what political, social and economic processes some are denied the right to a safe environment, and how to support the necessary social and political transformation to enact environmental justice.
Open access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-018-0563-4
Journal Sustainability Science
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Environmental Engineering, History, Sociology, Geography, and 52 moreHuman Geography, Urban Geography, Environmental Science, Physics, Thermodynamics, Economics, Development Economics, Economic Geography, Anthropology, Art History, Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Teacher Education, Marxism, Renewable Energy, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Environmental History, Ecological Anthropology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Anarchism, Energy, Politics, Strikes (Late 20th Century), Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Biology, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Pedagogy, Ecology, Agriculture, Environmental Politics, China, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Work and Labour, Social History, Renewable energy resources, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Natural Science, Ecological restoration, Public policies, Solar Energy, Chemestry, Social Metabolism, Environmental Conflicts, Indian Stock Market, Wind Mills, and Ecological Distribution Conflicts
Can ecological distribution conflicts turn into forces for sustainability? This overview paper addresses in a systematic conceptual manner the question of why, through whom, how, and when conflicts over the use of the environment may take... more
Can ecological distribution conflicts turn into forces for sustainability? This overview paper addresses in a systematic conceptual manner the question of why, through whom, how, and when conflicts over the use of the environment may take an active role in shaping transitions toward sustainability. It presents a conceptual framework that schematically maps out the linkages between (a) patterns of (unsustainable) social metabolism, (b) the emergence of ecological distribution conflicts, (c) the rise of environmental justice movements, and (d) their potential contributions for sustainability transitions. The ways how these four processes can influence each other are multi-faceted and often not a foretold story. Yet, ecological distribution conflicts can have an important role for sustainability, because they relentlessly bring to light conflicting values over the environment as well as unsustainable resource uses affecting people and the planet. Environmental justice movements, born out of such conflicts, become key actors in politicizing such unsustainable resource uses, but moreover, they take sometimes also radical actions to stop them. By drawing on creative forms of mobilizations and diverse repertoires of action to effectively reduce unsustainabilities, they can turn from 'victims' of environmental injustices into 'warriors' for sustainability. But when will improvements in sustainability be lasting? By looking at the overall dynamics between the four processes, we aim to foster a more systematic understanding of the dynamics and roles of ecological distribution conflicts within sustainability processes.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-017-0519-0
Special Feature: The EJAtlas: Ecological Distribution Conflicts as Forces for Sustainability
https://link.springer.com/journal/11625/topicalCollection/AC_b4bf79ebe46fa50dcd80539725659023
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-017-0519-0
Special Feature: The EJAtlas: Ecological Distribution Conflicts as Forces for Sustainability
https://link.springer.com/journal/11625/topicalCollection/AC_b4bf79ebe46fa50dcd80539725659023
Research Interests: American Literature, Finance, Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and 106 moreMechanical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, History, Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Social Movements, Geography, Human Geography, Urban Geography, European Studies, Latin American Studies, Earth Sciences, Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, Islamic Economics, Financial Economics, Environmental Economics, Anthropology, English Literature, Art History, Humanities, Development Studies, Design, Environmental Education, Social Sciences, Environmental Law, Architecture, Climate Change, Usability, Marxism, Literature, Conservation Biology, Renewable Energy, Conservation, Political Ecology, Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental Studies, Marxism and Ecology, Ecological Anthropology, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Energy, Communism, Environmental Management, Urbanism, Ecology, European Union, China, Critical Geography, North American archaeology, Energy and Environment, Sustainable Tourism, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Public Health, Human Resources, Green Economy & Green Jobs Perspectives, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Architecture, Social Ecology, Post-Development Theory, Medicine, DeGrowth, Comics and Graphic Novels, Karl Marx, Sustainability Science, Planetary Boundaries, Refugees, Climate Justice, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Urban Design, Transition Economies, University, Serge Latouche, Externalities, Green Growth, Sustainability Transitions, Socio-Ecological Systems, Social Metabolism, Arturo Escobar, Steady state, Ecologia Política, Bitcoin, Environmental Conflicts, Indian Stock Market, Buen vivir, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Post Extractivismo Y Derechos De La Naturaleza, Green Economy and Inclusive Growth, Socio-ecological Transformation, Pluriverse, Environmentalism of the Poor, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, European Research Council, Joan Martinez-Alier, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SDGs post-2015, Environmental Justice Atlas, Ecological Refugees, ej atlas, and Federico Demaria
Journal of Political Ecology Vol. 21, 2014 20 Abstract In their own battles and strategy meetings since the early 1980s, EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and their networks have introduced several concepts to political ecology... more
Journal of Political Ecology Vol. 21, 2014 20
Abstract
In their own battles and strategy meetings since the early 1980s, EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and their networks have introduced several concepts to political ecology that have also been taken up by academics and policy makers. In this paper, we explain the contexts in which such notions have arisen, providing definitions of a wide array of concepts and slogans related to environmental inequities and sustainability, and explore the connections and relations between them. These concepts include: environmental justice, ecological debt, popular epidemiology, environmental racism, climate justice, environmentalism of the poor, water justice, biopiracy, food sovereignty, "green deserts", "peasant agriculture cools downs the Earth", land grabbing, Ogonization and Yasunization, resource caps, corporate accountability, ecocide, and indigenous territorial rights, among others. We examine how activists have coined these notions and built demands around them, and how academic research has in turn further applied them and supplied other related concepts, working in a mutually reinforcing way with EJOs. We argue that these processes and dynamics build an activist-led and co-produced social sustainability science, furthering both academic scholarship and activism on environmental justice.
Keywords: Political ecology, environmental justice organizations, environmentalism of the poor, ecological debt, activist knowledge
Joan Martinez-Alier a 1
Isabelle Anguelovski a
Patrick Bond b
Daniela Del Bene a
Federico Demaria a
Julien-Francois Gerber c
Lucie Greyl d
Willi Haas e
Hali Healy a
Victoria Marín-Burgos f
Godwin Ojo g
Marcelo Porto h
Leida Rijnhout i
Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos a
Joachim Spangenberg j
Leah Temper a
Rikard Warlenius k
Ivonne Yánez l
Abstract
In their own battles and strategy meetings since the early 1980s, EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and their networks have introduced several concepts to political ecology that have also been taken up by academics and policy makers. In this paper, we explain the contexts in which such notions have arisen, providing definitions of a wide array of concepts and slogans related to environmental inequities and sustainability, and explore the connections and relations between them. These concepts include: environmental justice, ecological debt, popular epidemiology, environmental racism, climate justice, environmentalism of the poor, water justice, biopiracy, food sovereignty, "green deserts", "peasant agriculture cools downs the Earth", land grabbing, Ogonization and Yasunization, resource caps, corporate accountability, ecocide, and indigenous territorial rights, among others. We examine how activists have coined these notions and built demands around them, and how academic research has in turn further applied them and supplied other related concepts, working in a mutually reinforcing way with EJOs. We argue that these processes and dynamics build an activist-led and co-produced social sustainability science, furthering both academic scholarship and activism on environmental justice.
Keywords: Political ecology, environmental justice organizations, environmentalism of the poor, ecological debt, activist knowledge
Joan Martinez-Alier a 1
Isabelle Anguelovski a
Patrick Bond b
Daniela Del Bene a
Federico Demaria a
Julien-Francois Gerber c
Lucie Greyl d
Willi Haas e
Hali Healy a
Victoria Marín-Burgos f
Godwin Ojo g
Marcelo Porto h
Leida Rijnhout i
Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos a
Joachim Spangenberg j
Leah Temper a
Rikard Warlenius k
Ivonne Yánez l
Research Interests:
In this chapter, we consider comparative data on India and Latin America (and also for some variables on Africa and Europe) to explore the links between increases in the social metabolism (i.e. the flows of energy and materials in the... more
In this chapter, we consider comparative data on India and Latin America (and also for some variables on Africa and Europe) to explore the links between increases in the social metabolism (i.e. the flows of energy and materials in the economy) and the appearance of ecological distribution conflicts. We also analyse the successful resistance movements led by Environmental Justice Organizations (or EJOs), the "valuation languages" deployed by them, and the vocabulary of the global environmental justice movement.
We show that Latin America and India are at different moments in the race (concomitant with increased GDP per person) in the use of Material Flows. Latin America has reached a level of extraction of about 15 tons per person/year of all materials (comparable to the European Union). It is unlikely that this will increase much. A substantial part goes for exports, much larger than the imports (and this is totally different in the EU, where imports in tons are much larger than exports in tons). In contrast, India is (still?) at a level of only 5 tons of material use per capita/year. If the economy grows, as it is likely, this will increase more or less in proportion to economic growth. Biomass will increase much less than building materials and fossil fuels.
This chapter traces the origins of ecological distribution conflicts in the changes in floes of energy and materials (and also on waste disposal), and makes some comparisons in this respect between Latin America and India. Other factors also play a role, like population density.
There is no “green growth” in the sense that the industrial economy is based on the use of fossil fuels. Therefore there is a need for "fresh" supplies of energy all the time. Materials can be recycled to some extent. When the economy grows, inputs of fossil fuels, biomass (food and feedstuffs, paper pulp, wood, agrofuels), building materials and mineral ores, keep increasing.
From: "Ideology, Political Economy and the Alternatives
Green Growth" Edited by Gareth Dale, Manu V. Mathai, and Jose Puppim de Oliveira (2016). Zed Books
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/G/bo23365078.html
We show that Latin America and India are at different moments in the race (concomitant with increased GDP per person) in the use of Material Flows. Latin America has reached a level of extraction of about 15 tons per person/year of all materials (comparable to the European Union). It is unlikely that this will increase much. A substantial part goes for exports, much larger than the imports (and this is totally different in the EU, where imports in tons are much larger than exports in tons). In contrast, India is (still?) at a level of only 5 tons of material use per capita/year. If the economy grows, as it is likely, this will increase more or less in proportion to economic growth. Biomass will increase much less than building materials and fossil fuels.
This chapter traces the origins of ecological distribution conflicts in the changes in floes of energy and materials (and also on waste disposal), and makes some comparisons in this respect between Latin America and India. Other factors also play a role, like population density.
There is no “green growth” in the sense that the industrial economy is based on the use of fossil fuels. Therefore there is a need for "fresh" supplies of energy all the time. Materials can be recycled to some extent. When the economy grows, inputs of fossil fuels, biomass (food and feedstuffs, paper pulp, wood, agrofuels), building materials and mineral ores, keep increasing.
From: "Ideology, Political Economy and the Alternatives
Green Growth" Edited by Gareth Dale, Manu V. Mathai, and Jose Puppim de Oliveira (2016). Zed Books
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/G/bo23365078.html
Research Interests: Sociology, Latin American Studies, Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, and 27 moreEnvironmental Economics, Anthropology, Political Economy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Industrial Ecology, Cleaner Production, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, Politics, International Political Economy, Environmental Politics, Environmental Conflicts Resolution, Environmental Sustainability, Political Ecology (Anthropology), DeGrowth, India, Commodity Trading, Latin America, Urban Political Ecology, Green Growth, Social Metabolism, Circular Economy, Material flows, Green Economy and Inclusive Growth, and Sustainability
This paper explains the methods for counting the energy and material flows in the economy, and gives the main results of the Material Flows for the economy of India between 1961 and 2008 as researched by Simron Singh et al (2012). Drawing... more
This paper explains the methods for counting the energy and material flows in the economy, and
gives the main results of the Material Flows for the economy of India between 1961 and 2008 as
researched by Simron Singh et al (2012). Drawing on work done in the EJOLT project, some
illustrations are given of the links between the changing social metabolism and ecological
distribution conflicts, looking at responses in Odisha to bauxite mining, at conflicts on sand
mining, at disputes on waste management options in Delhi and at ship dismantling in Alang,
Gujarat. The aim is to show how a history of social metabolism, of socio-environmental
conflicts, and of the changing valuation languages deployed by various social actors in such
conflicts, could be written in a common framework.
KEYWORDS: Economic Growth; Material Flows; Bauxite Mining; Sand Mining; Ship Dismantling; Urban Waste Disposal; Environmental Movements
gives the main results of the Material Flows for the economy of India between 1961 and 2008 as
researched by Simron Singh et al (2012). Drawing on work done in the EJOLT project, some
illustrations are given of the links between the changing social metabolism and ecological
distribution conflicts, looking at responses in Odisha to bauxite mining, at conflicts on sand
mining, at disputes on waste management options in Delhi and at ship dismantling in Alang,
Gujarat. The aim is to show how a history of social metabolism, of socio-environmental
conflicts, and of the changing valuation languages deployed by various social actors in such
conflicts, could be written in a common framework.
KEYWORDS: Economic Growth; Material Flows; Bauxite Mining; Sand Mining; Ship Dismantling; Urban Waste Disposal; Environmental Movements
Research Interests:
Preface by Joan Martinez-Alier. Introduces the fields of ecological economics and political ecology - Presents an in-depth overview on the informal recycling in the Global South that, according to the World Bank, employs 1% of the urban... more
Preface by Joan Martinez-Alier. Introduces the fields of ecological economics and political ecology
- Presents an in-depth overview on the informal recycling in the Global South that, according to the World Bank, employs 1% of the urban population in developing countries
- The struggles by informal recyclers are discussed as a case of urban 'environmentalism of the poor', because by defending their livelihood they defend the environment.
ABSTRACT
Waste is increasingly a site of social conflict. The questions related to waste management are not merely technical; what, how, where, and by whom become intrinsically political questions. This book is about the power relations in recycling, from the viewpoint of political ecology and ecological economics. Informal waste recyclers are invisible for citizens and public policy. This book focuses on environmental conflicts involving them, with two emblematic case studies from India. Firstly, ship breaking, where the metabolism of a global infrastructure, namely shipping, shifts social and environmental costs to very localized communities in order to obtain large profits. Secondly, the conflict around municipal solid waste management in Delhi shows how environmental costs are shifted to urban residents, and recyclers are dispossessed of their livelihood source: recyclable waste. The first is an example of capital accumulation by contamination, while the second involves both dispossession and contamination. The struggles of informal recyclers constitute an attempt to re-politicize waste metabolism beyond techno-managerial solutions by fostering counter-hegemonic discourses and praxis. The book presents a range of experiences, mostly in India but with examples from all over the world, to inform theory on how environments are shaped, politicized, and contested.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Waste Is Increasingly a Site of Social Conflict
2. Theoretical Framework: Ecological Economics, Political Ecology, and Waste Studies
3. Shipbreaking in Alang: A Conflict Against Capital Accumulation by Contamination
4. Delhi's Waste Conflict: An Unlikely Alliance Against Capital Accumulation by Dispossession and Contamination
5. Informal Waste Recyclers and Their Environmental Services: A Case for Recognition and Capital De- Accumulation
6. Conclusions: How Environments Are Shaped, Politicized, and Contested.
AUTHOR: Federico Demaria, Associate Professor of Ecological Economics and Political Ecology, University of Barcelona
REVIEWS
"Federico Demaria has given us a gem of a book... it is the kind of book to which the reader tends to return to because yet another element suddenly is in play. It is partly the complexity of the conditions he has engaged and the vastness of the elements in play. It is the type of book that helps us learn something we had not considered or thought about. His analysis covers a large variety of elements, from environmental conflicts to giving voice and presence to the poor and forgotten. It is a must-read." -- Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, New York, and author of Expulsions
"Our planet is not only a tap of resources, it is also the sink of our wastes. Their disposal - technocratised and invisibilised - is key to planetary survival. In this book, rich in ideas and evidence drawn from waste ships, consumption waste and socially marginalised recyclers of waste, Federico Demaria remedies this dangerous neglect to reveal the political-ecological conflicts at play in India's far-from-circular economy and to theorise accumulation by cost-shifting and contamination. An innovative, essential and authoritative source for all researchers, activists, policy-makers and enforcers concerned about unsustainable development." -- Barbara Harriss-White, Professor of Development Studies, University of Oxford; an author of "India working: Essays on society and economy"
"This book delves deeply into unseen aspects of poverty in India, discusses the environmentalism of the poor, and clarifies the debates on the so-called circular economy. We know that the industrial economy is entropic. This book is a major contribution to research on the economy of the Entropocene." -- Joan Martinez Alier, Autonomous University of Barcelona, and author of Environmentalism of the Poor
"Demaria makes a timely and important contribution to political ecology, demonstrating that neither the political economy nor materiality can be considered as "context" since they are always already co-constituted. The book's rich analysis exposes how the politics around social metabolism is intrinsically linked to the struggle against exploitation, dispossession, and contamination" -- Maria Kaika, University of Amsterdam, author of City of flows: Modernity, nature, and the city and co-editor of Turning up the Heat: Urban Political Ecology for a Climate Emergency, with Keil, Mandler and Tzaninis
"Based on more than ten years of field experience and two case studies in India, Federico Demaria provides a perceptive and compelling exploration of the power relations at the heart of recycling in the global South. His detailed discussion of the conflicts that exist in the recycling sector, both locally and globally, not only highlights social, political, and institutional dynamics but sensitively tells the story of informal recyclers, or waste pickers, whom he identifies as important environmental workers. Ultimately, Demaria makes an impassioned plea for a fair and just evaluation of the contribution made by waste pickers who stand at the front line of climate change resilience." -- Libby McDonald, Lecturer and Inclusive Economies Lead; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, D-Lab
"Drawing from many cases but particularly from the Delhi waste conflict around privatization of waste and introduction of incineration, the book traces back the struggles of workers and allies and makes a powerful call for the recognition of the crucial role informal waste workers make to the environment and the economy. The book makes a critical contribution to the growing knowledge of waste pickers by studying not only through a poignant narrative of conflicts and struggles but also by introducing key concepts for understanding the threats and the struggles for resistance." -- Sonia Dias, Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing
- Presents an in-depth overview on the informal recycling in the Global South that, according to the World Bank, employs 1% of the urban population in developing countries
- The struggles by informal recyclers are discussed as a case of urban 'environmentalism of the poor', because by defending their livelihood they defend the environment.
ABSTRACT
Waste is increasingly a site of social conflict. The questions related to waste management are not merely technical; what, how, where, and by whom become intrinsically political questions. This book is about the power relations in recycling, from the viewpoint of political ecology and ecological economics. Informal waste recyclers are invisible for citizens and public policy. This book focuses on environmental conflicts involving them, with two emblematic case studies from India. Firstly, ship breaking, where the metabolism of a global infrastructure, namely shipping, shifts social and environmental costs to very localized communities in order to obtain large profits. Secondly, the conflict around municipal solid waste management in Delhi shows how environmental costs are shifted to urban residents, and recyclers are dispossessed of their livelihood source: recyclable waste. The first is an example of capital accumulation by contamination, while the second involves both dispossession and contamination. The struggles of informal recyclers constitute an attempt to re-politicize waste metabolism beyond techno-managerial solutions by fostering counter-hegemonic discourses and praxis. The book presents a range of experiences, mostly in India but with examples from all over the world, to inform theory on how environments are shaped, politicized, and contested.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Waste Is Increasingly a Site of Social Conflict
2. Theoretical Framework: Ecological Economics, Political Ecology, and Waste Studies
3. Shipbreaking in Alang: A Conflict Against Capital Accumulation by Contamination
4. Delhi's Waste Conflict: An Unlikely Alliance Against Capital Accumulation by Dispossession and Contamination
5. Informal Waste Recyclers and Their Environmental Services: A Case for Recognition and Capital De- Accumulation
6. Conclusions: How Environments Are Shaped, Politicized, and Contested.
AUTHOR: Federico Demaria, Associate Professor of Ecological Economics and Political Ecology, University of Barcelona
REVIEWS
"Federico Demaria has given us a gem of a book... it is the kind of book to which the reader tends to return to because yet another element suddenly is in play. It is partly the complexity of the conditions he has engaged and the vastness of the elements in play. It is the type of book that helps us learn something we had not considered or thought about. His analysis covers a large variety of elements, from environmental conflicts to giving voice and presence to the poor and forgotten. It is a must-read." -- Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, New York, and author of Expulsions
"Our planet is not only a tap of resources, it is also the sink of our wastes. Their disposal - technocratised and invisibilised - is key to planetary survival. In this book, rich in ideas and evidence drawn from waste ships, consumption waste and socially marginalised recyclers of waste, Federico Demaria remedies this dangerous neglect to reveal the political-ecological conflicts at play in India's far-from-circular economy and to theorise accumulation by cost-shifting and contamination. An innovative, essential and authoritative source for all researchers, activists, policy-makers and enforcers concerned about unsustainable development." -- Barbara Harriss-White, Professor of Development Studies, University of Oxford; an author of "India working: Essays on society and economy"
"This book delves deeply into unseen aspects of poverty in India, discusses the environmentalism of the poor, and clarifies the debates on the so-called circular economy. We know that the industrial economy is entropic. This book is a major contribution to research on the economy of the Entropocene." -- Joan Martinez Alier, Autonomous University of Barcelona, and author of Environmentalism of the Poor
"Demaria makes a timely and important contribution to political ecology, demonstrating that neither the political economy nor materiality can be considered as "context" since they are always already co-constituted. The book's rich analysis exposes how the politics around social metabolism is intrinsically linked to the struggle against exploitation, dispossession, and contamination" -- Maria Kaika, University of Amsterdam, author of City of flows: Modernity, nature, and the city and co-editor of Turning up the Heat: Urban Political Ecology for a Climate Emergency, with Keil, Mandler and Tzaninis
"Based on more than ten years of field experience and two case studies in India, Federico Demaria provides a perceptive and compelling exploration of the power relations at the heart of recycling in the global South. His detailed discussion of the conflicts that exist in the recycling sector, both locally and globally, not only highlights social, political, and institutional dynamics but sensitively tells the story of informal recyclers, or waste pickers, whom he identifies as important environmental workers. Ultimately, Demaria makes an impassioned plea for a fair and just evaluation of the contribution made by waste pickers who stand at the front line of climate change resilience." -- Libby McDonald, Lecturer and Inclusive Economies Lead; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, D-Lab
"Drawing from many cases but particularly from the Delhi waste conflict around privatization of waste and introduction of incineration, the book traces back the struggles of workers and allies and makes a powerful call for the recognition of the crucial role informal waste workers make to the environment and the economy. The book makes a critical contribution to the growing knowledge of waste pickers by studying not only through a poignant narrative of conflicts and struggles but also by introducing key concepts for understanding the threats and the struggles for resistance." -- Sonia Dias, Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing
Research Interests: Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, and 15 moreEnvironmental Economics, Anthropology, Political Economy, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Marxism, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Municipal Solid Waste Management, Environmental Sustainability, and India
The metabolism of contemporary industrialized societies, that is their energy and material flows, leads to the overconsumption and waste of natural resources, two factors often disregarded in the global ecological equation. In this... more
The metabolism of contemporary industrialized societies, that is their energy and material flows, leads to the overconsumption and waste of natural resources, two factors often disregarded in the global ecological equation. In this Discussion article, we examine the amount of natural resources that is increasingly being consumed and wasted by humanity, and propose solutions to reverse this pattern. Since the beginning of the 20th century, societies, especially from industrialized countries, have been wasting resources in different ways. On one hand, the metabolism of industrial societies relies on non-renewable resources. On the other hand, yearly, we directly waste or mismanage around 78% of the total water withdrawn, 49% of the food produced, 31% of the energy produced, 85% of ores and 26% of non-metallic minerals extracted, respectively. As a consequence, natural resources are getting depleted and ecosystems polluted, leading to irreversible environmental changes, biological loss and social conflicts. To reduce the anthropogenic footprint in the planet, and live in harmony with other species and ourselves, we suggest to shift the current economic model based on infinite growth and reduce inequality between and within countries, following a degrowth strategy in industrialized countries. Public education to reduce superfluous consumption is also necessary. In addition, we propose a set of technological strategies to improve the management of natural resources towards circular economies that, like ecosystems, rely only upon renewable resources.
Highlights:
- We present a holistic analysis of anthropogenic waste production and its impacts.
- Each year humans waste more than 30% of most natural resources.
- Resource consumption is decoupled from population growth and unevenly distributed.
- Consequences of the Society of Waste include major environmental and social impacts.
- Degrowth and circular strategies are proposed to reduce the human footprint.
Find the article here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721064378?via%3Dihub#!
Keywords: Natural resources, Social metabolism, Overconsumption, Waste, Environmental justice, Sustainability, Degrowth
Highlights:
- We present a holistic analysis of anthropogenic waste production and its impacts.
- Each year humans waste more than 30% of most natural resources.
- Resource consumption is decoupled from population growth and unevenly distributed.
- Consequences of the Society of Waste include major environmental and social impacts.
- Degrowth and circular strategies are proposed to reduce the human footprint.
Find the article here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721064378?via%3Dihub#!
Keywords: Natural resources, Social metabolism, Overconsumption, Waste, Environmental justice, Sustainability, Degrowth
Research Interests: Civil Engineering, History, Sociology, Geography, Earth Sciences, and 15 moreEconomics, Development Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Political Ecology, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Municipal Solid Waste Management, Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sustainability
Waste is increasingly viewed as a resource rather than an externality. However, new waste management regimes must be introduced in order for value to be created, enhanced and captured. We refer to these regimes as modes of valorization,... more
Waste is increasingly viewed as a resource rather than an externality. However, new waste management regimes must be introduced in order for value to be created, enhanced and captured. We refer to these regimes as modes of valorization, and they establish the conditions that allow waste to become a commodity frontier. The production of waste-based commodity frontiers is often accompanied by dispossession, and this explains why conflicts surrounding the ownership over and control of waste have proliferated worldwide. This article introduces a special issue of Capitalism Nature Socialism that includes papers focused on the establishment of new modes of valorization and concomitant impacts in India, South Africa, Turkey and the U.S.
KEYWORDS: World ecology, environmental justice, discard studies, political ecology, social metabolism, environmental conflicts
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10455752.2019.1694553
KEYWORDS: World ecology, environmental justice, discard studies, political ecology, social metabolism, environmental conflicts
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10455752.2019.1694553
Research Interests: Sociology, Geography, Environmental Science, Economics, Anthropology, and 15 moreDevelopment Studies, Social Sciences, Marxism, Political Ecology, Marxism and Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Discard Studies, Urban Studies, Developing Countries, Ecology, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, and Solid Waste Management
Recent scholarship on the materiality of cities has been criticized by critical urban scholars for being overly descriptive and failing to account for political economy. We argue that through the conceptualization of urban metabolisms... more
Recent scholarship on the materiality of cities has been criticized by critical urban scholars for being overly descriptive and failing to account for political economy. We argue that through the conceptualization of urban metabolisms advanced by ecological economists and industrial ecologists, materialist and critical perspectives can be mutually enriching. We focus on conflict that has erupted in Delhi, India. Authorities have embraced waste-to-energy incinerators, and wastepickers fear that these changes threaten their access to waste, while middle class residents oppose them because of their deleterious impact on ambient air quality. We narrate the emergence of an unlikely alliance between these groups, whose politics opposes the production of a waste-based commodity frontier within the city. We conclude that the materiality and political economy of cities are co-constituted, and contestations over the (re)configuration of urban metabolisms span these spheres as people struggle to realize situated urban political ecologies.
Keywords: environmental justice; political economy; Southern metropolises; urban political ecology; waste; commodity frontier.
Resumen
Los estudios recientes sobre la materialidad de las ciudades han sido criticados por los investigadores urbanos por ser demasiado descriptivos y no dar cuenta de la economía política. Argumentamos que a través de la conceptualización de los metabolismos urbanos de los economistas ecológicos y los ecólogos industriales, las perspectivas materialista y crítica pueden enriquecerse mutuamente. Nos centramos en el conflicto que ha estallado en Delhi, India. Las autoridades han introducido incineradoras y los recicladores temen que este cambio amenaza su acceso a los residuos, mientras que los residentes de clase media se oponen debido al impacto negativo en la calidad ambiental del aire. Explicamos la aparición de una improbable alianza entre estos grupos, cuya política conjunta se opone a la producción de una nueva mercancía, no quieren que los residuos sean una nueva frontera de la mercantilización dentro de la ciudad. Llegamos a la conclusión de que la materialidad y la economía política de las ciudades son co-constituidas, y las disputas por la (re)configuración de los metabolismos urbanos abarcan ambas esferas al luchar la gente por alcanzar y situar determinadas ecologías políticas urbanas.
Keywords: environmental justice; political economy; Southern metropolises; urban political ecology; waste; commodity frontier.
Resumen
Los estudios recientes sobre la materialidad de las ciudades han sido criticados por los investigadores urbanos por ser demasiado descriptivos y no dar cuenta de la economía política. Argumentamos que a través de la conceptualización de los metabolismos urbanos de los economistas ecológicos y los ecólogos industriales, las perspectivas materialista y crítica pueden enriquecerse mutuamente. Nos centramos en el conflicto que ha estallado en Delhi, India. Las autoridades han introducido incineradoras y los recicladores temen que este cambio amenaza su acceso a los residuos, mientras que los residentes de clase media se oponen debido al impacto negativo en la calidad ambiental del aire. Explicamos la aparición de una improbable alianza entre estos grupos, cuya política conjunta se opone a la producción de una nueva mercancía, no quieren que los residuos sean una nueva frontera de la mercantilización dentro de la ciudad. Llegamos a la conclusión de que la materialidad y la economía política de las ciudades son co-constituidas, y las disputas por la (re)configuración de los metabolismos urbanos abarcan ambas esferas al luchar la gente por alcanzar y situar determinadas ecologías políticas urbanas.
Research Interests: Environmental Sociology, Geography, Human Geography, Urban Geography, Environmental Geography, and 27 moreEconomics, Environmental Economics, Political Economy, Development Studies, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Global cities, Sustainable Development, Politics, Waste-to-Energy, Urban Ecology, Waste Management, Neoliberal Economies in the Postcolony, Social Movements, Political Ecology, Indigeneity, Cultures of Disposession, Urban Form in Asia, Non-Linear Systems, Fieldwork and Disruptive Epistemologies, Biopolitics, India, Environmental Justice, Indian Politics, Urbanization, Solid Waste Management, Political Ecology (Anthropology), Cities, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, City and Regional Planning, Informal Sector, Geografía Humana, Urban Political Ecology, Urban Metabolism, Waste Pickers, and Metabolismo Urbano
Los ciudadanos, ecologistas y recicladores, a veces aliados, se han opuesto a las políticas oficiales y a las empresas privadas, guiadas por la acumulación de capital. Proponen alternativas, como la gestión de residuos descentralizada y... more
Los ciudadanos, ecologistas y recicladores, a veces aliados, se han opuesto a las políticas oficiales y a las empresas privadas, guiadas por la acumulación de capital. Proponen alternativas, como la gestión de residuos descentralizada y la estrategia residuos cero (por ejemplo, la recogida puerta a puerta con separación en origen). En otras palabras, los diferentes actores participan en un proceso contencioso en el que despliegan diferentes lenguajes de valoración (más allá de la valoración monetaria, se mencionan limpieza e higiene, eficiencia
en la gestión, medios de subsistencia, riesgos para la salud, medio ambiente, reducción de gases de efecto invernadero) para promover su representación de la realidad y sus soluciones (Martínez-Alier, 2005; Demaria, 2010). Por lo
tanto, en este conflicto de distribución ecológica, veremos que emerge un nuevo sujeto (urbano) del ecologismo de los pobres: los recicladores.
En este artículo explicamos cómo la privatización y la incineración en conjunto constituyen un caso de mercantilización de los residuos e integración horizontal del sistema de gestión, que amenaza a los recicladores con una injusta reconfiguración sociometabólica de la gestión (formal o informal) de residuos. Los recicladores se oponen, en
alianza con otros actores, de hecho, luchando contra la acumulación de capital por una sociedad más justa y sostenible.
La segunda sección es un resumen de la historia con una breve explicación del diagnóstico y el pronóstico oficial sobre la crisis de los residuos en Delhi.
La tercera sección se centra en el sector informal de reciclaje explicando su funcionamiento e importancia. La cuarta sección presenta y discute la integración horizontal con la privatización y conversión de residuos en energía.
En la quinta sección se sacan algunas conclusiones sobre las consecuencias de los procesos descriptos para los recicladores y sus estrategias de resistencia.
Citar como:
Demaria, F. (2015) El ecologismo de los pobres: la lucha de los recicladores en Delhi (India) como resistencia a la acumulación de capital. En: Suarez, F.M., Schamber, P.J. (eds) Recicloscopio IV: miradas sobre dinámicas de gestión de residuos y organización de recuperadores. Los Polvorines : Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS) - Ciccus – UNLa Colección Cuestiones metropolitanas, pp. 305-322.
en la gestión, medios de subsistencia, riesgos para la salud, medio ambiente, reducción de gases de efecto invernadero) para promover su representación de la realidad y sus soluciones (Martínez-Alier, 2005; Demaria, 2010). Por lo
tanto, en este conflicto de distribución ecológica, veremos que emerge un nuevo sujeto (urbano) del ecologismo de los pobres: los recicladores.
En este artículo explicamos cómo la privatización y la incineración en conjunto constituyen un caso de mercantilización de los residuos e integración horizontal del sistema de gestión, que amenaza a los recicladores con una injusta reconfiguración sociometabólica de la gestión (formal o informal) de residuos. Los recicladores se oponen, en
alianza con otros actores, de hecho, luchando contra la acumulación de capital por una sociedad más justa y sostenible.
La segunda sección es un resumen de la historia con una breve explicación del diagnóstico y el pronóstico oficial sobre la crisis de los residuos en Delhi.
La tercera sección se centra en el sector informal de reciclaje explicando su funcionamiento e importancia. La cuarta sección presenta y discute la integración horizontal con la privatización y conversión de residuos en energía.
En la quinta sección se sacan algunas conclusiones sobre las consecuencias de los procesos descriptos para los recicladores y sus estrategias de resistencia.
Citar como:
Demaria, F. (2015) El ecologismo de los pobres: la lucha de los recicladores en Delhi (India) como resistencia a la acumulación de capital. En: Suarez, F.M., Schamber, P.J. (eds) Recicloscopio IV: miradas sobre dinámicas de gestión de residuos y organización de recuperadores. Los Polvorines : Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS) - Ciccus – UNLa Colección Cuestiones metropolitanas, pp. 305-322.
Research Interests:
How struggles for environmental justice contribute to the environmental sustainability of the economy. Capital looks at waste management as a new emergent global market, where a rentier position can be acquired and profits realized.... more
How struggles for environmental justice contribute to the environmental sustainability of the economy.
Capital looks at waste management as a new emergent global market, where a rentier position can be acquired and profits realized. Indeed, capitalists consider waste management as one among several economic spaces to be occupied for the expansion of the scale and scope of capital accumulation (Harvey, 2003). However, the commodification, the marketization and the privatization of wastes increase ecological distribution conflicts, i.e. the struggles around the redistribution of benefits and costs generated by an increase of the societal metabolism (the energy and material flows) of industrialized societies (Martinez-Alier, 2002).
Shipbreaking in the developing world is not just an externality but a successful case of cost shifting, or else, capital accumulation by contamination. This is the process by which the capital system endangers, through cost-shifting, the means of existence (and subsistence) of human beings to in order to find new possibilities for capital valorization (e.g. alteration of biogeochemical cycles). An appropriation of de-facto property rights takes place resulting in the shifting of costs and risks, i.e. exploiting the sinks over their sustainable assimilative capacity (e.g. climate change). The consequences most likely fall upon the most vulnerable social groups (e.g. small scale farmers or fishers in the South), but the society as a whole can be affected.
The shipping industry constitutes a key element in the infrastructure of the world's social metabolism. Ocean-going ships are owned and used for their trade by developed countries but are often demolished, together with their toxic materials, in developing countries. Ship breaking is the process of dismantling an obsolete vessel's structure for scrapping or disposal. The Alang–Sosiya yard (India), one of the world largest shipbreaking yards, is studied here with particular attention to toxic waste management. Ship owners and ship breakers obtain large profits dumping the environmental costs on workers, local farmers and fishers. This unequal distribution of benefits and burdens, due to an international and national uneven distribution of power, has led to an ecological distribution conflict. The controversy at the Indian Supreme Court in 2006 over the dismantling of the ocean liner ‘Blue Lady,’ shows how the different languages of valuation expressed by different social groups clashed and how a language that expresses sustainability as monetary benefit at the national scale, dominated.
Book:
Nature, Economy and Society: Understanding the Linkages. Springer, 2015.
http://www.springer.com/us/book/9788132224037#aboutAuthors
Capital looks at waste management as a new emergent global market, where a rentier position can be acquired and profits realized. Indeed, capitalists consider waste management as one among several economic spaces to be occupied for the expansion of the scale and scope of capital accumulation (Harvey, 2003). However, the commodification, the marketization and the privatization of wastes increase ecological distribution conflicts, i.e. the struggles around the redistribution of benefits and costs generated by an increase of the societal metabolism (the energy and material flows) of industrialized societies (Martinez-Alier, 2002).
Shipbreaking in the developing world is not just an externality but a successful case of cost shifting, or else, capital accumulation by contamination. This is the process by which the capital system endangers, through cost-shifting, the means of existence (and subsistence) of human beings to in order to find new possibilities for capital valorization (e.g. alteration of biogeochemical cycles). An appropriation of de-facto property rights takes place resulting in the shifting of costs and risks, i.e. exploiting the sinks over their sustainable assimilative capacity (e.g. climate change). The consequences most likely fall upon the most vulnerable social groups (e.g. small scale farmers or fishers in the South), but the society as a whole can be affected.
The shipping industry constitutes a key element in the infrastructure of the world's social metabolism. Ocean-going ships are owned and used for their trade by developed countries but are often demolished, together with their toxic materials, in developing countries. Ship breaking is the process of dismantling an obsolete vessel's structure for scrapping or disposal. The Alang–Sosiya yard (India), one of the world largest shipbreaking yards, is studied here with particular attention to toxic waste management. Ship owners and ship breakers obtain large profits dumping the environmental costs on workers, local farmers and fishers. This unequal distribution of benefits and burdens, due to an international and national uneven distribution of power, has led to an ecological distribution conflict. The controversy at the Indian Supreme Court in 2006 over the dismantling of the ocean liner ‘Blue Lady,’ shows how the different languages of valuation expressed by different social groups clashed and how a language that expresses sustainability as monetary benefit at the national scale, dominated.
Book:
Nature, Economy and Society: Understanding the Linkages. Springer, 2015.
http://www.springer.com/us/book/9788132224037#aboutAuthors
Research Interests: Environmental Economics, Marxism, Poverty, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, and 27 moreSustainable Development, Post-Marxism, Shipping, Capitalism, Waste Management, Neoliberal Economies in the Postcolony, Social Movements, Political Ecology, Indigeneity, Cultures of Disposession, Urban Form in Asia, Non-Linear Systems, Fieldwork and Disruptive Epistemologies, Biopolitics, India, David Harvey, Hazardous Waste, Political Ecology (Anthropology), India, Shipbreaking, Primitive Accumulation, Accumulation by Dispossession, Feminist Political Ecology, Hazardous Waste Management, Asbestos, Marxismo, Urban Political Ecology, International Political Ecology, Poverty Studies, Political ecology, NGOs, sustainable development, biodiversity, agroecology, amazonia, brazil, global change, environmental actors, protect areas, nature conservation., Basel Convention, Laws and Practices on Dumping Wastes, Asbestos-Related Diseases, Toxic Waste, Effects of Solid Waste Dumping Site on the Community, and Political Ecology and Economy
Découvrez en détail tous les concepts liés à la décroissance. Lorsque la langue usuelle ne permet plus d’exprimer ce qui demande à être articulé d’urgence, c’est qu’il est temps d’apprendre un nouveau vocabulaire. Ce livre étudie les... more
Découvrez en détail tous les concepts liés à la décroissance.
Lorsque la langue usuelle ne permet plus d’exprimer ce qui demande à être articulé d’urgence, c’est qu’il est temps d’apprendre un nouveau vocabulaire.
Ce livre étudie les principaux mots-clés de la décroissance et fournit une véritable boîte à outils pour penser une transformation radicale de nos sociétés qui mette enfin l’accent sur l’idée de « vie bonne ».
Paru initialement en Grande-Bretagne et en Espagne, ce livre est traduit par nos soins pour la première fois en français. Chaque édition dans un nouveau pays s’enrichit de nouvelles contributions, et l’édition française contient des textes inédits de Paul Ariès, Anna Bednik, Serge Latouche, Xavier Renou, Agnès Sinaï…
Le mot de « décroissance » émerge aujourd’hui comme un nouveau signifiant des discours économique et politique. Témoin, les prises de position de plus en plus nombreuses visant à le discréditer. Pour échapper à l’ignorance ou à la mauvaise foi qui tantôt l’assimilent à la stagnation actuelle des économies occidentales, tantôt le dénoncent comme un projet de « retour à la bougie » de quelques « écolo-réactionnaires », il était donc plus que temps de proposer au public un état des lieux détaillé de ce qu’il recouvre réellement.
Depuis sa première apparition, dans les années 1970, la notion s’est considérablement enrichie, au point de devenir un enjeu de réflexion pour tous ceux qui en appellent à une transformation sociale radicale. Cet ouvrage, composé d’une soixantaine d’articles de fond, en constitue la première synthèse thématique se proposant d'en définir les contours et d'en cerner les multiples sources intellectuelles. Il s’agit ici de souligner les grands axes des problématiques embrassées par la décroissance, de présenter les formes d’action qui s’y rattachent ou s’en revendiquent et, en laissant ouvert le débat interne sur un certain nombre de questions clés, d’exposer et de nourrir une discussion collective et internationale déjà bien engagée.
La diversité des entrées de ce dictionnaire encyclopédique montre que ce concept touche, certes, aux enjeux écologiques et environnementaux, mais qu’il est loin de s’y limiter. On y découvrira que la décroissance se donne pour tâche d’étudier en profondeur le poids des logiques économiques et industrielles sur les conditions d’existence sur la planète, et de réfléchir à d’autres formes d’organisation de la production et des échanges ; qu’elle instruit une critique en règle de nos choix de société et de leur rapport à ce qu’elle nomme la « vie bonne », tout en jetant les bases de contre-modèles possibles ; enfin, qu’elle s’intéresse à toutes les expériences collectives actuelles qui témoignent, un peu partout dans le monde, de l’existence de résistances créatrices et vivaces au dogme de la croissance.
Avec entre autres des contributions de Mauro Bonaiuti, Arturo Escobar, Marco Deriu, Tim Jackson…
L’ouvrage est déjà paru en Grande-Bretagne chez Routledge et en Espagne chez Icaria. Il paraîtra dans les mois prochains en Italie, au Brésil, en Allemagne, en Croatie…
Une source d’inspiration indispensable, pour élargir le débat à la veille de la COP21 qui aura lieu en décembre à Paris.
Quelques exemples de chapitres
Anti-utilitarisme – bioéconomie – critique du développement – justice environnementale – écologie politique – autonomie – marchandisation – biens communs – convivialité – numérique – dématérialisation – entropie – bonheur – PIB – dépolitisation – effet rebond – pic pétrolier – simplicité – néoruraux – revenu de base et revenu maximum – monnaies communautaires – coopératives – audit de la dette – désobéissance – éco-communautés – Indignés – partage du travail – argent public – syndicats – care – jardinage urbain – buen vivir...
Ce qu’ils en pensent…
« Les investissements et la consommation augmentent mais le nombre de chômeurs se maintient ; les inégalités économiques et sociales augmentent, et chaque jour, de nouvelles espèces sont menacées d’extinction… Pourquoi la croissance, qui devrait être synonyme de progrès et de bien-être, a-t-elle des conséquences aussi indésirables ? La réponse se trouve dans ce livre. » Para todos la 2, rtve, 12 décembre 2014
« À un moment de l’histoire où les leaders politiques, économiques et intellectuels pensent que rien de fondamental ne peut désormais être mis en question, rien n’est plus important que le mouvement d’idées et d’actions que représente ce livre sur la décroissance. » David Graeber, London School of Economics
« Quel splendide vocabulaire ! Une sélection d'auteurs internationaux explore avec brio le champ émergent d’une économie qui fait ses adieux à l'obsession de la croissance. » Wolfgang Sachs, Directeur de l'Institut Wuppertal pour le climat, l'environnement et l'énergie à Berlin
« Cet ouvrage est indispensable à quiconque souhaite dépasser les simples mesures de réaménagement pour résoudre les problèmes écologiques et économiques les plus importants de notre temps. » Deepak Malghan, Professeur d’économie écologique à l’Institut indien du management à Bangalore
Ce livre est publié en partenariat avec l’Institut Momentum, laboratoire d’idées sur les issues de la société industrielle et les transitions nécessaires pour amortir le choc social de la fin du pétrole.
http://lepassagerclandestin.fr/catalogue/hors-collection/decroissance-vocabulaire-pour-une-nouvelle-ere.html
Lorsque la langue usuelle ne permet plus d’exprimer ce qui demande à être articulé d’urgence, c’est qu’il est temps d’apprendre un nouveau vocabulaire.
Ce livre étudie les principaux mots-clés de la décroissance et fournit une véritable boîte à outils pour penser une transformation radicale de nos sociétés qui mette enfin l’accent sur l’idée de « vie bonne ».
Paru initialement en Grande-Bretagne et en Espagne, ce livre est traduit par nos soins pour la première fois en français. Chaque édition dans un nouveau pays s’enrichit de nouvelles contributions, et l’édition française contient des textes inédits de Paul Ariès, Anna Bednik, Serge Latouche, Xavier Renou, Agnès Sinaï…
Le mot de « décroissance » émerge aujourd’hui comme un nouveau signifiant des discours économique et politique. Témoin, les prises de position de plus en plus nombreuses visant à le discréditer. Pour échapper à l’ignorance ou à la mauvaise foi qui tantôt l’assimilent à la stagnation actuelle des économies occidentales, tantôt le dénoncent comme un projet de « retour à la bougie » de quelques « écolo-réactionnaires », il était donc plus que temps de proposer au public un état des lieux détaillé de ce qu’il recouvre réellement.
Depuis sa première apparition, dans les années 1970, la notion s’est considérablement enrichie, au point de devenir un enjeu de réflexion pour tous ceux qui en appellent à une transformation sociale radicale. Cet ouvrage, composé d’une soixantaine d’articles de fond, en constitue la première synthèse thématique se proposant d'en définir les contours et d'en cerner les multiples sources intellectuelles. Il s’agit ici de souligner les grands axes des problématiques embrassées par la décroissance, de présenter les formes d’action qui s’y rattachent ou s’en revendiquent et, en laissant ouvert le débat interne sur un certain nombre de questions clés, d’exposer et de nourrir une discussion collective et internationale déjà bien engagée.
La diversité des entrées de ce dictionnaire encyclopédique montre que ce concept touche, certes, aux enjeux écologiques et environnementaux, mais qu’il est loin de s’y limiter. On y découvrira que la décroissance se donne pour tâche d’étudier en profondeur le poids des logiques économiques et industrielles sur les conditions d’existence sur la planète, et de réfléchir à d’autres formes d’organisation de la production et des échanges ; qu’elle instruit une critique en règle de nos choix de société et de leur rapport à ce qu’elle nomme la « vie bonne », tout en jetant les bases de contre-modèles possibles ; enfin, qu’elle s’intéresse à toutes les expériences collectives actuelles qui témoignent, un peu partout dans le monde, de l’existence de résistances créatrices et vivaces au dogme de la croissance.
Avec entre autres des contributions de Mauro Bonaiuti, Arturo Escobar, Marco Deriu, Tim Jackson…
L’ouvrage est déjà paru en Grande-Bretagne chez Routledge et en Espagne chez Icaria. Il paraîtra dans les mois prochains en Italie, au Brésil, en Allemagne, en Croatie…
Une source d’inspiration indispensable, pour élargir le débat à la veille de la COP21 qui aura lieu en décembre à Paris.
Quelques exemples de chapitres
Anti-utilitarisme – bioéconomie – critique du développement – justice environnementale – écologie politique – autonomie – marchandisation – biens communs – convivialité – numérique – dématérialisation – entropie – bonheur – PIB – dépolitisation – effet rebond – pic pétrolier – simplicité – néoruraux – revenu de base et revenu maximum – monnaies communautaires – coopératives – audit de la dette – désobéissance – éco-communautés – Indignés – partage du travail – argent public – syndicats – care – jardinage urbain – buen vivir...
Ce qu’ils en pensent…
« Les investissements et la consommation augmentent mais le nombre de chômeurs se maintient ; les inégalités économiques et sociales augmentent, et chaque jour, de nouvelles espèces sont menacées d’extinction… Pourquoi la croissance, qui devrait être synonyme de progrès et de bien-être, a-t-elle des conséquences aussi indésirables ? La réponse se trouve dans ce livre. » Para todos la 2, rtve, 12 décembre 2014
« À un moment de l’histoire où les leaders politiques, économiques et intellectuels pensent que rien de fondamental ne peut désormais être mis en question, rien n’est plus important que le mouvement d’idées et d’actions que représente ce livre sur la décroissance. » David Graeber, London School of Economics
« Quel splendide vocabulaire ! Une sélection d'auteurs internationaux explore avec brio le champ émergent d’une économie qui fait ses adieux à l'obsession de la croissance. » Wolfgang Sachs, Directeur de l'Institut Wuppertal pour le climat, l'environnement et l'énergie à Berlin
« Cet ouvrage est indispensable à quiconque souhaite dépasser les simples mesures de réaménagement pour résoudre les problèmes écologiques et économiques les plus importants de notre temps. » Deepak Malghan, Professeur d’économie écologique à l’Institut indien du management à Bangalore
Ce livre est publié en partenariat avec l’Institut Momentum, laboratoire d’idées sur les issues de la société industrielle et les transitions nécessaires pour amortir le choc social de la fin du pétrole.
http://lepassagerclandestin.fr/catalogue/hors-collection/decroissance-vocabulaire-pour-une-nouvelle-ere.html
Research Interests:
DESCRECIMIENTO: Edición ampliada latino americana. El decrecimiento se resiste a una definición simple. Como la libertad o la justicia, el decrecimiento expresa una aspiración que no puede ser encerrada en una frase. El decrecimiento es... more
DESCRECIMIENTO: Edición ampliada latino americana.
El decrecimiento se resiste a una definición simple. Como la libertad o la justicia, el decrecimiento expresa una aspiración que no puede ser encerrada en una frase. El decrecimiento es un marco en el que coinciden diferentes líneas de pensamiento, imaginarios o propuestas para actuar. Esta versatilidad es una de sus principales fortalezas.
El decrecimiento es un rechazo al espejismo del crecimiento y un llamamiento a favor de una repolitización del debate público, hoy colonizado por el lenguaje economicista. Decrecimiento es la hipotesis de que podamos «vivir bien con menos y en común».
Personas muy diferentes llegan a él desde diversos ángulos. Algunos, porque constatan que hay límites al crecimiento. Otros, porque consideran que estamos entrando en un período de estancamiento económico y que deberíamos hallar vías para mantener la prosperidad sin crecimiento. Otros más, porque creen que una sociedad verdaderamente igualitaria solo puede ser aquella que se libere del capitalismo y su búsqueda insaciable de expansión. Y otros, finalmente, porque el término «decrecimiento» les resulta muy coherente con el modo de vida que han elegido.
Las contribuciones a este libro provienen de diversas escuelas de pensamiento, de diferentes disciplinas y de variadas esferas de vida: economistas ecológicos, antiutilitaristas, (neo)marxistas, ecologistas políticos, cooperativistas, «nowtopistas» y diversos activistas y practicantes.
Estamos ante una red de ideas y conversaciones en forma de vocabulario, el desarrollo de un conjunto de conceptos que construyen el andamiaje imprescindible para responder a un cambio de paradigma civilizatorio. El resultado es el compendio más exhaustivo sobre el decrecimiento hasta ahora publicado en castellano, útil como referencia internacional. Decrecimiento ha sido publicado en inglés y catalán y próximamente en francés, alemán, portugués, holandés, croata e italiano.
Giacomo D´Alisa, Federico Demaria y Giorgos Kallis son investigadores del Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals en la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona y miembros del colectivo Recerca i Decreixement
www.degrowth.org // @r_degrowth
Participan en el libro Amaia Pérez Orozco, Serge Latouche, Joan Martínez-Alier, Tim Jackson, Arturo Escobar, Sergi Cutillas, David Llistar, Gemma Tarafa, Mayo Fuster Morell, Onofrio Romano, Mauro Bonaiuti, Isabelle Anguelovski, Alevgül H. Şorman, Susan Paulson, Joshua Farley, Diego Andreucci, Terrence McDonough, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Marta Conde, Mariana Walter, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier, Marco Deriu, Sylvia Lorek, Erik Swyngedouw, Sergio Ulgiati, Dan O´Neil, Peter Victor, Filka Sekulova, Blake Alcott, Christian Kerschner, Samuel Alexander, Rita Calvário, Iago Otero, Kristofer Dittmer, Nadia Johanisova, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Philippa Parry, Xavier Renou, Claudio Cattaneo, Viviana Asara, Barbara Muraca, Brandon J. Unti, Mary Mellor, Denis Bayon, Juliet Schor, Chiara Corazza, Solomon Victus, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Chris Carlsson, Eduardo Gudynas, Alberto Acosta, Floren Marcellesi y Juan Carlos Monedero
El decrecimiento se resiste a una definición simple. Como la libertad o la justicia, el decrecimiento expresa una aspiración que no puede ser encerrada en una frase. El decrecimiento es un marco en el que coinciden diferentes líneas de pensamiento, imaginarios o propuestas para actuar. Esta versatilidad es una de sus principales fortalezas.
El decrecimiento es un rechazo al espejismo del crecimiento y un llamamiento a favor de una repolitización del debate público, hoy colonizado por el lenguaje economicista. Decrecimiento es la hipotesis de que podamos «vivir bien con menos y en común».
Personas muy diferentes llegan a él desde diversos ángulos. Algunos, porque constatan que hay límites al crecimiento. Otros, porque consideran que estamos entrando en un período de estancamiento económico y que deberíamos hallar vías para mantener la prosperidad sin crecimiento. Otros más, porque creen que una sociedad verdaderamente igualitaria solo puede ser aquella que se libere del capitalismo y su búsqueda insaciable de expansión. Y otros, finalmente, porque el término «decrecimiento» les resulta muy coherente con el modo de vida que han elegido.
Las contribuciones a este libro provienen de diversas escuelas de pensamiento, de diferentes disciplinas y de variadas esferas de vida: economistas ecológicos, antiutilitaristas, (neo)marxistas, ecologistas políticos, cooperativistas, «nowtopistas» y diversos activistas y practicantes.
Estamos ante una red de ideas y conversaciones en forma de vocabulario, el desarrollo de un conjunto de conceptos que construyen el andamiaje imprescindible para responder a un cambio de paradigma civilizatorio. El resultado es el compendio más exhaustivo sobre el decrecimiento hasta ahora publicado en castellano, útil como referencia internacional. Decrecimiento ha sido publicado en inglés y catalán y próximamente en francés, alemán, portugués, holandés, croata e italiano.
Giacomo D´Alisa, Federico Demaria y Giorgos Kallis son investigadores del Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals en la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona y miembros del colectivo Recerca i Decreixement
www.degrowth.org // @r_degrowth
Participan en el libro Amaia Pérez Orozco, Serge Latouche, Joan Martínez-Alier, Tim Jackson, Arturo Escobar, Sergi Cutillas, David Llistar, Gemma Tarafa, Mayo Fuster Morell, Onofrio Romano, Mauro Bonaiuti, Isabelle Anguelovski, Alevgül H. Şorman, Susan Paulson, Joshua Farley, Diego Andreucci, Terrence McDonough, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Marta Conde, Mariana Walter, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier, Marco Deriu, Sylvia Lorek, Erik Swyngedouw, Sergio Ulgiati, Dan O´Neil, Peter Victor, Filka Sekulova, Blake Alcott, Christian Kerschner, Samuel Alexander, Rita Calvário, Iago Otero, Kristofer Dittmer, Nadia Johanisova, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Philippa Parry, Xavier Renou, Claudio Cattaneo, Viviana Asara, Barbara Muraca, Brandon J. Unti, Mary Mellor, Denis Bayon, Juliet Schor, Chiara Corazza, Solomon Victus, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Chris Carlsson, Eduardo Gudynas, Alberto Acosta, Floren Marcellesi y Juan Carlos Monedero
Research Interests: Decolonialization, Economia, Desarrollo Local / Local Development, Geografia, Sociología, and 15 moreAntropología, Ciencias Sociales, Desarrollo Sustentable, Agroecologia, Economia Ecológica, Desarrollo Humano, Desarrollo rural, Arturo Escobar, Ecologia Política, Crecimiento Y Desarrollo Economico-Social En Colombia Y America Latina, Filosofía latinoamericana y pensamiento crítico en América Latina, Antropología del Desarollo, Buen vivir, Desarrollo Sociopolìtico cultural y econòmico, and Decrecimiento
El decrecimiento se resiste a una definición simple. Como la libertad o la justicia, el decrecimiento expresa una aspiración que no puede ser encerrada en una frase. El decrecimiento es un marco en el que coinciden diferentes líneas de... more
El decrecimiento se resiste a una definición simple. Como la libertad o la justicia, el decrecimiento expresa una aspiración que no puede ser encerrada en una frase. El decrecimiento es un marco en el que coinciden diferentes líneas de pensamiento, imaginarios o propuestas para actuar. Esta versatilidad es una de sus principales fortalezas.
El decrecimiento es un rechazo al espejismo del crecimiento y un llamamiento a favor de una repolitización del debate público, hoy colonizado por el lenguaje economicista. Decrecimiento es la hipotesis de que podamos «vivir bien con menos y en común».
Personas muy diferentes llegan a él desde diversos ángulos. Algunos, porque constatan que hay límites al crecimiento. Otros, porque consideran que estamos entrando en un período de estancamiento económico y que deberíamos hallar vías para mantener la prosperidad sin crecimiento. Otros más, porque creen que una sociedad verdaderamente igualitaria solo puede ser aquella que se libere del capitalismo y su búsqueda insaciable de expansión. Y otros, finalmente, porque el término «decrecimiento» les resulta muy coherente con el modo de vida que han elegido.
Las contribuciones a este libro provienen de diversas escuelas de pensamiento, de diferentes disciplinas y de variadas esferas de vida: economistas ecológicos, antiutilitaristas, (neo)marxistas, ecologistas políticos, cooperativistas, «nowtopistas» y diversos activistas y practicantes.
Estamos ante una red de ideas y conversaciones en forma de vocabulario, el desarrollo de un conjunto de conceptos que construyen el andamiaje imprescindible para responder a un cambio de paradigma civilizatorio. El resultado es el compendio más exhaustivo sobre el decrecimiento hasta ahora publicado en castellano, útil como referencia internacional. Decrecimiento ha sido publicado en inglés y catalán y próximamente en francés, alemán, portugués, holandés, croata e italiano.
Giacomo D´Alisa, Federico Demaria y Giorgos Kallis son investigadores del Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals en la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona y miembros del colectivo Recerca i Decreixement
www.degrowth.org // @r_degrowth
Participan en el libro Amaia Pérez Orozco, Serge Latouche, Joan Martínez-Alier, Tim Jackson, Arturo Escobar, Sergi Cutillas, David Llistar, Gemma Tarafa, Mayo Fuster Morell, Onofrio Romano, Mauro Bonaiuti, Isabelle Anguelovski, Alevgül H. Şorman, Susan Paulson, Joshua Farley, Diego Andreucci, Terrence McDonough, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Marta Conde, Mariana Walter, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier, Marco Deriu, Sylvia Lorek, Erik Swyngedouw, Sergio Ulgiati, Dan O´Neil, Peter Victor, Filka Sekulova, Blake Alcott, Christian Kerschner, Samuel Alexander, Rita Calvário, Iago Otero, Kristofer Dittmer, Nadia Johanisova, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Philippa Parry, Xavier Renou, Claudio Cattaneo, Viviana Asara, Barbara Muraca, Brandon J. Unti, Mary Mellor, Denis Bayon, Juliet Schor, Chiara Corazza, Solomon Victus, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Chris Carlsson, Eduardo Gudynas, Alberto Acosta, Floren Marcellesi y Juan Carlos Monedero.
Información Relacionada
El Huffington Post: El decrecimiento: una salida al estancamiento sistémico. Federico Demaria
El Mundo: ¿Decrecemos? Carlos Fresneda
eldiario.es: Última llamada. Por un nuevo sentido común decrecentista
eldiario.es: Última llamada. Sí podemos decrecer, 10 propuestas
Giorgos Kallis - Degrowth sources
Interview Federico Demaria about Degrowth: a vocabulary for a new era
La Vanguardia: El decálogo del decrecimiento. Antonio Cerrillo
PÚBLICO: Malentendiendo el significado de decrecimiento
Terra.org: ressenya de ´Decrecimiento´
TVE. Para Todos la 2. Decrecimiento no es recesión! Entrevista a Federico Demaria
Video: Degrowth: A vocabulary for a new era
Prefacio, prólogo e introducción de DECRECIMIENTO
Noticias relacionadas
Debat. DECREIXEMENT. Dimecres 8 de juliol 20h Espai Contrabandos
La Vanguardia: Medio centenar de expertos exploran cómo vivir bien con menos
El decrecimiento es un rechazo al espejismo del crecimiento y un llamamiento a favor de una repolitización del debate público, hoy colonizado por el lenguaje economicista. Decrecimiento es la hipotesis de que podamos «vivir bien con menos y en común».
Personas muy diferentes llegan a él desde diversos ángulos. Algunos, porque constatan que hay límites al crecimiento. Otros, porque consideran que estamos entrando en un período de estancamiento económico y que deberíamos hallar vías para mantener la prosperidad sin crecimiento. Otros más, porque creen que una sociedad verdaderamente igualitaria solo puede ser aquella que se libere del capitalismo y su búsqueda insaciable de expansión. Y otros, finalmente, porque el término «decrecimiento» les resulta muy coherente con el modo de vida que han elegido.
Las contribuciones a este libro provienen de diversas escuelas de pensamiento, de diferentes disciplinas y de variadas esferas de vida: economistas ecológicos, antiutilitaristas, (neo)marxistas, ecologistas políticos, cooperativistas, «nowtopistas» y diversos activistas y practicantes.
Estamos ante una red de ideas y conversaciones en forma de vocabulario, el desarrollo de un conjunto de conceptos que construyen el andamiaje imprescindible para responder a un cambio de paradigma civilizatorio. El resultado es el compendio más exhaustivo sobre el decrecimiento hasta ahora publicado en castellano, útil como referencia internacional. Decrecimiento ha sido publicado en inglés y catalán y próximamente en francés, alemán, portugués, holandés, croata e italiano.
Giacomo D´Alisa, Federico Demaria y Giorgos Kallis son investigadores del Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals en la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona y miembros del colectivo Recerca i Decreixement
www.degrowth.org // @r_degrowth
Participan en el libro Amaia Pérez Orozco, Serge Latouche, Joan Martínez-Alier, Tim Jackson, Arturo Escobar, Sergi Cutillas, David Llistar, Gemma Tarafa, Mayo Fuster Morell, Onofrio Romano, Mauro Bonaiuti, Isabelle Anguelovski, Alevgül H. Şorman, Susan Paulson, Joshua Farley, Diego Andreucci, Terrence McDonough, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Marta Conde, Mariana Walter, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier, Marco Deriu, Sylvia Lorek, Erik Swyngedouw, Sergio Ulgiati, Dan O´Neil, Peter Victor, Filka Sekulova, Blake Alcott, Christian Kerschner, Samuel Alexander, Rita Calvário, Iago Otero, Kristofer Dittmer, Nadia Johanisova, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Philippa Parry, Xavier Renou, Claudio Cattaneo, Viviana Asara, Barbara Muraca, Brandon J. Unti, Mary Mellor, Denis Bayon, Juliet Schor, Chiara Corazza, Solomon Victus, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Chris Carlsson, Eduardo Gudynas, Alberto Acosta, Floren Marcellesi y Juan Carlos Monedero.
Información Relacionada
El Huffington Post: El decrecimiento: una salida al estancamiento sistémico. Federico Demaria
El Mundo: ¿Decrecemos? Carlos Fresneda
eldiario.es: Última llamada. Por un nuevo sentido común decrecentista
eldiario.es: Última llamada. Sí podemos decrecer, 10 propuestas
Giorgos Kallis - Degrowth sources
Interview Federico Demaria about Degrowth: a vocabulary for a new era
La Vanguardia: El decálogo del decrecimiento. Antonio Cerrillo
PÚBLICO: Malentendiendo el significado de decrecimiento
Terra.org: ressenya de ´Decrecimiento´
TVE. Para Todos la 2. Decrecimiento no es recesión! Entrevista a Federico Demaria
Video: Degrowth: A vocabulary for a new era
Prefacio, prólogo e introducción de DECRECIMIENTO
Noticias relacionadas
Debat. DECREIXEMENT. Dimecres 8 de juliol 20h Espai Contrabandos
La Vanguardia: Medio centenar de expertos exploran cómo vivir bien con menos
Research Interests: Ecological Economics, DeGrowth, Economia, Economía, Feminismo, and 20 moreCambio climático, Socialismo, Marxismo, Medio Ambiente, Economia Y Finanzas, Trabajo Social, Economia Ecológica, Economia Política, Sostenibilidad, Crecimiento Economico, Economía Ambiental, Good Living, Buen Vivir, Buen vivir, Contaminación, Socialismo S. XXI, Decrecimiento, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, Desarollo Sustentable, Economia Critica, and Desarollo sostenible
Il devient urgent d’appréhender l’économie, la société et la crise écologique avec un nouveau regard. Quand le langage véhiculé devient inadéquat pour saisir le monde, il est temps de mettre de l’avant un nouveau vocabulaire, ce que... more
Il devient urgent d’appréhender l’économie, la société et la crise écologique avec un nouveau regard. Quand le langage véhiculé devient inadéquat pour saisir le monde, il est temps de mettre de l’avant un nouveau vocabulaire, ce que propose cet ouvrage appelé à devenir une référence incontournable. Sortir des balises de l’économisme triomphant où la croissance est le remède à tous les maux, voilà l’ambitieux défi politique de Décroissance. Vocabulaire pour une nouvelle ère.
Devant les crises économiques à répétition, l’accroissement des inégalités et les désastres écologiques, le remède de la croissance est un cul-de-sac. Elle est devenue non rentable sur le plan économique, non soutenable sur le plan écologique et injuste sur le plan social. Il est utopique de croire que l’humanité peut continuer de fonctionner sur ces bases destructrices ; le modèle de développement économique occidental nécessiterait quatre à cinq planètes, or nous n’en avons qu’une…
Le mouvement de la décroissance, qui a pris naissance en France et rassemble aujourd’hui des personnes aux quatre coins du globe, milite pour des sociétés qui useraient moins de ressources naturelles et s’organiseraient selon des bases radicalement différentes. Simplicité, économie de la permanence, autonomie, audit de la dette, entropie, extractivisme, et buen vivir, voilà quelques-unes des entrées présentées dans ce livre pour sortir des ornières idéologiques dominantes, décoloniser nos imaginaires. Et bâtir enfin une société égalitaire et soutenable, viable sur les plans écologique, économique et social.
Publié en Europe aux éditions du Passager clandestin.
À un moment de l’histoire où les leaders politiques, économiques et intellectuels pensent que rien de fondamental ne peut désormais être mis en question, rien n’est plus important que le mouvement d’idées et d’actions que représente ce livre sur la décroissance.
– David Graeber, London School of Economics, auteur de Dette : 5 000 ans d’histoire
Préface de Fabrice Flipo
Avec des contributions de Blake Alcott, Samuel Alexander, Diego Andreucci, Isabelle Anguelovski, Paul Ariès, Viviana Asara, Denis Bayon, Anna Bednik, David Bollier, Mauro Bonaiuti, Chris Carlsson, Claudio Cattaneo, Marta Conde, Chiara Corazza, Sergi Cutillas, Marco Deriu, Kristofer Dittmer, Arturo Escobar, Silke Helfrich, Joshua Farley, Mayo Fuster Morell, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Eduardo Gudynas, Tim Jackson, Nadia Johanisova, Christian Kerschner, Serge Latouche, David Llistar, Sylvia Lorek, Joan Martinez-Alier, Terrence McDonough, Mary Mellor, Barbara Muraca, David Murray, Daniel O’Neill, Iago Otero Armengol, Philippa Parry, Susan Paulson, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Xavier Renou, Onofrio Romano, Julier Schor, Filka Sekulova, Agnès Sinaï, Alevgül H. Şorman, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Erik Swyngedouw, Gemma Tarafa, Sergio Ulgiati, Brandon J. Unti, Peter A. Victor, Solomon Victus, Mariana Walter et Christos Zografos.
http://ecosociete.org/livres/decroissance
http://www.leslibraires.ca/livres/decroissance-vocabulaire-pour-une-nouvelle-ere-giacomo-d-alisa-9782897192341.html
Devant les crises économiques à répétition, l’accroissement des inégalités et les désastres écologiques, le remède de la croissance est un cul-de-sac. Elle est devenue non rentable sur le plan économique, non soutenable sur le plan écologique et injuste sur le plan social. Il est utopique de croire que l’humanité peut continuer de fonctionner sur ces bases destructrices ; le modèle de développement économique occidental nécessiterait quatre à cinq planètes, or nous n’en avons qu’une…
Le mouvement de la décroissance, qui a pris naissance en France et rassemble aujourd’hui des personnes aux quatre coins du globe, milite pour des sociétés qui useraient moins de ressources naturelles et s’organiseraient selon des bases radicalement différentes. Simplicité, économie de la permanence, autonomie, audit de la dette, entropie, extractivisme, et buen vivir, voilà quelques-unes des entrées présentées dans ce livre pour sortir des ornières idéologiques dominantes, décoloniser nos imaginaires. Et bâtir enfin une société égalitaire et soutenable, viable sur les plans écologique, économique et social.
Publié en Europe aux éditions du Passager clandestin.
À un moment de l’histoire où les leaders politiques, économiques et intellectuels pensent que rien de fondamental ne peut désormais être mis en question, rien n’est plus important que le mouvement d’idées et d’actions que représente ce livre sur la décroissance.
– David Graeber, London School of Economics, auteur de Dette : 5 000 ans d’histoire
Préface de Fabrice Flipo
Avec des contributions de Blake Alcott, Samuel Alexander, Diego Andreucci, Isabelle Anguelovski, Paul Ariès, Viviana Asara, Denis Bayon, Anna Bednik, David Bollier, Mauro Bonaiuti, Chris Carlsson, Claudio Cattaneo, Marta Conde, Chiara Corazza, Sergi Cutillas, Marco Deriu, Kristofer Dittmer, Arturo Escobar, Silke Helfrich, Joshua Farley, Mayo Fuster Morell, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Eduardo Gudynas, Tim Jackson, Nadia Johanisova, Christian Kerschner, Serge Latouche, David Llistar, Sylvia Lorek, Joan Martinez-Alier, Terrence McDonough, Mary Mellor, Barbara Muraca, David Murray, Daniel O’Neill, Iago Otero Armengol, Philippa Parry, Susan Paulson, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Xavier Renou, Onofrio Romano, Julier Schor, Filka Sekulova, Agnès Sinaï, Alevgül H. Şorman, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Erik Swyngedouw, Gemma Tarafa, Sergio Ulgiati, Brandon J. Unti, Peter A. Victor, Solomon Victus, Mariana Walter et Christos Zografos.
http://ecosociete.org/livres/decroissance
http://www.leslibraires.ca/livres/decroissance-vocabulaire-pour-une-nouvelle-ere-giacomo-d-alisa-9782897192341.html
Research Interests:
„In Zeiten scheinbarer Alternativlosigkeit sind Bücher wie dieses nicht hoch genug einzuschätzen.“ David Graeber, Gaiamedia.org, 11.04.2016 Wenn unsere Worte nicht ausreichen, um zu sagen, was gesagt werden muss, ist es an der Zeit für... more
„In Zeiten scheinbarer Alternativlosigkeit sind Bücher wie dieses nicht hoch genug einzuschätzen.“ David Graeber, Gaiamedia.org, 11.04.2016
Wenn unsere Worte nicht ausreichen, um zu sagen, was gesagt werden muss, ist es an der Zeit für neue Begriffe. Weltweit hinterfragt eine wachsende Zahl von Wissenschaftlern und Aktivistinnen das dominierende Wirtschaftsmodell kritisch und stellt der von Politik und Wirtschaft verkündeten Alternativlosigkeit neuartige Konzepte entgegen, die die Postwachstumsdebatte prägen. Unter dem Leitbegriff "Degrowth" versammeln sie in diesem Buch einführende Beiträge über "Autonomie", "Commons", "Peak Oil" und "Buen vivir", entdecken alte Werte wie "Einfachheit" neu und sprechen ein Plädoyer aus für "Work-sharing" oder "Jobgarantien".
Das "Degrowth-Handbuch" ist die ultimative Quelle für diejenigen, die nicht nur an einen gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Wandel glauben, sondern dabei sind, ihn mit zu erschaffen. Ein gut verständliches Handbuch, dass die wichtigsten Begriffe dieser neuen Ära auf den Punkt bringt.
https://www.oekom.de/nc/buecher/gesamtprogramm/buch/degrowth.html
272 Seiten, oekom verlag München, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-3-86581-767-9
Erscheinungstermin: 14.03.2016
Preis: 25.00 €
Wenn unsere Worte nicht ausreichen, um zu sagen, was gesagt werden muss, ist es an der Zeit für neue Begriffe. Weltweit hinterfragt eine wachsende Zahl von Wissenschaftlern und Aktivistinnen das dominierende Wirtschaftsmodell kritisch und stellt der von Politik und Wirtschaft verkündeten Alternativlosigkeit neuartige Konzepte entgegen, die die Postwachstumsdebatte prägen. Unter dem Leitbegriff "Degrowth" versammeln sie in diesem Buch einführende Beiträge über "Autonomie", "Commons", "Peak Oil" und "Buen vivir", entdecken alte Werte wie "Einfachheit" neu und sprechen ein Plädoyer aus für "Work-sharing" oder "Jobgarantien".
Das "Degrowth-Handbuch" ist die ultimative Quelle für diejenigen, die nicht nur an einen gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Wandel glauben, sondern dabei sind, ihn mit zu erschaffen. Ein gut verständliches Handbuch, dass die wichtigsten Begriffe dieser neuen Ära auf den Punkt bringt.
https://www.oekom.de/nc/buecher/gesamtprogramm/buch/degrowth.html
272 Seiten, oekom verlag München, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-3-86581-767-9
Erscheinungstermin: 14.03.2016
Preis: 25.00 €
Research Interests: Sociology, Economics, Development Economics, Political Economy, Development Studies, and 13 moreSocial Sciences, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Politics, DeGrowth, Serge Latouche, Postwachstum, Impact of Social Sciences and Humanities, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, Postwachstumsökonomie, and Postwachstumsmode
Pròleg d’Amaia Pérez-Orozco El decreixement es resisteix a tancar-se a una definició simple. Com la llibertat o la justícia, el decreixement expressa una aspiració que no es pot limitar a una frase. El decreixement és un marc en el qual... more
Pròleg d’Amaia Pérez-Orozco
El decreixement es resisteix a tancar-se a una definició simple. Com la llibertat o la justícia, el decreixement expressa una aspiració que no es pot limitar a una frase. El decreixement és un marc en el qual coincideixen diverses línies de pensament, imaginaris o propostes per actuar. Aquesta versatilitat és una de les seves principals fortaleses.
El decreixement és un rebuig al miratge del creixement i una crida a favor d’una repolitització del debat públic, avui colonitzat pel llenguatge economicista. Decreixement és la hipòtesi que podem «viure bé amb menys i en comú».
Persones molt diferents arriben a aquest concepte des de diversos angles. Alguns, perquè constaten que hi ha límits al creixement. Altres, perquè consideren que estem entrant en un període d’estancament econòmic i que hauríem de trobar vies per mantenir la prosperitat sense creixement. Uns altres, perquè creuen que una societat veritablement igualitària només pot ser aquella que s’alliberi del capitalisme i la seva insaciable recerca d’expansió. I d’altres, finalment, perquè el terme «decreixement» els resulta molt coherent amb l’estil de vida que han triat.
Les contribucions a aquest llibre provenen de diverses escoles de pensament, de diferents disciplines i de diverses esferes de vida: economistes ecològics, antiutilitaristes, (neo)marxistes, ecologistes polítics, cooperativistes, nowtopistes i diversos activistes i practicants.
Som davant d’una xarxa d’idees i converses en forma de vocabulari, el desenvolupament de conceptes que construeixen la bastimentada imprescindible per respondre a un canvi de paradigma civilitzador. El resultat és el compendi més exhaustiu sobre el decreixement publicat fins ara en català, útil com a referència internacional. Decreixement ha estat publicat en anglès i castellà i properament en francès, alemany, portuguès, holandès, croata i italià.
www.degrowth.org
@r_degrowth
Participen en el llibre Amaia Pérez Orozco, Serge Latouche, Joan Martínez-Alier, Tim Jackson, Arturo Escobar, Sergi Cutillas, David Llistar, Gemma Tarafa, Mayo Fuster Morell, Onofrio Romano, Mauro Bonaiuti, Isabelle Anguelovski, Alevgül H. Şorman, Susan Paulson, Joshua Farley, Diego Andreucci, Terrence McDonough, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Marta Conde, Mariana Walter, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier, Marco Deriu, Sylvia Lorek, Erik Swyngedouw, Sergio Ulgiati, Dan O\´Neil, Peter Victor, Filka Sekulova, Blake Alcott, Christian Kerschner, Samuel Alexander, Rita Calvário, Iago Otero, Kristofer Dittmer, Nadia Johanisova, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Philippa Parry, Xavier Renou, Claudio Cattaneo, Viviana Asara, Barbara Muraca, Brandon J. Unti, Mary Mellor, Denis Bayon, Juliet Schor, Chiara Corazza, Solomon Victus, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Chris Carlsson i Eduardo Gudynas.
http://www.icariaeditorial.com/libros.php?id=1546
El decreixement es resisteix a tancar-se a una definició simple. Com la llibertat o la justícia, el decreixement expressa una aspiració que no es pot limitar a una frase. El decreixement és un marc en el qual coincideixen diverses línies de pensament, imaginaris o propostes per actuar. Aquesta versatilitat és una de les seves principals fortaleses.
El decreixement és un rebuig al miratge del creixement i una crida a favor d’una repolitització del debat públic, avui colonitzat pel llenguatge economicista. Decreixement és la hipòtesi que podem «viure bé amb menys i en comú».
Persones molt diferents arriben a aquest concepte des de diversos angles. Alguns, perquè constaten que hi ha límits al creixement. Altres, perquè consideren que estem entrant en un període d’estancament econòmic i que hauríem de trobar vies per mantenir la prosperitat sense creixement. Uns altres, perquè creuen que una societat veritablement igualitària només pot ser aquella que s’alliberi del capitalisme i la seva insaciable recerca d’expansió. I d’altres, finalment, perquè el terme «decreixement» els resulta molt coherent amb l’estil de vida que han triat.
Les contribucions a aquest llibre provenen de diverses escoles de pensament, de diferents disciplines i de diverses esferes de vida: economistes ecològics, antiutilitaristes, (neo)marxistes, ecologistes polítics, cooperativistes, nowtopistes i diversos activistes i practicants.
Som davant d’una xarxa d’idees i converses en forma de vocabulari, el desenvolupament de conceptes que construeixen la bastimentada imprescindible per respondre a un canvi de paradigma civilitzador. El resultat és el compendi més exhaustiu sobre el decreixement publicat fins ara en català, útil com a referència internacional. Decreixement ha estat publicat en anglès i castellà i properament en francès, alemany, portuguès, holandès, croata i italià.
www.degrowth.org
@r_degrowth
Participen en el llibre Amaia Pérez Orozco, Serge Latouche, Joan Martínez-Alier, Tim Jackson, Arturo Escobar, Sergi Cutillas, David Llistar, Gemma Tarafa, Mayo Fuster Morell, Onofrio Romano, Mauro Bonaiuti, Isabelle Anguelovski, Alevgül H. Şorman, Susan Paulson, Joshua Farley, Diego Andreucci, Terrence McDonough, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Marta Conde, Mariana Walter, Silke Helfrich, David Bollier, Marco Deriu, Sylvia Lorek, Erik Swyngedouw, Sergio Ulgiati, Dan O\´Neil, Peter Victor, Filka Sekulova, Blake Alcott, Christian Kerschner, Samuel Alexander, Rita Calvário, Iago Otero, Kristofer Dittmer, Nadia Johanisova, Ruben Suriñach Padilla, Philippa Parry, Xavier Renou, Claudio Cattaneo, Viviana Asara, Barbara Muraca, Brandon J. Unti, Mary Mellor, Denis Bayon, Juliet Schor, Chiara Corazza, Solomon Victus, Antonella Picchio, Mogobe B. Ramose, Chris Carlsson i Eduardo Gudynas.
http://www.icariaeditorial.com/libros.php?id=1546
Research Interests:
Dutch edition of degrowth vocabulary vocabulary.degrowth.org Wanneer de gebruikelijke omgangstaal tekortschiet om uit te drukken wat smeekt om verwoording, dan is het tijd voor een nieuwe vocabulaire. We leven in een tijdperk van... more
Dutch edition of degrowth vocabulary
vocabulary.degrowth.org
Wanneer de gebruikelijke omgangstaal tekortschiet om uit te drukken wat smeekt om verwoording, dan is het tijd voor een nieuwe vocabulaire.
We leven in een tijdperk van stagnatie, snelle verarming van een groot deel van de bevolking, groeiende ongelijkheid en socio-ecologische rampen – van Katrina, Haïti en de Filipijnen, tot Fukushima, het olielek in de Golf van Mexico, of het begraven van gi.ig afval in Campania, tot de klimaatverandering en de voortdurende ramp van vermijdbare sterfgevallen door gebrek aan toegang tot land, water en voedsel.
vocabulary.degrowth.org
Wanneer de gebruikelijke omgangstaal tekortschiet om uit te drukken wat smeekt om verwoording, dan is het tijd voor een nieuwe vocabulaire.
We leven in een tijdperk van stagnatie, snelle verarming van een groot deel van de bevolking, groeiende ongelijkheid en socio-ecologische rampen – van Katrina, Haïti en de Filipijnen, tot Fukushima, het olielek in de Golf van Mexico, of het begraven van gi.ig afval in Campania, tot de klimaatverandering en de voortdurende ramp van vermijdbare sterfgevallen door gebrek aan toegang tot land, water en voedsel.
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Economics, Development Economics, Environmental Economics, Anthropology, and 19 moreDevelopment Studies, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, Politics, Green architecture, Dutch, Environmental Sustainability, DeGrowth, Belgium, Growth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Netherlands, Media Theory Derrida Stephen Gray Paul Baran Distributed Networks Network Theory Media Studies Medienwissenschaft German McLuhan Immediacy Instantaneity Real Time, Green Party, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, and Secular stagnation
Greek edition of "Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era" (Routledge, 2015)
vocabulary.degrowth.org
vocabulary.degrowth.org
Research Interests:
The book is now sold online:
http://item.gmarket.co.kr/Item?goodscode=1494785381
탈성장 개념어 사전 : 무소유가 죽음이 아니듯 탈성장도 종말이 아니다 자코모 달리사 페데리코 데마리아 요르고스 칼리스 공편/강이현 역
http://item.gmarket.co.kr/Item?goodscode=1494785381
탈성장 개념어 사전 : 무소유가 죽음이 아니듯 탈성장도 종말이 아니다 자코모 달리사 페데리코 데마리아 요르고스 칼리스 공편/강이현 역
Research Interests: Korean Studies, South Korea, Korean linguistics, Korean History, Korean Literature and Culture, and 14 moreKorean cinema, DeGrowth, Korean, Korea (North and/or South), Korean War, Korean Education, Korea, North Korea (politics and society), North Korea, Korean popular culture, Korean language, Korean Wave, Sekolah Di Korea Selatan, and Korea maritime university
Odrast (degrowth) odbacivanje je iluzije o rastu kao rješenju za prosperitet u budućnosti i poziv na promišljanje proizvodnje i potrošnje potrebne za dostojan život u granicama ekološke održivosti planeta. Jer, ako želja za rastom izaziva... more
Odrast (degrowth) odbacivanje je iluzije o rastu kao rješenju za prosperitet u budućnosti i poziv na promišljanje proizvodnje i potrošnje potrebne za dostojan život u granicama ekološke održivosti planeta. Jer, ako želja za rastom izaziva krizu, i ekonomsku, i ekološku, i društvenu – kao što tvrde autori u ovom zborniku – rast nije rješenje. Srećom, u praksi se pojavljuju alternativna rješenja, novi oblici življenja, proizvodnje i potrošnje, koji svima mogu osigurati sredstva za život bez rasta. Cilj je promišljanja u pojmovima odrasta izgraditi paradigmu koja sadržava i ekološku održivost i veću društvenu pravednost.
Odrast – pojmovnik za novu eru međunarodni je priručnik o odrastu koji jezgrovito i pristupačno prikazuje glavne izvorne prijepore, temeljne ideje, strateške smjernice i poveznice sa srodnim svjetonazorima. Autori tekstova objavljenih u ovoj knjizi pripadaju različitim školama mišljenja i disciplinama, dolaze iz različitih životnih sfera; oni su antiutilitaristi, bioekološki ekonomisti, ekonomisti stabilnoga stanja, (neo)marksisti, politički ekolozi, sadtopisti, te aktivisti i praktičari.
Sjajan pojmovnik! Čitav niz međunarodnih autora u Odrastu daje briljantan pregled novog područja ekonomije koja se odriče opsesije rastom. Natuknice su sažete, ali rječite, stručne, a opet orijentirane prema djelovanju.
— Wolfgang Sachs, Institut Wuppertal u Berlinu
Odrast se direktno suprotstavlja kukavičjem jajetu ekonomskog rasta kroz akumulaciju kapitala: Ne postoji drugo blago osim života, a kako bi se očuvao život na planetu i osigurala budućnost za sve, nužno je izići iz aktualnog sustava proizvodnje. Ovo je ključna poruka za naše doba.
— John Bellamy Foster, Sveučilište Oregon u Eugeneu
Odustajanje od mitova uvijek je bilo teško... No to je duh tekstova u ovoj knjizi koji pitaju: hoće li biti moguće pobjeći iz šapa čudovišta rasta? Odgovor je jednostavan. To nije samo moguće, nego je i neophodno.
— Alberto Acosta, FLACSO
U povijesnom trenutku u kojem nas politički, ekonomski i intelektualni vođe uvjeravaju da se ništa fundamentalno više ne može propitivati ništa ne može biti važnije od pokreta – misaonog i djelatnog – koji predstavlja ova knjiga o odrastu...
—David Graeber, London School of Economics
Provokativna, opsežna, smjela i iznimno originalna analiza.
— Karen Bakker, Sveučilište Britanska Kolumbija u Vancouveru
Nazovite ga kako želite: srećom, životom u granicama, zajednicom, pravom demokracijom – odrast nas zove i daje nam snagu za hrabro djelovanje.
— Richard Norgaard, Kalifornijsko sveučilište u Berkeleyju
https://fraktura.hr/odrast.html
Download full PDF ebook for free
Odrast – pojmovnik za novu eru međunarodni je priručnik o odrastu koji jezgrovito i pristupačno prikazuje glavne izvorne prijepore, temeljne ideje, strateške smjernice i poveznice sa srodnim svjetonazorima. Autori tekstova objavljenih u ovoj knjizi pripadaju različitim školama mišljenja i disciplinama, dolaze iz različitih životnih sfera; oni su antiutilitaristi, bioekološki ekonomisti, ekonomisti stabilnoga stanja, (neo)marksisti, politički ekolozi, sadtopisti, te aktivisti i praktičari.
Sjajan pojmovnik! Čitav niz međunarodnih autora u Odrastu daje briljantan pregled novog područja ekonomije koja se odriče opsesije rastom. Natuknice su sažete, ali rječite, stručne, a opet orijentirane prema djelovanju.
— Wolfgang Sachs, Institut Wuppertal u Berlinu
Odrast se direktno suprotstavlja kukavičjem jajetu ekonomskog rasta kroz akumulaciju kapitala: Ne postoji drugo blago osim života, a kako bi se očuvao život na planetu i osigurala budućnost za sve, nužno je izići iz aktualnog sustava proizvodnje. Ovo je ključna poruka za naše doba.
— John Bellamy Foster, Sveučilište Oregon u Eugeneu
Odustajanje od mitova uvijek je bilo teško... No to je duh tekstova u ovoj knjizi koji pitaju: hoće li biti moguće pobjeći iz šapa čudovišta rasta? Odgovor je jednostavan. To nije samo moguće, nego je i neophodno.
— Alberto Acosta, FLACSO
U povijesnom trenutku u kojem nas politički, ekonomski i intelektualni vođe uvjeravaju da se ništa fundamentalno više ne može propitivati ništa ne može biti važnije od pokreta – misaonog i djelatnog – koji predstavlja ova knjiga o odrastu...
—David Graeber, London School of Economics
Provokativna, opsežna, smjela i iznimno originalna analiza.
— Karen Bakker, Sveučilište Britanska Kolumbija u Vancouveru
Nazovite ga kako želite: srećom, životom u granicama, zajednicom, pravom demokracijom – odrast nas zove i daje nam snagu za hrabro djelovanje.
— Richard Norgaard, Kalifornijsko sveučilište u Berkeleyju
https://fraktura.hr/odrast.html
Download full PDF ebook for free
Research Interests:
Vivemos em uma era de estagnação, empobrecimento rápido, aumento das desigualdades e desastres socioecológicos. No discurso dominante, esses são efeitos da crise econômica, da falta de crescimento ou do subdesenvolvimento. Este livro... more
Vivemos em uma era de estagnação, empobrecimento rápido, aumento das desigualdades e desastres socioecológicos. No discurso dominante, esses são efeitos da crise econômica, da falta de crescimento ou do subdesenvolvimento. Este livro argumenta que o crescimento é a causa desses problemas e que ele se tornou antieconômico, ecologicamente insustentável e intrinsecamente injusto. Quando a linguagem em uso é inadequada para dizer o que precisa ser dito, é hora de um novo vocabulário. Neste estão 52 temas relacionados ao Decrescimento, com mais de 50 autores, pesquisadores vinculados a instituições de países de todos os continentes, dentro os quais África do Sul, Alemanha, Austrália, Brasil, Canadá, Catalunha, Equador, Espanha, EUA, França, Holanda, Índia, Inglaterra, Irlanda, Itália, Noruega, República Checa, Uruguai. O livro é a referência para se pensar a viabilidade do ser humano, viabilidade para si, para o futuro da economia e para o planeta. Bioeconomia, justiça ambiental, ecologia política, economia de estado estacionário, recursos
comuns, desmaterialização, depènse, emergia, moeda social, auditoria da dívida, ecocomunidades, bem viver, ubuntu, renda básica e renda máxima, neorrurais, paradoxo de Jevons são alguns dos capítulos.
A linguagem é precisa, mas acessível ao público leigo que, por este livro, é introduzido a conceitos que já são práticas em vários lugares do mundo, mas que necessitam se tornar uma realidade em grande escala.
Comprometida com as questões mais atuais da contemporaneidade, a Tomo Editorial, com o apoio da Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil, coloca à disposição dos leitores em português o livro Decrescimento: vocabulário para um novo mundo, originalmente editado em inglês e verdito para os principais idiomas. Esta versão em língua portuguesa recebeu algumas novas colaborações, tornando-a uma edição especial e ampliada em relação ao original.
http://www.tomoeditorial.com.br/catalogo.php?id=755
comuns, desmaterialização, depènse, emergia, moeda social, auditoria da dívida, ecocomunidades, bem viver, ubuntu, renda básica e renda máxima, neorrurais, paradoxo de Jevons são alguns dos capítulos.
A linguagem é precisa, mas acessível ao público leigo que, por este livro, é introduzido a conceitos que já são práticas em vários lugares do mundo, mas que necessitam se tornar uma realidade em grande escala.
Comprometida com as questões mais atuais da contemporaneidade, a Tomo Editorial, com o apoio da Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil, coloca à disposição dos leitores em português o livro Decrescimento: vocabulário para um novo mundo, originalmente editado em inglês e verdito para os principais idiomas. Esta versão em língua portuguesa recebeu algumas novas colaborações, tornando-a uma edição especial e ampliada em relação ao original.
http://www.tomoeditorial.com.br/catalogo.php?id=755
Research Interests:
When the language in use is inadequate to articulate what begs to be articulated, then it is time for a new vocabulary. A movement of activists and intellectuals, first starting in France and then spreading to the rest of the world, has... more
When the language in use is inadequate to articulate what begs to be articulated, then it is time for a new vocabulary. A movement of activists and intellectuals, first starting in France and then spreading to the rest of the world, has called for the decolonization of public debate from the idiom of economism and the abolishment of economic growth as a social objective. ‘Degrowth’ (‘décroissance’) has come to signify for them the desired direction of societies that will use fewer natural resources and will organize themselves to live radically differently. ‘Simplicity’, ‘conviviality’, ‘autonomy’, ‘care’, ‘commons’ and ‘dépense’ are some of the words that express what a degrowth society might look like.
Degrowth: A vocabulary for a new era is the first English language book to comprehensively cover the burgeoning literature on degrowth. It presents and explains the different lines of thought, imaginaries and proposed courses of action that together complete the degrowth puzzle. The book brings together the top scholars writing in the field with young researchers who cultivate the research frontier and activists who practise degrowth on the ground. It will be an indispensable source of information and inspiration for all those who not only believe that another world is possible, but who work and struggle to construct it right now.
The Editors:
Giacomo D’Alisa is Research Fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Federico Demaria is a PhD candidate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Giorgios Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
The three editors are members of Research & Degrowth.
Degrowth: A vocabulary for a new era is the first English language book to comprehensively cover the burgeoning literature on degrowth. It presents and explains the different lines of thought, imaginaries and proposed courses of action that together complete the degrowth puzzle. The book brings together the top scholars writing in the field with young researchers who cultivate the research frontier and activists who practise degrowth on the ground. It will be an indispensable source of information and inspiration for all those who not only believe that another world is possible, but who work and struggle to construct it right now.
The Editors:
Giacomo D’Alisa is Research Fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Federico Demaria is a PhD candidate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Giorgios Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
The three editors are members of Research & Degrowth.
Research Interests: Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, and Peak Oil, Capitalism, Degrowth
The core question in the aftermath of the economic crisis in Europe and the U.S has been framed as one of austerity vs. spending. Should governments implement austerity or deficit spending measures in order to re-launch growth? While the... more
The core question in the aftermath of the economic crisis in Europe and the U.S has been framed as one of austerity vs. spending. Should governments implement austerity or deficit spending measures in order to re-launch growth? While the
EU went mostly for the first option, the U.S. opted largely for the second. In conventional economic terms, one could argue that austerity is not working: most European countries are still in recession, while the U.S. is slowly growing again.
But in degrowth terms, neither austerity nor deficit spending are the solution. They are the problem. Both, indeed, aim to re-launch growth; degrowthers oppose them precisely because they are ideologically rooted in the growth imaginary. Even
those who want spending and growth only for the short-term to exit the crisis, and hope to move beyond growth afterwards, do not realize that this “after” will never come, since it is precisely through the spectre of recession and crisis that growth is legitimated eternally.
Download more PDFs of the book "Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era" here: http://vocabulary.degrowth.org/look
EU went mostly for the first option, the U.S. opted largely for the second. In conventional economic terms, one could argue that austerity is not working: most European countries are still in recession, while the U.S. is slowly growing again.
But in degrowth terms, neither austerity nor deficit spending are the solution. They are the problem. Both, indeed, aim to re-launch growth; degrowthers oppose them precisely because they are ideologically rooted in the growth imaginary. Even
those who want spending and growth only for the short-term to exit the crisis, and hope to move beyond growth afterwards, do not realize that this “after” will never come, since it is precisely through the spectre of recession and crisis that growth is legitimated eternally.
Download more PDFs of the book "Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era" here: http://vocabulary.degrowth.org/look
Research Interests: Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Social Movements, Environmental Science, Economics, and 27 moreDevelopment Economics, Environmental Economics, Anthropology, Marxism, Political Ecology, Environmental Anthropology, Ecological Economics, Kurdish Studies, Politics, Environmental Politics, Georges Bataille, Heterodox Economics, Environmental Sustainability, Political Ecology (Anthropology), DeGrowth, Bataille, Indignados, Austerity Measures, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Movement, Spanish Indignados (Occupy), Buen vivir, Post-Growth, Post-Autistic Economics Movement, Eco socialism, Anti austerity Protests, and Secular stagnation
We live in an era of stagnation, rapid impoverishment, rising inequalities and socio-ecological disasters. In the dominant discourse, these are effects of economic crisis, lack of growth or underdevelopment. This book argues that growth... more
We live in an era of stagnation, rapid impoverishment, rising inequalities and socio-ecological disasters. In the dominant discourse, these are effects of economic crisis, lack of growth or underdevelopment. This book argues that growth is the cause of these problems and that it has become uneconomic, ecologically unsustainable and intrinsically unjust.
More info at: www.vocabulary.degrowth.org
When the language in use is inadequate to articulate what begs to be articulated, then it is time for a new vocabulary. A movement of activists and intellectuals, first starting in France and then spreading to the rest of the world, has called for the decolonization of public debate from the idiom of economism and the abolishment of economic growth as a social objective. ‘Degrowth’ (‘décroissance’) has come to signify for them the desired direction of societies that will use fewer natural resources and will organize themselves to live radically differently. ‘Simplicity’, ‘conviviality’, ‘autonomy’, ‘care’, ‘commons’ and ‘dépense’ are some of the words that express what a degrowth society might look like.
Degrowth: A vocabulary for a new era is the first English language book to comprehensively cover the burgeoning literature on degrowth. It presents and explains the different lines of thought, imaginaries and proposed courses of action that together complete the degrowth puzzle. The book brings together the top scholars writing in the field with young researchers who cultivate the research frontier and activists who practise degrowth on the ground. It will be an indispensable source of information and inspiration for all those who not only believe that another world is possible, but who work and struggle to construct it right now.
The Editors:
Giacomo D’Alisa is Research Fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Federico Demaria is a PhD candidate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Giorgios Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
The three editors are members of Research & Degrowth (www.degrowth.org).
More info at: www.vocabulary.degrowth.org
When the language in use is inadequate to articulate what begs to be articulated, then it is time for a new vocabulary. A movement of activists and intellectuals, first starting in France and then spreading to the rest of the world, has called for the decolonization of public debate from the idiom of economism and the abolishment of economic growth as a social objective. ‘Degrowth’ (‘décroissance’) has come to signify for them the desired direction of societies that will use fewer natural resources and will organize themselves to live radically differently. ‘Simplicity’, ‘conviviality’, ‘autonomy’, ‘care’, ‘commons’ and ‘dépense’ are some of the words that express what a degrowth society might look like.
Degrowth: A vocabulary for a new era is the first English language book to comprehensively cover the burgeoning literature on degrowth. It presents and explains the different lines of thought, imaginaries and proposed courses of action that together complete the degrowth puzzle. The book brings together the top scholars writing in the field with young researchers who cultivate the research frontier and activists who practise degrowth on the ground. It will be an indispensable source of information and inspiration for all those who not only believe that another world is possible, but who work and struggle to construct it right now.
The Editors:
Giacomo D’Alisa is Research Fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Federico Demaria is a PhD candidate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Giorgios Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
The three editors are members of Research & Degrowth (www.degrowth.org).
Research Interests: Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Development Studies, Political Ecology, and 19 moreEcological Economics, Sustainable Development, Politics, Ecology, Neoliberal Economies in the Postcolony, Social Movements, Political Ecology, Indigeneity, Cultures of Disposession, Urban Form in Asia, Non-Linear Systems, Fieldwork and Disruptive Epistemologies, Biopolitics, India, Post-Development Theory, Political Ecology (Anthropology), Financial Crisis of 2008/2009, DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Green Growth, Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics, Green Economy, Political ecology, NGOs, sustainable development, biodiversity, agroecology, amazonia, brazil, global change, environmental actors, protect areas, nature conservation., Peak Oil, Capitalism, Degrowth, Prosperity Without Growth, Occupy Wall Street, Post-Growth, Political Ecology and Economy, and Degrowth Sustainable Lifestyles
Découvrez en détail tous les concepts liés à la décroissance. Lorsque la langue usuelle ne permet plus d’exprimer ce qui demande à être articulé d’urgence, c’est qu’il est temps d’apprendre un nouveau vocabulaire. Ce livre étudie les... more
Découvrez en détail tous les concepts liés à la décroissance.
Lorsque la langue usuelle ne permet plus d’exprimer ce qui demande à être articulé d’urgence, c’est qu’il est temps d’apprendre un nouveau vocabulaire.
Ce livre étudie les principaux mots-clés de la décroissance et fournit une véritable boîte à outils pour penser une transformation radicale de nos sociétés qui mette enfin l’accent sur l’idée de « vie bonne ».
Paru initialement en Grande-Bretagne et en Espagne, ce livre est traduit par nos soins pour la première fois en français. Chaque édition dans un nouveau pays s’enrichit de nouvelles contributions, et l’édition française contient des textes inédits de Paul Ariès, Anna Bednik, Serge Latouche, Xavier Renou, Agnès Sinaï…
Le mot de « décroissance » émerge aujourd’hui comme un nouveau signifiant des discours économique et politique. Témoin, les prises de position de plus en plus nombreuses visant à le discréditer. Pour échapper à l’ignorance ou à la mauvaise foi qui tantôt l’assimilent à la stagnation actuelle des économies occidentales, tantôt le dénoncent comme un projet de « retour à la bougie » de quelques « écolo-réactionnaires », il était donc plus que temps de proposer au public un état des lieux détaillé de ce qu’il recouvre réellement.
Depuis sa première apparition, dans les années 1970, la notion s’est considérablement enrichie, au point de devenir un enjeu de réflexion pour tous ceux qui en appellent à une transformation sociale radicale. Cet ouvrage, composé d’une soixantaine d’articles de fond, en constitue la première synthèse thématique se proposant d'en définir les contours et d'en cerner les multiples sources intellectuelles. Il s’agit ici de souligner les grands axes des problématiques embrassées par la décroissance, de présenter les formes d’action qui s’y rattachent ou s’en revendiquent et, en laissant ouvert le débat interne sur un certain nombre de questions clés, d’exposer et de nourrir une discussion collective et internationale déjà bien engagée.
La diversité des entrées de ce dictionnaire encyclopédique montre que ce concept touche, certes, aux enjeux écologiques et environnementaux, mais qu’il est loin de s’y limiter. On y découvrira que la décroissance se donne pour tâche d’étudier en profondeur le poids des logiques économiques et industrielles sur les conditions d’existence sur la planète, et de réfléchir à d’autres formes d’organisation de la production et des échanges ; qu’elle instruit une critique en règle de nos choix de société et de leur rapport à ce qu’elle nomme la « vie bonne », tout en jetant les bases de contre-modèles possibles ; enfin, qu’elle s’intéresse à toutes les expériences collectives actuelles qui témoignent, un peu partout dans le monde, de l’existence de résistances créatrices et vivaces au dogme de la croissance.
Avec entre autres des contributions de Mauro Bonaiuti, Arturo Escobar, Marco Deriu, Tim Jackson…
L’ouvrage est déjà paru en Grande-Bretagne chez Routledge et en Espagne chez Icaria. Il paraîtra dans les mois prochains en Italie, au Brésil, en Allemagne, en Croatie…
Une source d’inspiration indispensable, pour élargir le débat à la veille de la COP21 qui aura lieu en décembre à Paris.
Quelques exemples de chapitres
Anti-utilitarisme – bioéconomie – critique du développement – justice environnementale – écologie politique – autonomie – marchandisation – biens communs – convivialité – numérique – dématérialisation – entropie – bonheur – PIB – dépolitisation – effet rebond – pic pétrolier – simplicité – néoruraux – revenu de base et revenu maximum – monnaies communautaires – coopératives – audit de la dette – désobéissance – éco-communautés – Indignés – partage du travail – argent public – syndicats – care – jardinage urbain – buen vivir...
Lorsque la langue usuelle ne permet plus d’exprimer ce qui demande à être articulé d’urgence, c’est qu’il est temps d’apprendre un nouveau vocabulaire.
Ce livre étudie les principaux mots-clés de la décroissance et fournit une véritable boîte à outils pour penser une transformation radicale de nos sociétés qui mette enfin l’accent sur l’idée de « vie bonne ».
Paru initialement en Grande-Bretagne et en Espagne, ce livre est traduit par nos soins pour la première fois en français. Chaque édition dans un nouveau pays s’enrichit de nouvelles contributions, et l’édition française contient des textes inédits de Paul Ariès, Anna Bednik, Serge Latouche, Xavier Renou, Agnès Sinaï…
Le mot de « décroissance » émerge aujourd’hui comme un nouveau signifiant des discours économique et politique. Témoin, les prises de position de plus en plus nombreuses visant à le discréditer. Pour échapper à l’ignorance ou à la mauvaise foi qui tantôt l’assimilent à la stagnation actuelle des économies occidentales, tantôt le dénoncent comme un projet de « retour à la bougie » de quelques « écolo-réactionnaires », il était donc plus que temps de proposer au public un état des lieux détaillé de ce qu’il recouvre réellement.
Depuis sa première apparition, dans les années 1970, la notion s’est considérablement enrichie, au point de devenir un enjeu de réflexion pour tous ceux qui en appellent à une transformation sociale radicale. Cet ouvrage, composé d’une soixantaine d’articles de fond, en constitue la première synthèse thématique se proposant d'en définir les contours et d'en cerner les multiples sources intellectuelles. Il s’agit ici de souligner les grands axes des problématiques embrassées par la décroissance, de présenter les formes d’action qui s’y rattachent ou s’en revendiquent et, en laissant ouvert le débat interne sur un certain nombre de questions clés, d’exposer et de nourrir une discussion collective et internationale déjà bien engagée.
La diversité des entrées de ce dictionnaire encyclopédique montre que ce concept touche, certes, aux enjeux écologiques et environnementaux, mais qu’il est loin de s’y limiter. On y découvrira que la décroissance se donne pour tâche d’étudier en profondeur le poids des logiques économiques et industrielles sur les conditions d’existence sur la planète, et de réfléchir à d’autres formes d’organisation de la production et des échanges ; qu’elle instruit une critique en règle de nos choix de société et de leur rapport à ce qu’elle nomme la « vie bonne », tout en jetant les bases de contre-modèles possibles ; enfin, qu’elle s’intéresse à toutes les expériences collectives actuelles qui témoignent, un peu partout dans le monde, de l’existence de résistances créatrices et vivaces au dogme de la croissance.
Avec entre autres des contributions de Mauro Bonaiuti, Arturo Escobar, Marco Deriu, Tim Jackson…
L’ouvrage est déjà paru en Grande-Bretagne chez Routledge et en Espagne chez Icaria. Il paraîtra dans les mois prochains en Italie, au Brésil, en Allemagne, en Croatie…
Une source d’inspiration indispensable, pour élargir le débat à la veille de la COP21 qui aura lieu en décembre à Paris.
Quelques exemples de chapitres
Anti-utilitarisme – bioéconomie – critique du développement – justice environnementale – écologie politique – autonomie – marchandisation – biens communs – convivialité – numérique – dématérialisation – entropie – bonheur – PIB – dépolitisation – effet rebond – pic pétrolier – simplicité – néoruraux – revenu de base et revenu maximum – monnaies communautaires – coopératives – audit de la dette – désobéissance – éco-communautés – Indignés – partage du travail – argent public – syndicats – care – jardinage urbain – buen vivir...
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Sociology, Geography, Environmental Science, Economics, and 27 moreEnvironmental Economics, Anthropology, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, French History, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Contemporary French Philosophy, Alternative Economies, Environmental Sustainability, Political Ecology (Anthropology), France, DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Transition Economies, Literatura Francesa, Natural Sciences, Economie, Décroissance, Filosofía francesa contemporánea, Démocratie éCologique, and Économie écologique
German edition of Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era. http://www.oekom.de/nc/buecher/gesamtprogramm/buch/degrowth.html See vocabulary.degrowth.org Wenn Worte nicht ausreichen, um auszudrücken, was ausgedrückt werden muss, ist es Zeit... more
German edition of Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era.
http://www.oekom.de/nc/buecher/gesamtprogramm/buch/degrowth.html
See vocabulary.degrowth.org
Wenn Worte nicht ausreichen, um auszudrücken, was ausgedrückt werden
muss, ist es Zeit für neue Begriffe. Wir leben in einer Ära der Stagnation, der
rapiden Verarmung großer Teile der Bevölkerung, wachsender Ungleichheit
und sozioökologischer Katastrophen – vom Hurrikan Katrina, den Erdbeben
in Haiti und auf den Philippinen über Fukushima, die Ölpest im Golf von
Mexiko oder dem vergrabenen Giftmüll in Campania bis hin zum Klimawandel
und dem nicht enden wollenden vermeidbaren Sterben von Menschen,
weil der Zugang zu Land, Wasser und Nahrung fehlt.
Selbst manch radikale Denker finden keine neuen Antworten, die sich nicht
an dem doppelten Imperativ von Wachstum und Entwicklung orientieren.
Wenn der Wunsch nach Wachstum wirtschaftliche, soziale und Umweltkrisen
verursacht, wovon die Autoren in diesem Band ausgehen, dann kann Wachstum
aber nicht die Lösung sein.
http://www.oekom.de/nc/buecher/gesamtprogramm/buch/degrowth.html
See vocabulary.degrowth.org
Wenn Worte nicht ausreichen, um auszudrücken, was ausgedrückt werden
muss, ist es Zeit für neue Begriffe. Wir leben in einer Ära der Stagnation, der
rapiden Verarmung großer Teile der Bevölkerung, wachsender Ungleichheit
und sozioökologischer Katastrophen – vom Hurrikan Katrina, den Erdbeben
in Haiti und auf den Philippinen über Fukushima, die Ölpest im Golf von
Mexiko oder dem vergrabenen Giftmüll in Campania bis hin zum Klimawandel
und dem nicht enden wollenden vermeidbaren Sterben von Menschen,
weil der Zugang zu Land, Wasser und Nahrung fehlt.
Selbst manch radikale Denker finden keine neuen Antworten, die sich nicht
an dem doppelten Imperativ von Wachstum und Entwicklung orientieren.
Wenn der Wunsch nach Wachstum wirtschaftliche, soziale und Umweltkrisen
verursacht, wovon die Autoren in diesem Band ausgehen, dann kann Wachstum
aber nicht die Lösung sein.
Research Interests: Sociology, Social Movements, Environmental Science, Economics, Anthropology, and 27 moreComparative Politics, Political Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Energy and Environment, Social movements and revolution, Environmental Sustainability, Peak Oil, DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Zapatismo, Kurds, Décroissance, Postgrowth, Decrescimento, Postwachstum, Deutsch, Wachstumskritik, Decrecimiento, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, and Postwachstumsökonomie
Abstract This thesis contributes to our understanding of social metabolism in general, and waste in social metabolism in particular. First, I examine the relationship between social metabolism and conflict, looking from a situated... more
Abstract
This thesis contributes to our understanding of social metabolism in general, and waste in social metabolism in particular. First, I examine the relationship between social metabolism and conflict, looking from a situated political ecology perspective, at how differences in the structure and nature of particular social metabolisms create different conflict dynamics. Second, I shed light at an often forgotten but very important part of social metabolism which is the informal recycling of waste. I
evaluate the contribution of informal recycling, and I investigate how power influences the social relations of production (or recycling), and how these shift costs to informal recyclers. Then, I make a case for the recognition of the important contribution of informal recyclers in making social metabolism more circular, and I call for due compensation of the services they provide, instead of a dispossession from their means of production, and a shifting of social costs of enterprises and consumers to them. My case studies present a range of experiences, mostly in India, to inform theory on how environments are shaped, politicized and contested.
Resumen
La presente tesis contribuye a la comprensión del metabolismo social. Específicamente, analiza el rol de los residuos en el metabolismo. Primero, reflexiona sobre la relación existente entre el metabolismo social y los conflictos ambientales, examinando cómo diferentes estructuras metabólicas condicionan las dinámicas del conflicto; todo ello desde la perspectiva de la ecología política situada en el espacio y el tiempo. En segundo lugar, se investiga una parte olvidada, pero
muy importante del metabolismo social que es el reciclaje informal de residuos. Para ello, se evalúa la contribución del reciclaje informal e investigo cómo el poder influye en las relaciones de la producción (o reciclado) de residuos, y cómo éstas desplazan los costos de la producción a los recicladores informales. Por último, se reconoce la importancia de los recicladores informales al contribuir en hacer más circular el metabolismo social; por lo que se propone que se indemnicen
debidamente los servicios que prestan los recicladores a la sociedad, en lugar de que se les desposea de sus medios de producción, y se les traspasen los costos sociales de las empresas y los consumidores. Mis casos de estudio presentan una serie de experiencias empíricas, en la India especialmente, que ilustran cómo el medio ambiente se moldea, politiza y disputa.
Keywords: social metabolism, cost-shifting, conflicts, recycling, recyclers, waste, accumulation by dispossession, accumulation by contamination, commodity frontiers
This thesis contributes to our understanding of social metabolism in general, and waste in social metabolism in particular. First, I examine the relationship between social metabolism and conflict, looking from a situated political ecology perspective, at how differences in the structure and nature of particular social metabolisms create different conflict dynamics. Second, I shed light at an often forgotten but very important part of social metabolism which is the informal recycling of waste. I
evaluate the contribution of informal recycling, and I investigate how power influences the social relations of production (or recycling), and how these shift costs to informal recyclers. Then, I make a case for the recognition of the important contribution of informal recyclers in making social metabolism more circular, and I call for due compensation of the services they provide, instead of a dispossession from their means of production, and a shifting of social costs of enterprises and consumers to them. My case studies present a range of experiences, mostly in India, to inform theory on how environments are shaped, politicized and contested.
Resumen
La presente tesis contribuye a la comprensión del metabolismo social. Específicamente, analiza el rol de los residuos en el metabolismo. Primero, reflexiona sobre la relación existente entre el metabolismo social y los conflictos ambientales, examinando cómo diferentes estructuras metabólicas condicionan las dinámicas del conflicto; todo ello desde la perspectiva de la ecología política situada en el espacio y el tiempo. En segundo lugar, se investiga una parte olvidada, pero
muy importante del metabolismo social que es el reciclaje informal de residuos. Para ello, se evalúa la contribución del reciclaje informal e investigo cómo el poder influye en las relaciones de la producción (o reciclado) de residuos, y cómo éstas desplazan los costos de la producción a los recicladores informales. Por último, se reconoce la importancia de los recicladores informales al contribuir en hacer más circular el metabolismo social; por lo que se propone que se indemnicen
debidamente los servicios que prestan los recicladores a la sociedad, en lugar de que se les desposea de sus medios de producción, y se les traspasen los costos sociales de las empresas y los consumidores. Mis casos de estudio presentan una serie de experiencias empíricas, en la India especialmente, que ilustran cómo el medio ambiente se moldea, politiza y disputa.
Keywords: social metabolism, cost-shifting, conflicts, recycling, recyclers, waste, accumulation by dispossession, accumulation by contamination, commodity frontiers
Research Interests: Sociology, Human Ecology, Geography, Urban Geography, Environmental Science, and 47 moreEconomics, Development Economics, Environmental Economics, Anthropology, Political Economy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Poverty, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, Recycling, Politics, Discard Studies, Municipal Solid Waste Management, Waste recycling, Waste-to-Energy, Urban Ecology, Waste Management, David Harvey, Informal Economy, Environmental Sustainability, Solid Waste Management, Political Ecology (Anthropology), DeGrowth, India, Shipbreaking, Accumulation by Dispossession, Incineration, Waste to Energy, Urban Political Ecology, Externalities, Social Metabolism, Cost Shifting, health care culture, ethics in health care, Waste - Discard Studies, Environmentalism of the Poor, Political Ecology and Economy, Social Science, Sustainability, Antipode, Joan Martinez-Alier, Accumulation by Contamination, wastepickers, recyclers, and recicladores
A Special Issue is, like an edited book, a collection of articles on the same theme published together and curated by one or more editors. Unlike a book, a special issue is published in a scientific journal. In this workbook Federico... more
A Special Issue is, like an edited book, a collection of articles on the same theme published together and curated by one or more editors. Unlike a book, a special issue is published in a scientific journal. In this workbook Federico Demaria explains in ten easy steps how to set up and edit a Special Issue.
Federico is a post-doctorate researcher at my Institute in Barcelona. While still at an early stage in his career he has edited 5 special issues (on environmental justice for Sustainability Science, on degrowth for Sustainability Science, on waste for Capitalism Nature Socialism, and two forthcoming for Ecological Economics, and Environment and Planning E). Federico has also edited 2 very successful books, on Degrowth and on the Pluriverse.
Organizing a Special Issue when you are at the beginning of your career can be a challenge, but is also a great learning and networking opportunity. There are hard moments and obstacles, but it can also be fun and rewarding. As Federico explains in the workbook the most difficult steps are: managing time, getting the proposal accepted by the journal, and getting the authors to submit their papers.
There are many online guidelines, by both experienced guest editors (e.g. 1, 2 and 3) and journals (e.g. JMS and ASS). Some are good, many are broad. In this workbook Federico guides you through the Special Issue process in 10 concrete steps.
Enjoy!
More info at:
http://howtowriteanacademicpaper.com/special-issue.html
Federico is a post-doctorate researcher at my Institute in Barcelona. While still at an early stage in his career he has edited 5 special issues (on environmental justice for Sustainability Science, on degrowth for Sustainability Science, on waste for Capitalism Nature Socialism, and two forthcoming for Ecological Economics, and Environment and Planning E). Federico has also edited 2 very successful books, on Degrowth and on the Pluriverse.
Organizing a Special Issue when you are at the beginning of your career can be a challenge, but is also a great learning and networking opportunity. There are hard moments and obstacles, but it can also be fun and rewarding. As Federico explains in the workbook the most difficult steps are: managing time, getting the proposal accepted by the journal, and getting the authors to submit their papers.
There are many online guidelines, by both experienced guest editors (e.g. 1, 2 and 3) and journals (e.g. JMS and ASS). Some are good, many are broad. In this workbook Federico guides you through the Special Issue process in 10 concrete steps.
Enjoy!
More info at:
http://howtowriteanacademicpaper.com/special-issue.html
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Environmental Science, and 15 moreEconomics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Communication, Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, International Law, Environmental Studies, Political Science, Academic Writing, Ecology, Environmental Sustainability, Scientific Writing, and How to write a research paper
In the face of worsening ecological and economic crises and continuing social deprivation, the last two decades have seen two broad trends emerge among those seeking sustainability, equality and justice. First there are the green... more
In the face of worsening ecological and economic crises and continuing social deprivation, the last two decades have seen two broad trends emerge among those seeking sustainability, equality and justice.
First there are the green economy and sustainable development approaches that dominate the upcoming Paris climate summit and the post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs). To date, such measures have failed to deliver a harmonisation of economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection.
Political ecology paradigms, on the other hand, call for more fundamental changes, challenging the predominance of growth-oriented development based on fossil fuels, neoliberal capitalism and related forms of so-called representative democracy.
The false answers of the green economy
If we look at international environmental policy of the last four decades, the initial radicalism of the 1970s has vanished.
The outcome document of the 2012 Rio+20 Summit, The Future We Want, failed to identify the historical and structural roots of poverty, hunger, unsustainability and inequity. These include: centralisation of state power, capitalist monopolies, colonialism, racism and patriarchy. Without diagnosing who or what is responsible, it is inevitable that any proposed solutions will not be transformative enough.
Furthermore, the report did not acknowledge that infinite growth is impossible in a finite world. It conceptualised natural capital as a “critical economic asset”, opening the doors for commodification (so-called green capitalism), and did not challenge unbridled consumerism. A lot of emphasis was placed on market mechanisms, technology and better management, undermining the fundamental political, economic and social changes the world needs.
In contrast, a diversity of movements for environmental justice and new worldviews that seek to achieve more fundamental transformations have emerged in various regions of the world. Unlike sustainable development, which is falsely believed to be universally applicable, these alternative approaches cannot be reduced to a single model.
Even Pope Francis in the encyclical Laudato Si’, together with other religious leaders like the Dalai Lama, has been explicit on the need to redefine progress: “There is a need to change ‘models of global development’; [...] Frequently, in fact, people’s quality of life actually diminishes [...] in the midst of economic growth. In this context, talk of sustainable growth usually becomes a way of distracting attention and offering excuses. It absorbs the language and values of ecology into the categories of finance and technocracy, and the social and environmental responsibility of businesses often gets reduced to a series of marketing and image-enhancing measures.”
Radical alternatives
But critique is not enough: we need our own narratives. Deconstructing development opens up the door for a multiplicity of new and old notions and world views. This includes buen vivir (or sumak kawsay or suma qamaña), a culture of life with different names and varieties emerging from indigenous peoples in various regions of South America; ubuntu, with its emphasis on human mutuality (“I am because we are”) in South Africa; radical ecological democracy or ecological swaraj, with a focus on self-reliance and self-governance, in India; and degrowth, the hypothesis that we can live better with less and in common, in western countries.
These worldviews differ sharply from today’s notion of development, challenging the dogmatic belief in economic growth and proposing in its place notions of wellbeing. They are internally diverse, but they express common fundamental values, including solidarity, harmony, diversity and oneness within nature.
There are already thousands of initiatives practicing elements of such socio-ecological transformation: the reclamation of indigenous territories and ways of life in the Americas, the Zapatista and Kurdish movements for self-governance, solidarity economies, producer cooperatives, transition towns and community currencies in Europe, land, forest, and direct-democracy movements in Latin America and South Asia, the rapid spread of organic farming and decentralised renewable energy across the world, and others.
Many of these form a basis for transformational politics, potentially supported by the case with Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain. This is what has been called plan C, a reinvigorated bottom-up project of the commons and communal solidarity. This would be an alternative to the failed plan A (austerity) and untested, but flawed, plan B (Keynesian growth based on further indebtedness).
The inability or unwillingness of UN processes to acknowledge the fundamental flaws of the currently dominant economic and political system, and to envision a truly transformative agenda for a sustainable and equitable future, is disappointing. Even as civil society pushes for the greatest possible space within the post-2015 SDGs agenda, it must also continue envisioning and promoting fundamentally alternative visions and pathways.
Radical wellbeing notions are unlikely to becoming prevalent in the current scenario. But it is not an impossible dream. As intertwined crises increase when even the green economy fails to deliver – as it inevitably must – people everywhere will be resisting and looking for meaningful alternatives.
First there are the green economy and sustainable development approaches that dominate the upcoming Paris climate summit and the post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs). To date, such measures have failed to deliver a harmonisation of economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection.
Political ecology paradigms, on the other hand, call for more fundamental changes, challenging the predominance of growth-oriented development based on fossil fuels, neoliberal capitalism and related forms of so-called representative democracy.
The false answers of the green economy
If we look at international environmental policy of the last four decades, the initial radicalism of the 1970s has vanished.
The outcome document of the 2012 Rio+20 Summit, The Future We Want, failed to identify the historical and structural roots of poverty, hunger, unsustainability and inequity. These include: centralisation of state power, capitalist monopolies, colonialism, racism and patriarchy. Without diagnosing who or what is responsible, it is inevitable that any proposed solutions will not be transformative enough.
Furthermore, the report did not acknowledge that infinite growth is impossible in a finite world. It conceptualised natural capital as a “critical economic asset”, opening the doors for commodification (so-called green capitalism), and did not challenge unbridled consumerism. A lot of emphasis was placed on market mechanisms, technology and better management, undermining the fundamental political, economic and social changes the world needs.
In contrast, a diversity of movements for environmental justice and new worldviews that seek to achieve more fundamental transformations have emerged in various regions of the world. Unlike sustainable development, which is falsely believed to be universally applicable, these alternative approaches cannot be reduced to a single model.
Even Pope Francis in the encyclical Laudato Si’, together with other religious leaders like the Dalai Lama, has been explicit on the need to redefine progress: “There is a need to change ‘models of global development’; [...] Frequently, in fact, people’s quality of life actually diminishes [...] in the midst of economic growth. In this context, talk of sustainable growth usually becomes a way of distracting attention and offering excuses. It absorbs the language and values of ecology into the categories of finance and technocracy, and the social and environmental responsibility of businesses often gets reduced to a series of marketing and image-enhancing measures.”
Radical alternatives
But critique is not enough: we need our own narratives. Deconstructing development opens up the door for a multiplicity of new and old notions and world views. This includes buen vivir (or sumak kawsay or suma qamaña), a culture of life with different names and varieties emerging from indigenous peoples in various regions of South America; ubuntu, with its emphasis on human mutuality (“I am because we are”) in South Africa; radical ecological democracy or ecological swaraj, with a focus on self-reliance and self-governance, in India; and degrowth, the hypothesis that we can live better with less and in common, in western countries.
These worldviews differ sharply from today’s notion of development, challenging the dogmatic belief in economic growth and proposing in its place notions of wellbeing. They are internally diverse, but they express common fundamental values, including solidarity, harmony, diversity and oneness within nature.
There are already thousands of initiatives practicing elements of such socio-ecological transformation: the reclamation of indigenous territories and ways of life in the Americas, the Zapatista and Kurdish movements for self-governance, solidarity economies, producer cooperatives, transition towns and community currencies in Europe, land, forest, and direct-democracy movements in Latin America and South Asia, the rapid spread of organic farming and decentralised renewable energy across the world, and others.
Many of these form a basis for transformational politics, potentially supported by the case with Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain. This is what has been called plan C, a reinvigorated bottom-up project of the commons and communal solidarity. This would be an alternative to the failed plan A (austerity) and untested, but flawed, plan B (Keynesian growth based on further indebtedness).
The inability or unwillingness of UN processes to acknowledge the fundamental flaws of the currently dominant economic and political system, and to envision a truly transformative agenda for a sustainable and equitable future, is disappointing. Even as civil society pushes for the greatest possible space within the post-2015 SDGs agenda, it must also continue envisioning and promoting fundamentally alternative visions and pathways.
Radical wellbeing notions are unlikely to becoming prevalent in the current scenario. But it is not an impossible dream. As intertwined crises increase when even the green economy fails to deliver – as it inevitably must – people everywhere will be resisting and looking for meaningful alternatives.
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Economics, Environmental Economics, Climate Change, Marxism, and 27 morePolitical Ecology, Resilience, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, Post-Marxism, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Slavoj Žižek, Capitalism, Environmental Policy and Governance, Sustainable Water Resources Management, David Harvey, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Green capitalism, Good Living, Buen Vivir, The Guardian, Ubuntu philosophy, Ubuntu , Applied Ubuntu; role of Ubuntu in business, Theories of Socialism, Decrescita Economica, Decrescita, Post-Growth, Decrecimiento, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, and Joan Martinez-Alier
‘Their recession is not our degrowth!’ is a common slogan of the anti-austerity protests in southern Europe. Degrowth is the hypothesis that we can live better with less and in common, a transformation brought about by a society and an... more
‘Their recession is not our degrowth!’ is a common slogan of the anti-austerity protests in southern Europe. Degrowth is the hypothesis that we can live better with less and in common, a transformation brought about by a society and an economy focused on the redistribution of resources, sustainability of life and real democracy.
Research Interests: Marxism, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, Post-Marxism, Environmental Sustainability, and 4 moreDeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Peak Oil, Capitalism, Degrowth, and Growth Vs. Degrowth
Questo articolo è stato pubblicato in francese da Libération, in spagnolo da Rebelion, in inglese da The Guardian, in turco da Yesil Gazete, in polacco da Global Lab e in italiano da Comune (titolo in inglese Sustainable development is... more
Questo articolo è stato pubblicato in francese da Libération, in spagnolo da Rebelion, in inglese da The Guardian, in turco da Yesil Gazete, in polacco da Global Lab e in italiano da Comune (titolo in inglese Sustainable development is failing but there are alternatives to capitalism, Lo sviluppo sostenibile ha fallito, ma ci sono alternative al capitalismo).
.
di Ashish Kothari, Federico Demaria, Alberto Acosta*
Di fronte al peggioramento della crisi di civiltà (sociale, ecologica ed economica) negli ultimi due decenni sono emerse con sempre piú forza due grandi tendenze: la prima persegue la sostenibilitá ambientale, e la seconda, l’eguaglianza e la giustizia. Due forze, tuttavia, complementari.
Queste forze sfidano, prima di tutto, gli approcci della green economy e dello sviluppo sostenibile che domineranno la conferenza sul clima di Parigi (Cop21, in programma a dicembre, ndr), cosi come gli Obietivi di sviluppo sostenibile post 2015 (OSS). Sappiamo che queste opzioni cosi tanto pubblicizzate non sono riuscite (e non riusciranno) a ottenere armonizzazione della crescita economica, benessere sociale e protezione dell’ambiente. Un’equazione comunque impossibile da qualsiasi punto di vista.
I paradigmi dell’ecologia politica, compromessi con la vita della terra e dell’umanitá, al contrario, sostengono cambiamenti strutturali. Sfidano la predominanza dello sviluppo, e in particolare dello sviluppo fondato sulla crescita economica, basato sui combustibili fossili (leggi anche Mettere al centro la vita degna di Alberto Acosta). Sfidano il capitalismo, soprattutto la sua versione neoliberale estrema, mentre propongono una radicalizzazione della democrazia, che non puó ridursi esclusivamente alla democrazia rappresentativa (leggi anche Governarci di Gustavo Esteva, ndr).
Le false risposte della green economy
Se si guarda alla politica ambientale internazionale degli ultimi quattro decenni, i suoi principi fondamentali, stabiliti nel decennio degli anni settanta, sono scomparsi.
Il documento finale del vertice di Rio 2012 + 20, intitolato “Il futuro che vogliamo“, non ha identificato le radici storiche e strutturali della povertà, della fame, della disuguaglianza e dell’insostenibilità. Non dice nulla sugli effetti negativi derivanti dalla centralizzazione del potere dello Stato, i monopoli capitalistici, il colonialismo, il razzismo e il patriarcato. Non diagnosticando a chi o cosa si debba tale (ir)responsabilità, è inevitabile che qualsiasi soluzione proposta non sia sufficiente ad affrontare le sfide urgenti della crisi di civiltà che abbiamo di fronte.
Inoltre, il documento non riconosce che la crescita infinita è impossibile in un mondo finito. Concettualizza il capitale naturale come un “bene economico fondamentale”, aprendo la porta a una ulteriore mercificazione della natura, attraverso il cosiddetto capitalismo verde. Non respinge il consumismo sfrenato. Al contrario, pone enfasi sui meccanismi di mercato, tecnologia e una migliore gestione invece che sui profondi cambiamenti politici, economici e sociali di cui il mondo ha bisogno. Il che, come è facile intuire, non darà i risultati attesi.
Al contrario, alcuni movimenti per la giustizia ambientale, raccogliendo vecchie e nuove visioni del mondo, propongono soluzioni efficaci, che necessariamente devono essere strutturali. Queste risposte sono parte di una lunga ricerca di vita alternativa forgiata nel calore della lotta per l’emancipazione dell’umanità e la vita in varie regioni del mondo. Diversamente dallo sviluppo sostenibile, che crede falsamente di poter essere applicato universalmente, questi approcci alternativi non possono essere ridotti ad un unico modello (a questi temi è dedicato anche l’ultimo libro di Raúl Zibechi, dal titolo Alba di mondi altri, qua la nota introduttiva di Marco Calabria). Queste nozioni di vita, di conseguenza, sono eterogenee e plurali. Rappresentano le possibilità di una vita in armonia degli esseri umani con la comunità, delle comunità con altre comunità, e degli individui e le comunità con e nella natura.
Anche papa Francesco nell’enciclica “Laudato sì” (qui un commento di Paolo Cacciari, Il Cantico che non c’era, ndr), come il Dalai Lama e altri leader religiosi, è stato esplicito sulla necessità di ridefinire il progresso:
“Affinché sorgano nuovi modelli di progresso abbiamo bisogno di «cambiare il modello di sviluppo globale» […] Non basta conciliare, in una via di mezzo, la cura per la natura con la rendita finanziaria, o la conservazione dell’ambiente con il progresso. Su questo tema le vie di mezzo sono solo un piccolo ritardo nel disastro. Semplicemente si tratta di ridefinire il progresso. Uno sviluppo tecnologico ed economico che non lascia un mondo migliore e una qualità di vita integralmente superiore, non può considerarsi progresso. D’altra parte, molte volte la qualità reale della vita delle persone diminuisce – per il deteriorarsi dell’ambiente, la bassa qualità dei prodotti alimentari o l’esaurimento di alcune risorse – nel contesto di una crescita dell’economia. In questo quadro, il discorso della crescita sostenibile diventa spesso un diversivo e un mezzo di giustificazione che assorbe valori del discorso ecologista all’interno della logica della finanza e della tecnocrazia, e la responsabilità sociale e ambientale delle imprese si riduce per lo più a una serie di azioni di marketing e di immagine”.
Altrettanto esplicito è la recente “Dichiarazione islamica sul cambiamento climatico globale” (a cui Gustavo Duch dedica questo articolo Non sarai mai alto come le montagne) quando dice:
“Riconosciamo la corruzione (fasād) che gli esseri umani hanno provocato sulla Terra a causa della nostra ricerca implacabile di crescita economica e consumo”.
Alternative radicali
La critica non è sufficiente. Abbiamo bisogno delle nostre narrazioni. È urgente eliminare il concetto di sviluppo e aprire la porta a una moltitudine di idee e visioni del mondo, vecchie e nuove. Queste includono il buen vivir (sumak kawsay o suma qamaña), una cultura della vita con diversi nomi e versioni che vengono dai popoli indigeni di differenti regioni dell’America latina (leggi anche La buona vita, il Sumak Kawsay, del poeta e scrittore ecuadoriano Ariruma Kowii, ndr). Ubuntu in Sud Africa, con la sua enfasi sulla reciprocità umana: “Io sono perché noi siamo”. La democrazia ecologica radicale o Swaraj ecologico in India, con una particolare attenzione per l’autonomia e l’autogoverno. Ed, infine, la decrescita (nell’archivio di Comune trovate saggi su questo tema scritti, tra gli altri, da Serge Latouche, Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen, Paolo Cacciari, Chris Carlsson, Maurizio Pallante, Carlos Taibo, Alessandro Pertosa, Alberto Castagnola), ovvero la possibilità di vivere meglio con meno e in comune (leggi Mettiamo in comune, di John Holloway, ndr), senza sostenere i privilegi di pochi gruppi umani.
Queste visioni del mondo differiscono notevolmente dalla nozione attuale di sviluppo. Si oppongono alla fede dogmatica della crescita economica. Propongono invece la nozione del benessere, che non può essere confuso con la dolce vita di pochi a scapito del sacrificio della maggioranza e della natura. Queste opzioni di vita possono avere diversi elementi, ma esprimono valori fondamentali in comune, come la solidarietà, l’armonia, la reciprocità, la diversità e l’unità con la natura.
...
.
* Ashish Kothari è membro di Kalpavriksh (Pune, India) e co-autore di Churning the Earth (Penguin, 2012). Alberto Acosta è docente della Flacso (Quito, Ecuador) e autore di El Buen Vivir (Icaria, 2013). Federico Demaria fa parte di Research & Degrowth, è ricercatore dell’Icta Uab (Barcellona, Spagna), co-curatore di Decrescita: Vocabolario per una Nuova Era (Jaca Books, 2015) e collaboratore di Comune. La traduzione di questo articolo è di Federico Demaria.
Tags:autogoverno, capitalismo, crisi, critica allo sviluppo, decrescita, green economy, primo piano
Link: http://comune-info.net/2015/10/la-nostra-sfida-a-crescita-e-capitalismo/
.
di Ashish Kothari, Federico Demaria, Alberto Acosta*
Di fronte al peggioramento della crisi di civiltà (sociale, ecologica ed economica) negli ultimi due decenni sono emerse con sempre piú forza due grandi tendenze: la prima persegue la sostenibilitá ambientale, e la seconda, l’eguaglianza e la giustizia. Due forze, tuttavia, complementari.
Queste forze sfidano, prima di tutto, gli approcci della green economy e dello sviluppo sostenibile che domineranno la conferenza sul clima di Parigi (Cop21, in programma a dicembre, ndr), cosi come gli Obietivi di sviluppo sostenibile post 2015 (OSS). Sappiamo che queste opzioni cosi tanto pubblicizzate non sono riuscite (e non riusciranno) a ottenere armonizzazione della crescita economica, benessere sociale e protezione dell’ambiente. Un’equazione comunque impossibile da qualsiasi punto di vista.
I paradigmi dell’ecologia politica, compromessi con la vita della terra e dell’umanitá, al contrario, sostengono cambiamenti strutturali. Sfidano la predominanza dello sviluppo, e in particolare dello sviluppo fondato sulla crescita economica, basato sui combustibili fossili (leggi anche Mettere al centro la vita degna di Alberto Acosta). Sfidano il capitalismo, soprattutto la sua versione neoliberale estrema, mentre propongono una radicalizzazione della democrazia, che non puó ridursi esclusivamente alla democrazia rappresentativa (leggi anche Governarci di Gustavo Esteva, ndr).
Le false risposte della green economy
Se si guarda alla politica ambientale internazionale degli ultimi quattro decenni, i suoi principi fondamentali, stabiliti nel decennio degli anni settanta, sono scomparsi.
Il documento finale del vertice di Rio 2012 + 20, intitolato “Il futuro che vogliamo“, non ha identificato le radici storiche e strutturali della povertà, della fame, della disuguaglianza e dell’insostenibilità. Non dice nulla sugli effetti negativi derivanti dalla centralizzazione del potere dello Stato, i monopoli capitalistici, il colonialismo, il razzismo e il patriarcato. Non diagnosticando a chi o cosa si debba tale (ir)responsabilità, è inevitabile che qualsiasi soluzione proposta non sia sufficiente ad affrontare le sfide urgenti della crisi di civiltà che abbiamo di fronte.
Inoltre, il documento non riconosce che la crescita infinita è impossibile in un mondo finito. Concettualizza il capitale naturale come un “bene economico fondamentale”, aprendo la porta a una ulteriore mercificazione della natura, attraverso il cosiddetto capitalismo verde. Non respinge il consumismo sfrenato. Al contrario, pone enfasi sui meccanismi di mercato, tecnologia e una migliore gestione invece che sui profondi cambiamenti politici, economici e sociali di cui il mondo ha bisogno. Il che, come è facile intuire, non darà i risultati attesi.
Al contrario, alcuni movimenti per la giustizia ambientale, raccogliendo vecchie e nuove visioni del mondo, propongono soluzioni efficaci, che necessariamente devono essere strutturali. Queste risposte sono parte di una lunga ricerca di vita alternativa forgiata nel calore della lotta per l’emancipazione dell’umanità e la vita in varie regioni del mondo. Diversamente dallo sviluppo sostenibile, che crede falsamente di poter essere applicato universalmente, questi approcci alternativi non possono essere ridotti ad un unico modello (a questi temi è dedicato anche l’ultimo libro di Raúl Zibechi, dal titolo Alba di mondi altri, qua la nota introduttiva di Marco Calabria). Queste nozioni di vita, di conseguenza, sono eterogenee e plurali. Rappresentano le possibilità di una vita in armonia degli esseri umani con la comunità, delle comunità con altre comunità, e degli individui e le comunità con e nella natura.
Anche papa Francesco nell’enciclica “Laudato sì” (qui un commento di Paolo Cacciari, Il Cantico che non c’era, ndr), come il Dalai Lama e altri leader religiosi, è stato esplicito sulla necessità di ridefinire il progresso:
“Affinché sorgano nuovi modelli di progresso abbiamo bisogno di «cambiare il modello di sviluppo globale» […] Non basta conciliare, in una via di mezzo, la cura per la natura con la rendita finanziaria, o la conservazione dell’ambiente con il progresso. Su questo tema le vie di mezzo sono solo un piccolo ritardo nel disastro. Semplicemente si tratta di ridefinire il progresso. Uno sviluppo tecnologico ed economico che non lascia un mondo migliore e una qualità di vita integralmente superiore, non può considerarsi progresso. D’altra parte, molte volte la qualità reale della vita delle persone diminuisce – per il deteriorarsi dell’ambiente, la bassa qualità dei prodotti alimentari o l’esaurimento di alcune risorse – nel contesto di una crescita dell’economia. In questo quadro, il discorso della crescita sostenibile diventa spesso un diversivo e un mezzo di giustificazione che assorbe valori del discorso ecologista all’interno della logica della finanza e della tecnocrazia, e la responsabilità sociale e ambientale delle imprese si riduce per lo più a una serie di azioni di marketing e di immagine”.
Altrettanto esplicito è la recente “Dichiarazione islamica sul cambiamento climatico globale” (a cui Gustavo Duch dedica questo articolo Non sarai mai alto come le montagne) quando dice:
“Riconosciamo la corruzione (fasād) che gli esseri umani hanno provocato sulla Terra a causa della nostra ricerca implacabile di crescita economica e consumo”.
Alternative radicali
La critica non è sufficiente. Abbiamo bisogno delle nostre narrazioni. È urgente eliminare il concetto di sviluppo e aprire la porta a una moltitudine di idee e visioni del mondo, vecchie e nuove. Queste includono il buen vivir (sumak kawsay o suma qamaña), una cultura della vita con diversi nomi e versioni che vengono dai popoli indigeni di differenti regioni dell’America latina (leggi anche La buona vita, il Sumak Kawsay, del poeta e scrittore ecuadoriano Ariruma Kowii, ndr). Ubuntu in Sud Africa, con la sua enfasi sulla reciprocità umana: “Io sono perché noi siamo”. La democrazia ecologica radicale o Swaraj ecologico in India, con una particolare attenzione per l’autonomia e l’autogoverno. Ed, infine, la decrescita (nell’archivio di Comune trovate saggi su questo tema scritti, tra gli altri, da Serge Latouche, Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen, Paolo Cacciari, Chris Carlsson, Maurizio Pallante, Carlos Taibo, Alessandro Pertosa, Alberto Castagnola), ovvero la possibilità di vivere meglio con meno e in comune (leggi Mettiamo in comune, di John Holloway, ndr), senza sostenere i privilegi di pochi gruppi umani.
Queste visioni del mondo differiscono notevolmente dalla nozione attuale di sviluppo. Si oppongono alla fede dogmatica della crescita economica. Propongono invece la nozione del benessere, che non può essere confuso con la dolce vita di pochi a scapito del sacrificio della maggioranza e della natura. Queste opzioni di vita possono avere diversi elementi, ma esprimono valori fondamentali in comune, come la solidarietà, l’armonia, la reciprocità, la diversità e l’unità con la natura.
...
.
* Ashish Kothari è membro di Kalpavriksh (Pune, India) e co-autore di Churning the Earth (Penguin, 2012). Alberto Acosta è docente della Flacso (Quito, Ecuador) e autore di El Buen Vivir (Icaria, 2013). Federico Demaria fa parte di Research & Degrowth, è ricercatore dell’Icta Uab (Barcellona, Spagna), co-curatore di Decrescita: Vocabolario per una Nuova Era (Jaca Books, 2015) e collaboratore di Comune. La traduzione di questo articolo è di Federico Demaria.
Tags:autogoverno, capitalismo, crisi, critica allo sviluppo, decrescita, green economy, primo piano
Link: http://comune-info.net/2015/10/la-nostra-sfida-a-crescita-e-capitalismo/
Research Interests: Economia, Sociologia, Economía, Filologia Italiana Letteratura Italiana del Rinascimento, Letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, and 27 moreMarxismo, Sociología, Serge Latouche, Ambiente, Capitalismo, Economia Política, SCIENZE POLITICHE, Sviluppo rurale, Ideologia, Sostenibilità, Giustizia, Scienze economiche e sociali, Movimenti sociali, Letteratura italiana, Politica Economica, Sviluppo Sostenibile, Anarchismo, Storia Contemporanea, Decrescita Economica, Economia Verde, Sviluppo locale, Decrescita, Storia dei movimenti sociali, Apertura a Sinistra, Progresso, Crescita E Sviluppo, and Cooperazione Internazionale
We are ecologists and we defend waste. Well, not all waste, but a particular sort of waste. That unproductive and anti-utilitarian expenditure of accumulated surplus that French philosopher Georges Batailles, called dépense. A collective... more
We are ecologists and we defend waste. Well, not all waste, but a particular sort of waste. That unproductive and anti-utilitarian expenditure of accumulated surplus that French philosopher Georges Batailles, called dépense. A collective expenditure that in the process forms community. Collective dépense coupled with an individual sobriety, such as that advocated by Enrico Berlinguer, forms a radical imaginary that stands at the antipode of the currently dominant pair of stimulus for the individual and austerity for the collective.
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Economics, Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, and 14 moreGreen Economy & Green Jobs Perspectives, Environmental Sustainability, DeGrowth, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Green Growth, Peak Oil, Capitalism, Degrowth, Prosperity Without Growth, Occupy Wall Street, International Occupy Movement, Occupy Movement, Spanish Indignados (Occupy), Post-Growth, Growth Vs. Degrowth, and Secular stagnation
As the world searches for pathways to sustainability and justice, 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' are emerging as solutions that are likely to fail; instead, attention is needed to fundamentally radical alternatives that are... more
As the world searches for pathways to sustainability and justice, 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' are emerging as solutions that are likely to fail; instead, attention is needed to fundamentally radical alternatives that are present in many parts of the world.
Research Interests:
As the world searches for pathways to sustainability and justice, 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' are emerging as solutions that are likely to fail; instead, attention is needed to fundamentally radical alternatives that are... more
As the world searches for pathways to sustainability and justice, 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' are emerging as solutions that are likely to fail; instead, attention is needed to fundamentally radical alternatives that are present in many parts of the world.
Research Interests:
Selon Federico Demaria, chercheur en économie écologique à l’Université autonome de Barcelone (Espagne) et membre de Recherche & Décroissance (www.degrowth.org; @R_Degrowth), la ferveur politique qui embrase l'Espagne aujourd'hui fait... more
Selon Federico Demaria, chercheur en économie écologique à l’Université autonome de Barcelone (Espagne) et membre de Recherche & Décroissance (www.degrowth.org; @R_Degrowth), la ferveur politique qui embrase l'Espagne aujourd'hui fait souffler un vent d'espoir pour les tenants de la décroissance.
Research Interests:
Hace poco, The Economist acusaba a los líderes de Podemos de sostener propuestas chifladas como el decrecimiento. Pero curiosamente, Podemos no ha sido el único: el consejero de Territorio y Sostenibilidad de Cataluña, Santi Vila, también... more
Hace poco, The Economist acusaba a los líderes de Podemos de sostener propuestas chifladas como el decrecimiento. Pero curiosamente, Podemos no ha sido el único: el consejero de Territorio y Sostenibilidad de Cataluña, Santi Vila, también ha lanzado el debate sobre el decrecimiento en el Parlamento Catalán. ¿Pero qué entendemos por decrecimiento? Este artículo esboza una explicación basada en el libro de recién publicación: Decrecimiento: Un Vocabulario para una Nueva Era (Icaria, 2015).
Research Interests:
The book aims at investigating the who, what, why, where and when of deliberate, large-scale intervention designed to counter global warming or offset some of its effects. Hamilton's conclusions might be summarized in the motto ‘Degrowth... more
The book aims at investigating the who, what, why, where and when of deliberate, large-scale intervention designed to counter global warming or offset some of its effects.
Hamilton's conclusions might be summarized in the motto ‘Degrowth or Geoengineering’ as he offers arguments in favor of abandoning the path on endless economic growth and
Hamilton's conclusions might be summarized in the motto ‘Degrowth or Geoengineering’ as he offers arguments in favor of abandoning the path on endless economic growth and
Research Interests:
This is an unusual book, comprised of 51 short (3–4 page) entries between a longer introduction and epilogue by the editors. Here we find eco-economists, anti-utilitarians, (neo)Marxists, political ecologists, co-operativists, nowtopians,... more
This is an unusual book, comprised of 51 short (3–4 page) entries between a longer introduction and epilogue by the editors. Here we find eco-economists, anti-utilitarians, (neo)Marxists, political ecologists, co-operativists, nowtopians, back-to-the-landers, and many others. (Entries are marked in bold in the book). While the intellectual roots are far-flung, the book emanates from a reading group on Research & Degrowth at the Institute of Environmental Science & Technology (ICTA), Autonomous University of Barcelona.
The current incarnation of degrowth emerged at a conference in Paris in 2008, followed by conferences in Barcelona, Montreal, Venice and Leipzig. An international research and activist network now exists in around 30 countries. Degrowthers are concerned with the usual ecological crises (buttressed by skilful application of the Jevons’ paradox and its rebound effect) and see growth as incompatible with the survival of the planet and a decent way of life for all those who live on it. While many question the growth paradigm, the vast majority of politicians, academics, experts, the public and even activists are in denial: degrowth is: ‘largely ignored, if it is not a taboo' (p. xxiv). Degrowth is radical critique of contemporary civilization, challenging techniques rather than just wanting to control them, it is about doing much less, it is not post-growth, it is not win-win, it is not steady-state.
There are many reasons why degrowth is a marginal concept in the marketplace of ideas. It emerged largely in the non-Anglophone world. The term décroissance was used first by the social theorist Gorz in 1972 (in a public debate in Paris) asking if it is compatible with capitalism. Many of the ideas in this book will seem totally unrealistic to most people but, as the editors argue in their Introduction: ‘Lack of realism consists in imagining that economic growth can still bring about increased human welfare, and indeed that it is still physically possible' (p. 2). Other reasons for its marginality include its full frontal attack on consumerist capitalism and the problem of decolonizing the imaginary (that growth is always better than stagnation or recession). To those who argue that capitalism could survive without growth, degrowthers say that it would not survive for long. However, according to the entry on capitalism: ‘There is no agreement among degrowth theorists concerning the inevitability of capitalist expansion’ (p. 61).
Central sociological correlates of degrowth (regrettably ignored by most sociologists) are: sharing, simplicity, conviviality, care, the commons. Degrowth grassroots practices cluster around production for use; voluntary rather than wage labour; gifts/barter rather than profit; rejection of the built-in dynamic to accumulate; and commoning (contra Hardin, new forms of co-operative rather than open access commons). Many of these initiatives seem to involve the State as employer of last resort via basic incomes for all, facilitating worksharing, expanding labour-intensive caring; introducing transitional money and debt policies. Digging deeper, Latouche makes the important point that some (not all) degrowthers tend to fetishize capitalism itself rather than its productivist imaginary (notably in debates around development), and Illich (another inspiration for the movement) argued that certain tools are inherently destructive (motorways, open mines, schools); others promote conviviality (bicycle, sewing machine, telephone, radio). Apparently, the inventor of the laptop thought it was non-exploitative. Even deeper, is the relatively obscure concept of dépense. Romano defines it (after Bataille) in terms of the distinction between energy necessary to sustain life and non-productive excess energy (such as luxury goods, mourning, war, religion, games, spectacles, the arts, perverse sexual activity, and so on). All societies develop rituals for dépense and the original emergency of survival creates the growth imperative: ‘remaining animal frees us from the fatigue of becoming human … the inhabitants of growth societies begin to dream and to desire a “real” natural catastrophe' (p. 88). This reverberates with the aphorism: ‘it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism’ and the pedagogy of disaster. Dépense is privatized by capitalism, individuals waste excess energy in their own time, destroying its collective benefits. When I first read this I thought it was absurd (think of fandom in sports and the arts), on reflection I am not so sure.
While most cultures have their own versions of Buen Vivir (living well), underpinning these are universal principles of how we relate to the natural environment linked with sense of community, for example in the economy of permanence as developed by J.C. Kumarappa in India, Ubuntu philosophy of Bantu people in Africa, and aymara in Bolivia. An admirable quality of this collective enterprise is its openness to such a wide variety of conflicting ideas. Though the editors appear convinced that degrowth is incompatible with capitalist globalization several of the authors clearly disagree and others ignore the issue. And the entry on Feminist economics concludes: ‘The degrowth perspective is not broad enough to include the critique of the macro-dynamics of the present capitalist system and not deep enough to reveal the complexity of real lives and the use of women's activities to make it sustainable' (p. 210). The editors’ epilogue introduces more very controversial ideas. Inspired by Paul Lafargue's call for ‘the right to be lazy’ they proclaim: ‘we degrowthers are not afraid of idleness'. Their point is that (contra Marxists) surplus does not have to be exploitative, degrowth promises, playfully, ‘an economy of common feast for all sober individuals' (p. 220).
Quite a few errors have crept into the book, most seriously in the entry on the Jevons' paradox on p. 122, 13 lines from the bottom: ‘rebound is greater than per cent' should be ‘100 per cent’. Apart from its wild utopianism the most important weakness in the book is its failure to deal with the transition to a degrowth society at any scale beyond the very local – which is really a failure to deal adequately with the problem of the state and hierarchy after capitalism (though the entry on depoliticization makes a start). Nevertheless, this book should be compulsory reading for all students in universities and sixth form colleges everywhere. The authorities would be well advised to ban it. Perhaps, as in ‘Fahrenheit 451’, in the transition to degrowth global societies idealists will memorize some of these short and inspiring prose poems showing that another world is possible. But if the corporate capture of sustainable development teaches us anything, banning may not be necessary, as the ideological entrepreneurs of the transnational capitalist class seem to be taking an unhealthy interest in degrowth already.
Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12181/full
The current incarnation of degrowth emerged at a conference in Paris in 2008, followed by conferences in Barcelona, Montreal, Venice and Leipzig. An international research and activist network now exists in around 30 countries. Degrowthers are concerned with the usual ecological crises (buttressed by skilful application of the Jevons’ paradox and its rebound effect) and see growth as incompatible with the survival of the planet and a decent way of life for all those who live on it. While many question the growth paradigm, the vast majority of politicians, academics, experts, the public and even activists are in denial: degrowth is: ‘largely ignored, if it is not a taboo' (p. xxiv). Degrowth is radical critique of contemporary civilization, challenging techniques rather than just wanting to control them, it is about doing much less, it is not post-growth, it is not win-win, it is not steady-state.
There are many reasons why degrowth is a marginal concept in the marketplace of ideas. It emerged largely in the non-Anglophone world. The term décroissance was used first by the social theorist Gorz in 1972 (in a public debate in Paris) asking if it is compatible with capitalism. Many of the ideas in this book will seem totally unrealistic to most people but, as the editors argue in their Introduction: ‘Lack of realism consists in imagining that economic growth can still bring about increased human welfare, and indeed that it is still physically possible' (p. 2). Other reasons for its marginality include its full frontal attack on consumerist capitalism and the problem of decolonizing the imaginary (that growth is always better than stagnation or recession). To those who argue that capitalism could survive without growth, degrowthers say that it would not survive for long. However, according to the entry on capitalism: ‘There is no agreement among degrowth theorists concerning the inevitability of capitalist expansion’ (p. 61).
Central sociological correlates of degrowth (regrettably ignored by most sociologists) are: sharing, simplicity, conviviality, care, the commons. Degrowth grassroots practices cluster around production for use; voluntary rather than wage labour; gifts/barter rather than profit; rejection of the built-in dynamic to accumulate; and commoning (contra Hardin, new forms of co-operative rather than open access commons). Many of these initiatives seem to involve the State as employer of last resort via basic incomes for all, facilitating worksharing, expanding labour-intensive caring; introducing transitional money and debt policies. Digging deeper, Latouche makes the important point that some (not all) degrowthers tend to fetishize capitalism itself rather than its productivist imaginary (notably in debates around development), and Illich (another inspiration for the movement) argued that certain tools are inherently destructive (motorways, open mines, schools); others promote conviviality (bicycle, sewing machine, telephone, radio). Apparently, the inventor of the laptop thought it was non-exploitative. Even deeper, is the relatively obscure concept of dépense. Romano defines it (after Bataille) in terms of the distinction between energy necessary to sustain life and non-productive excess energy (such as luxury goods, mourning, war, religion, games, spectacles, the arts, perverse sexual activity, and so on). All societies develop rituals for dépense and the original emergency of survival creates the growth imperative: ‘remaining animal frees us from the fatigue of becoming human … the inhabitants of growth societies begin to dream and to desire a “real” natural catastrophe' (p. 88). This reverberates with the aphorism: ‘it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism’ and the pedagogy of disaster. Dépense is privatized by capitalism, individuals waste excess energy in their own time, destroying its collective benefits. When I first read this I thought it was absurd (think of fandom in sports and the arts), on reflection I am not so sure.
While most cultures have their own versions of Buen Vivir (living well), underpinning these are universal principles of how we relate to the natural environment linked with sense of community, for example in the economy of permanence as developed by J.C. Kumarappa in India, Ubuntu philosophy of Bantu people in Africa, and aymara in Bolivia. An admirable quality of this collective enterprise is its openness to such a wide variety of conflicting ideas. Though the editors appear convinced that degrowth is incompatible with capitalist globalization several of the authors clearly disagree and others ignore the issue. And the entry on Feminist economics concludes: ‘The degrowth perspective is not broad enough to include the critique of the macro-dynamics of the present capitalist system and not deep enough to reveal the complexity of real lives and the use of women's activities to make it sustainable' (p. 210). The editors’ epilogue introduces more very controversial ideas. Inspired by Paul Lafargue's call for ‘the right to be lazy’ they proclaim: ‘we degrowthers are not afraid of idleness'. Their point is that (contra Marxists) surplus does not have to be exploitative, degrowth promises, playfully, ‘an economy of common feast for all sober individuals' (p. 220).
Quite a few errors have crept into the book, most seriously in the entry on the Jevons' paradox on p. 122, 13 lines from the bottom: ‘rebound is greater than per cent' should be ‘100 per cent’. Apart from its wild utopianism the most important weakness in the book is its failure to deal with the transition to a degrowth society at any scale beyond the very local – which is really a failure to deal adequately with the problem of the state and hierarchy after capitalism (though the entry on depoliticization makes a start). Nevertheless, this book should be compulsory reading for all students in universities and sixth form colleges everywhere. The authorities would be well advised to ban it. Perhaps, as in ‘Fahrenheit 451’, in the transition to degrowth global societies idealists will memorize some of these short and inspiring prose poems showing that another world is possible. But if the corporate capture of sustainable development teaches us anything, banning may not be necessary, as the ideological entrepreneurs of the transnational capitalist class seem to be taking an unhealthy interest in degrowth already.
Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12181/full
Research Interests:
"[...] this book should be compulsory reading for all students in universities and sixth form colleges everywhere. The authorities would be well advised to ban it. Perhaps, as in ‘Fahrenheit 451’, in the transition to degrowth global... more
"[...] this book should be compulsory reading for all students in universities and sixth form colleges everywhere. The authorities would be well advised to ban it. Perhaps, as in ‘Fahrenheit 451’, in the transition to degrowth global societies idealists will memorize some of these short and inspiring prose poems showing that another world is possible. But if the corporate capture of sustainable development teaches
us anything, banning may not be necessary, as the ideological entrepreneurs of the transnational capitalist class seem to be taking an unhealthy interest in degrowth already."
BOOK REVIEW by LSE Sociologist Leslie Sklair
D’Alisa, G., Demaria, F. and Kallis. G. (eds) Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era 2014
Routledge 220 pp. £24.99 (paperback)
See: vocabulary.degrowth.org
The British Journal of Sociology
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12181/abstract
DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12181
us anything, banning may not be necessary, as the ideological entrepreneurs of the transnational capitalist class seem to be taking an unhealthy interest in degrowth already."
BOOK REVIEW by LSE Sociologist Leslie Sklair
D’Alisa, G., Demaria, F. and Kallis. G. (eds) Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era 2014
Routledge 220 pp. £24.99 (paperback)
See: vocabulary.degrowth.org
The British Journal of Sociology
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12181/abstract
DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12181
Research Interests: Engineering, Sociology, Environmental Science, Physics, Economics, and 27 moreEnvironmental Economics, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Architecture, Marxism, Conversation Analysis, Postcolonial Studies, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Biology, Capitalism, Postmodernism, Biodiversity, Environmental Sustainability, Natural Science, DeGrowth, Biodiversity Conservation, Steady-State Economy, Degrowth, Ecological Economics, Evolution of Economics, Sustainable Lifestyles, Behavioral Change, Human Development, Evolution of Consciousness, Intentional Communities, Grassroots Movements, Postdevelopment Theory, Décroissance, Alternatives, Energy Measurement Revolution for Harmonics Loads, Plan Nacional Del Buen Vivir, and Ecomarxismo
Talk: http://ch.nwsuaf.edu.cn/xzhd/350873.htm The term Ecological Distribution Conflicts (EDCs) was coined by Martinez Alier and Martin O’Connor (1996) to describe social conflicts born from the unfair access to natural resources and the... more
Talk: http://ch.nwsuaf.edu.cn/xzhd/350873.htm
The term Ecological Distribution Conflicts (EDCs) was coined by Martinez Alier and Martin O’Connor (1996) to describe social conflicts born from the unfair access to natural resources and the unjust burdens of pollution. Environmental benefits and costs are distributed in a way that causes conflicts. The terms socio-environmental conflict, environmental conflict or EDC are interchangeable.
These two authors, trained as economists, were inspired by the term ‘economic distribution conflicts’ in political economy that describes conflicts between capital and labour (profits vs. salaries), or conflicts on prices between sellers and buyers of commodities, or conflicts on the interest rate to be paid by debtors to creditors (Martinez Alier, 2003). The term EDC stresses the idea that the unequal or unfair distribution of environmental goods and bads is not always coterminous with ‘economic distribution’ as, for instance, rents paid for by tenant farmers to landlords, or the international terms of trade of the Brazilian economy, or claims for higher wages from mining unions opposing company owners.
‘Ecological distribution conflicts’ is then a term for collective claims against environmental injustices. For instance, a factory may be polluting the river (which belongs to nobody or belongs to a community that manages the river – as studied by Ostrom (1990) and her school on management of the commons). The same happens with climate change, causing perhaps sea level rise in some Pacific islands or in the Kuna islands in Panama. Yet this damage is not valued in the market and those impacted are not compensated for. Unfair ecological distribution is inherent to capitalism, defined by K. W. Kapp (1950) as a system of cost-shifting. In environmental neoclassical economics, the preferred terms are “market failure” and “externalities”, a terminology that implies that such externalities could be valued in monetary terms and internalized into the price system. If we accept economic commensuration and reject incommensurability of values (Martinez-Alier, Munda, and O’Neill 1998), ‘equivalent’ eco-compensation mechanisms could be introduced. Instead ecological economics and political ecology advocate the acceptance of different valuation languages to understand such conflicts and the need to take them into account through genuine participatory processes in natural resource management and environmental problem solving (Agarwal, 2001; Zografos and Howarth, 2010).
There are local as well as global distribution conflicts; whilst many of them occur between the global South and the global North (a Canadian or Chinese mining company operating in Peru), many are local conflicts within a short commodity chain (e.g. on local sand and gravel extraction for a nearby cement factory) (Martinez Alier, 2003).
From a social metabolic perspective we can classify EDCs through the stages of a commodity chain; conflicts can take place during the extraction of energy carriers or other materials, transportation and production of goods, or in the final disposal of waste.
Research on EDC links up with several concepts in ecological economics, political ecology and related disciplines; for instance, the ecological debt and ecologically unequal exchange between the North and the South, the acknowledgment of environmental liabilities; also social ecofeminism that highlights gender in the study of environmental impacts and activism (Agarwal, 1992), the notion of environmental justice term originating in the US and linked to the struggle against ‘environmental racism’ (Bullard, 1993), and the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous (Guha & Martinez Alier, 1997).
The term Ecological Distribution Conflicts (EDCs) was coined by Martinez Alier and Martin O’Connor (1996) to describe social conflicts born from the unfair access to natural resources and the unjust burdens of pollution. Environmental benefits and costs are distributed in a way that causes conflicts. The terms socio-environmental conflict, environmental conflict or EDC are interchangeable.
These two authors, trained as economists, were inspired by the term ‘economic distribution conflicts’ in political economy that describes conflicts between capital and labour (profits vs. salaries), or conflicts on prices between sellers and buyers of commodities, or conflicts on the interest rate to be paid by debtors to creditors (Martinez Alier, 2003). The term EDC stresses the idea that the unequal or unfair distribution of environmental goods and bads is not always coterminous with ‘economic distribution’ as, for instance, rents paid for by tenant farmers to landlords, or the international terms of trade of the Brazilian economy, or claims for higher wages from mining unions opposing company owners.
‘Ecological distribution conflicts’ is then a term for collective claims against environmental injustices. For instance, a factory may be polluting the river (which belongs to nobody or belongs to a community that manages the river – as studied by Ostrom (1990) and her school on management of the commons). The same happens with climate change, causing perhaps sea level rise in some Pacific islands or in the Kuna islands in Panama. Yet this damage is not valued in the market and those impacted are not compensated for. Unfair ecological distribution is inherent to capitalism, defined by K. W. Kapp (1950) as a system of cost-shifting. In environmental neoclassical economics, the preferred terms are “market failure” and “externalities”, a terminology that implies that such externalities could be valued in monetary terms and internalized into the price system. If we accept economic commensuration and reject incommensurability of values (Martinez-Alier, Munda, and O’Neill 1998), ‘equivalent’ eco-compensation mechanisms could be introduced. Instead ecological economics and political ecology advocate the acceptance of different valuation languages to understand such conflicts and the need to take them into account through genuine participatory processes in natural resource management and environmental problem solving (Agarwal, 2001; Zografos and Howarth, 2010).
There are local as well as global distribution conflicts; whilst many of them occur between the global South and the global North (a Canadian or Chinese mining company operating in Peru), many are local conflicts within a short commodity chain (e.g. on local sand and gravel extraction for a nearby cement factory) (Martinez Alier, 2003).
From a social metabolic perspective we can classify EDCs through the stages of a commodity chain; conflicts can take place during the extraction of energy carriers or other materials, transportation and production of goods, or in the final disposal of waste.
Research on EDC links up with several concepts in ecological economics, political ecology and related disciplines; for instance, the ecological debt and ecologically unequal exchange between the North and the South, the acknowledgment of environmental liabilities; also social ecofeminism that highlights gender in the study of environmental impacts and activism (Agarwal, 1992), the notion of environmental justice term originating in the US and linked to the struggle against ‘environmental racism’ (Bullard, 1993), and the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous (Guha & Martinez Alier, 1997).
Research Interests:
Environmental studies have debated for decades what is the relationship between economic growth and the environment. Some have argued that we first need to be rich in order to be environmentalists. Others have argued that economic growth... more
Environmental studies have debated for decades what is the relationship between economic growth and the environment. Some have argued that we first need to be rich in order to be environmentalists. Others have argued that economic growth cannot be reconciled with ecological sustainability. In the last 20 years the concept of circular economy has been proposed to overcome the trade-off between economic growth and sustainability. These has led to interesting practices and policies both in Europe and in China, but results are still very limited. I will discuss the limits of the circular economy to shed light on the debates about economic growth and the environment. For instance, energy cannot be recycled and materials only up to a certain extent. Currently, the world economy only recycles 6% of materials, and achieving 100% looks like an impossible task. If the proposal of a circular economy cannot solve the sustainability crisis, then it is urgent that we discuss how we can prosper without growth. In Europe there are debates about a post-growth or degrowth economy. I think establishing a dialogue between China and Europe about how we ensure prosperity, social justice and ecological sustainability for current and future generations is fundamental.
Our economies today cannot be circular, for example, because almost 50% of what we consume is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels can notably not be recycled, because of the second law of thermodynamics. Materials can be recycled only up to a certain extent. Currently, the world economy only recycles 6% of its waste, and the proponents of the circular economy assume that this can be increased to 100%. Unfortunately, they forget about the simple laws of physics.
Our economies could only be circular if they were completely based on solar energy. Natural ecosystems are circular because they only use solar energy for the photosynthesis. If our economies were to emulate ecosystems, then we should produce and consume much less. In other terms, what we need is degrowth. Circular economy is just a reincarnation of sustainable development (like green economy or green growth), which is based on the false assumption that economic growth and sustainability are compatible. They are not, because even if relative dematerialization has taken place in some countries (which means that we can produce a unit of GDP with less materials), absolute dematerialization (a reduction in the total consumption of natural resources) has not taken place, and it is unlikely that it would happen in a society centered around economic growth.
Our economies today cannot be circular, for example, because almost 50% of what we consume is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels can notably not be recycled, because of the second law of thermodynamics. Materials can be recycled only up to a certain extent. Currently, the world economy only recycles 6% of its waste, and the proponents of the circular economy assume that this can be increased to 100%. Unfortunately, they forget about the simple laws of physics.
Our economies could only be circular if they were completely based on solar energy. Natural ecosystems are circular because they only use solar energy for the photosynthesis. If our economies were to emulate ecosystems, then we should produce and consume much less. In other terms, what we need is degrowth. Circular economy is just a reincarnation of sustainable development (like green economy or green growth), which is based on the false assumption that economic growth and sustainability are compatible. They are not, because even if relative dematerialization has taken place in some countries (which means that we can produce a unit of GDP with less materials), absolute dematerialization (a reduction in the total consumption of natural resources) has not taken place, and it is unlikely that it would happen in a society centered around economic growth.
Research Interests:
The video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU2uWCWNwsE&list=PL6pIaFRoXNGNEeVfSmknemamNlHzBAz2K Abstract: Degrowth is the literal translation of 'decroissance', a French word meaning reduction. Launched by activists in... more
The video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU2uWCWNwsE&list=PL6pIaFRoXNGNEeVfSmknemamNlHzBAz2K
Abstract:
Degrowth is the literal translation of 'decroissance', a French word meaning reduction. Launched by activists in 2001 as a challenge to growth, it became a missile word that sparks a contentious debate on the diagnosis and prognosis of our society. 'Degrowth' became an interpretative frame for a new (and old) social movement where numerous streams of critical ideas and political actions converge. It is an attempt to re-politicise debates about desired socio-environmental futures and an example of an activist-led science now consolidating into a concept in academic literature. This article discusses the definition, origins, evolution, practices and construction of degrowth. The main objective is to explain degrowth's multiple sources and strategies in order to improve its basic definition and avoid reductionist criticisms and misconceptions. To this end, the article presents degrowth's main intellectual sources as well as its diverse strategies (oppositional activism, building of alternatives and political proposals) and actors (practitioners, activists and scientists). Finally, the article argues that the movement's diversity does not detract from the existence of a common path.
Speech mainly based upon our article:
Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F., Martinez-Alier, J. (2013). What is degrowth? From an activist slogan to a social movement. Environmental Values 22 (2): 191-215.
More info at: budapest.degrowth.org
Abstract:
Degrowth is the literal translation of 'decroissance', a French word meaning reduction. Launched by activists in 2001 as a challenge to growth, it became a missile word that sparks a contentious debate on the diagnosis and prognosis of our society. 'Degrowth' became an interpretative frame for a new (and old) social movement where numerous streams of critical ideas and political actions converge. It is an attempt to re-politicise debates about desired socio-environmental futures and an example of an activist-led science now consolidating into a concept in academic literature. This article discusses the definition, origins, evolution, practices and construction of degrowth. The main objective is to explain degrowth's multiple sources and strategies in order to improve its basic definition and avoid reductionist criticisms and misconceptions. To this end, the article presents degrowth's main intellectual sources as well as its diverse strategies (oppositional activism, building of alternatives and political proposals) and actors (practitioners, activists and scientists). Finally, the article argues that the movement's diversity does not detract from the existence of a common path.
Speech mainly based upon our article:
Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F., Martinez-Alier, J. (2013). What is degrowth? From an activist slogan to a social movement. Environmental Values 22 (2): 191-215.
More info at: budapest.degrowth.org
Research Interests: Marketing, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Religion, Sociology, and 43 morePolitical Sociology, Computer Science, Information Technology, Economics, Development Economics, Environmental Economics, Anthropology, Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Sociology of Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Marxism, Research Methodology, Philosophy Of Mathematics, Political Ecology, Spirituality, Ecological Economics, Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development, Economic Growth, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Anarchism, Politics, Ecology, Market Research, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Environmental Sustainability, Critique, DeGrowth, Sustainable Tourism Development, Posttraumatic Growth, Advertisement, University, Serge Latouche, Natural Sciences, Décroissance, Circular Economy, Decrescita Economica, and Secular stagnation
Until very recently, studies of the environmental movement have been heavily biased towards the North Atlantic worlds. There was a common assumption amongst historians and sociologists that concerns over such issues as conservation or... more
Until very recently, studies of the environmental movement have been heavily biased towards the North Atlantic worlds. There was a common assumption amongst historians and sociologists that concerns over such issues as conservation or biodiversity were the exclusive preserve of the affluent westerner: the ultimate luxury of the consumer society. Citizens of the world's poorest countries, ran the conventional wisdom, had nothing to gain from environmental concerns; they were 'too poor to be green', and were attending to the more urgent business of survival. Yet strong environmental movements have sprung up over recent decades in some of the poorest countries in Asia and Latin America, albeit with origins and forms of expression quite distinct from their western counterparts. In Varieties of Environmentalism, Guha and Matinez-Alier seek to articulate the values and orientation of the environmentalism of the poor, and to explore the conflicting priorities of South and North that were so dramatically highlighted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Essays on the 'ecology of affluence' are also included, placing ion context such uniquely western phenomena as the 'cult of wilderness' and the environmental justice movement. Using a combination of archival and field data,. The book presents analyses of environmental conflicts and ideologies in four continents: North and South America, Asia and Europe. The authors present the nature and history of environmental movements in quite a new light, one which clarifies the issues and the processes behind them. They also provide reappraisals for three seminal figures, Gandhi, Georgescu-Roegen and Mumford, whose legacy may yet contribute to a greater cross-cultural understanding within the environmental movements.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: The Environmentalism of the Poor
From Political Economy to Political Ecology Poverty and the Environment: A Critique of the Conventional Wisdom
Towards a Cross-Cultural Environmental Ethic
Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique
The Merchandising of Biodiversity
The Failure of Ecological Planning in Barcelona
Part 2: People
Mahatma Gandhi and the Environmental Movement
In Memory of Georgescu-Roegen
The Forgotten American Environmentalist
Reviews
'This fruitful collaboration touches upon the fundamentals of ecological behaviours and ecological politics 'a pleasure to read.'
Elmar Altvater, Professor of Political Economy, Free University of Berlin.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: The Environmentalism of the Poor
From Political Economy to Political Ecology Poverty and the Environment: A Critique of the Conventional Wisdom
Towards a Cross-Cultural Environmental Ethic
Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique
The Merchandising of Biodiversity
The Failure of Ecological Planning in Barcelona
Part 2: People
Mahatma Gandhi and the Environmental Movement
In Memory of Georgescu-Roegen
The Forgotten American Environmentalist
Reviews
'This fruitful collaboration touches upon the fundamentals of ecological behaviours and ecological politics 'a pleasure to read.'
Elmar Altvater, Professor of Political Economy, Free University of Berlin.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Social Movements, Geography, Environmental Science, and 15 moreEconomics, Anthropology, Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Globalization, Corporate Social Responsibility, Political Ecology, Environmental History, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Energy and Environment, Social History, and Environmental Sustainability
This Handbook provides an overview of major current debates, trends and perspectives in ecological economics. It covers a wide range of issues, such as the foundations of ecological economics, deliberative methods, the de-growth movement,... more
This Handbook provides an overview of major current debates, trends and perspectives in ecological economics. It covers a wide range of issues, such as the foundations of ecological economics, deliberative methods, the de-growth movement, ecological macroeconomics, social metabolism, environmental governance, consumer studies, knowledge systems and new experimental approaches. Written by leading authors in their respective areas of specialisation, the contributions systematize the ‘state of the art’ in the selected topics, and draw insights about new knowledge frontiers.
Edited by Joan Martínez-Alier, Professor of Economics and Economic History, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain and Roldan Muradian, Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program of Economics, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
This comprehensive Handbook neatly encapsulates the field of ecological economics, the fluid interface between the economic and ecological systems. Leading scholars systematize the state-of-the-art and put forward their insights about future development in their respective areas of expertise. The result is a compendium of stimulating and outstanding contributions, interesting for both junior and more experienced readers alike.
Subjects covered include the analytical and philosophical foundations of ecological economics, deliberative valuation methods, social metabolism, ecological macroeconomics, the de-growth movement, socio-environmental conflicts, the scope and valuation of ecosystem services, traditional ecological knowledge, social dilemmas in common pool resource management; consumption patterns, global environmental governance and emerging tools for dealing with environmental problems, such as payments for ecosystem services.
Covering the most salient topics in the field of ecological economics and with a wide scope, from philosophical foundations to practical applications, this book will be invaluable to students, scholars, researchers and policy makers.
‘This volume is a much-needed addition to the literature on ecological economics. The essays in this volume represent a return to the basic ontological foundations which distinguished the field from standard economics at its inception over three decades ago—the insistence that the economy is grounded in biophysical reality and that human needs cannot be reduced to economic calculation. As the authors argue, the inspiration for a revitalization of ecological economics lies not in welfare economics but in new developments in the biophysical and behavioral sciences.’
– John Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, US
'What is distinct about ecological economics? This excellent volume, with essays by some of the leading thinkers in the field, provides answers. Tracing its history, its ontological foundations, and its future directions, this Handbook not only delineates the essential features of an expanding area of knowledge, it also demonstrates the critical importance of interdisciplinary and institutional approaches to finding solutions.'
– Bina Agarwal, University of Manchester, UK
Contributors: D.N. Barton, L. Braat, J.C. Cárdenas, M. de Carvalho Amazonas, E. Coudel, R. de Groot, L. Eloy, J. Ferreira, M. Fischer-Kowalski, E. Gómez-Baggethun, A. Guarín, H. Haberl, M. Hercowitz, G. Kallis, B. Martín-López, J. Martínez-Alier, L. Mattos, P. May, B. Muraca, R. Muradian, A. Nadal, J. O'Neill, P. Petridis, M.-G. Piketty, V. Reyes-García, I. Ring, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, I. Røpke, I. Scholz, C.L. Spash, F. Toni, T. Uebel, A. Vatn, P.A. Victor, C. Zografos
Contents:
1. Taking Stock: The Keystones of Ecological Economics
Joan Martínez-Alier and Roldan Muradian
2. The Content, Direction and Philosophy of Ecological Economics
Clive L. Spash
3. Analytical Philosophy and Ecological Economics
John O’Neill and Thomas Uebel
4. Value Deliberation in Ecological Economics
Christos Zografos
5. Social Metabolism: A Metrics for Biophysical Growth and Degrowth
Marina Fischer-Kowalski and Helmut Haberl
6. Macroeconomic Policies and Environmental Sustainability
Alejandro Nadal
7. Modeling a Non-Growing Economy: An Autobiographical Note
Peter A. Victor
8. Degrowth: Between a Scientific Concept and a Slogan for a Social Movement
Panos Petridis, Barbara Muraca and Giorgos Kallis
9. Water: Ecological Economics and Socio-environmental Conflicts
Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos and Joan Martínez-Alier
10. The Contributions of the Ecosystem Services Paradigm to Sustainability Science, Policy and Practice
Rudolf de Groot and Leon Braat
11. Ecological Economics Perspectives on Ecosystem Services Valuation
Erik Gómez-Baggethun and Berta Martin-López
12. The Values of Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Victoria Reyes-Garcia
13. From Conventional Economics to Complexity in Social Dilemmas: Lessons from CPR Experiments in the Lab and the Field
Juan Camilo Cárdenas
14. Sustainable Consumption – Transitions, Systems and Practices
Inge Røpke
15. Consumers, The Environment, and the New Global Middle Classes
Alejandro Guarín and Imme Scholz
16. Global Environmental Governance
Arild Vatn
17. Economic Instruments in Policy Mixes for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Governance
Irene Ring and David N. Barton
18. The Rise of PES in Brazil: From Pilot Projects to Public Policies
Emilie Coudel, Joice Ferreira, Maurício de Carvalho Amazonas, Ludivine Eloy, Marcelo Hercowitz, Luciano Mattos, Peter May, Roldhan Muradian, Marie-Gabrielle Piketty and Fabiano Toni
19. Looking Forward: Current Concerns and the Future of Ecological Economics
Joan Martínez-Alier and Roldan Muradian
Index
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Edited by Joan Martínez-Alier, Professor of Economics and Economic History, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain and Roldan Muradian, Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program of Economics, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
This comprehensive Handbook neatly encapsulates the field of ecological economics, the fluid interface between the economic and ecological systems. Leading scholars systematize the state-of-the-art and put forward their insights about future development in their respective areas of expertise. The result is a compendium of stimulating and outstanding contributions, interesting for both junior and more experienced readers alike.
Subjects covered include the analytical and philosophical foundations of ecological economics, deliberative valuation methods, social metabolism, ecological macroeconomics, the de-growth movement, socio-environmental conflicts, the scope and valuation of ecosystem services, traditional ecological knowledge, social dilemmas in common pool resource management; consumption patterns, global environmental governance and emerging tools for dealing with environmental problems, such as payments for ecosystem services.
Covering the most salient topics in the field of ecological economics and with a wide scope, from philosophical foundations to practical applications, this book will be invaluable to students, scholars, researchers and policy makers.
‘This volume is a much-needed addition to the literature on ecological economics. The essays in this volume represent a return to the basic ontological foundations which distinguished the field from standard economics at its inception over three decades ago—the insistence that the economy is grounded in biophysical reality and that human needs cannot be reduced to economic calculation. As the authors argue, the inspiration for a revitalization of ecological economics lies not in welfare economics but in new developments in the biophysical and behavioral sciences.’
– John Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, US
'What is distinct about ecological economics? This excellent volume, with essays by some of the leading thinkers in the field, provides answers. Tracing its history, its ontological foundations, and its future directions, this Handbook not only delineates the essential features of an expanding area of knowledge, it also demonstrates the critical importance of interdisciplinary and institutional approaches to finding solutions.'
– Bina Agarwal, University of Manchester, UK
Contributors: D.N. Barton, L. Braat, J.C. Cárdenas, M. de Carvalho Amazonas, E. Coudel, R. de Groot, L. Eloy, J. Ferreira, M. Fischer-Kowalski, E. Gómez-Baggethun, A. Guarín, H. Haberl, M. Hercowitz, G. Kallis, B. Martín-López, J. Martínez-Alier, L. Mattos, P. May, B. Muraca, R. Muradian, A. Nadal, J. O'Neill, P. Petridis, M.-G. Piketty, V. Reyes-García, I. Ring, B. Rodríguez-Labajos, I. Røpke, I. Scholz, C.L. Spash, F. Toni, T. Uebel, A. Vatn, P.A. Victor, C. Zografos
Contents:
1. Taking Stock: The Keystones of Ecological Economics
Joan Martínez-Alier and Roldan Muradian
2. The Content, Direction and Philosophy of Ecological Economics
Clive L. Spash
3. Analytical Philosophy and Ecological Economics
John O’Neill and Thomas Uebel
4. Value Deliberation in Ecological Economics
Christos Zografos
5. Social Metabolism: A Metrics for Biophysical Growth and Degrowth
Marina Fischer-Kowalski and Helmut Haberl
6. Macroeconomic Policies and Environmental Sustainability
Alejandro Nadal
7. Modeling a Non-Growing Economy: An Autobiographical Note
Peter A. Victor
8. Degrowth: Between a Scientific Concept and a Slogan for a Social Movement
Panos Petridis, Barbara Muraca and Giorgos Kallis
9. Water: Ecological Economics and Socio-environmental Conflicts
Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos and Joan Martínez-Alier
10. The Contributions of the Ecosystem Services Paradigm to Sustainability Science, Policy and Practice
Rudolf de Groot and Leon Braat
11. Ecological Economics Perspectives on Ecosystem Services Valuation
Erik Gómez-Baggethun and Berta Martin-López
12. The Values of Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Victoria Reyes-Garcia
13. From Conventional Economics to Complexity in Social Dilemmas: Lessons from CPR Experiments in the Lab and the Field
Juan Camilo Cárdenas
14. Sustainable Consumption – Transitions, Systems and Practices
Inge Røpke
15. Consumers, The Environment, and the New Global Middle Classes
Alejandro Guarín and Imme Scholz
16. Global Environmental Governance
Arild Vatn
17. Economic Instruments in Policy Mixes for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Governance
Irene Ring and David N. Barton
18. The Rise of PES in Brazil: From Pilot Projects to Public Policies
Emilie Coudel, Joice Ferreira, Maurício de Carvalho Amazonas, Ludivine Eloy, Marcelo Hercowitz, Luciano Mattos, Peter May, Roldhan Muradian, Marie-Gabrielle Piketty and Fabiano Toni
19. Looking Forward: Current Concerns and the Future of Ecological Economics
Joan Martínez-Alier and Roldan Muradian
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Research Interests: History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Economics, Anthropology, and 12 morePolitical Economy, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Political Science, Politics, Ecology, Energy and Environment, and Environmental Sustainability
How did the industrialized nations of North America and Europe come to be seen as the appropriate models for post-World War II societies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America? How did the postwar discourse on development actually create the... more
How did the industrialized nations of North America and Europe come to be seen as the appropriate models for post-World War II societies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America? How did the postwar discourse on development actually create the so-called Third World? And what will happen when development ideology collapses? To answer these questions, Arturo Escobar shows how development policies became mechanisms of control that were just as pervasive and effective as their colonial counterparts. The development apparatus generated categories powerful enough to shape the thinking even of its occasional critics while poverty and hunger became widespread. "Development" was not even partially "deconstructed" until the 1980s, when new tools for analyzing the representation of social reality were applied to specific "Third World" cases. Here Escobar deploys these new techniques in a provocative analysis of development discourse and practice in general, concluding with a discussion of alternative visions for a postdevelopment era. Escobar emphasizes the role of economists in development discourse--his case study of Colombia demonstrates that the economization of food resulted in ambitious plans, and more hunger. To depict the production of knowledge and power in other development fields, the author shows how peasants, women, and nature became objects of knowledge and targets of power under the "gaze of experts." In a substantial new introduction, Escobar reviews debates on globalization and postdevelopment since the book's original publication in 1995 and argues that the concept of postdevelopment needs to be redefined to meet today's significantly new conditions. He then calls for the development of a field of "pluriversal studies," which he illustrates with examples from recent Latin American movements.
Arturo Escobar is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His most recent book is "Territories of Difference".
Arturo Escobar is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His most recent book is "Territories of Difference".
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Geography, and 15 moreLatin American Studies, Economics, Development Economics, Anthropology, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Developing Countries, Decolonial Thought, Arturo Escobar, and Pluriverse
Should women see a relationship between patriarchal oppression and the destruction of Nature in the name of profit and progress? How can they counter the violence inherent in these processes? Should they look to a link between the women's... more
Should women see a relationship between patriarchal oppression and the destruction of Nature in the name of profit and progress? How can they counter the violence inherent in these processes? Should they look to a link between the women's movement and other social movements?
The authors offer an analysis of such issues from a unique North-South perspective. They critique prevailing economic theories, conventional concepts of women's emancipation, the myth of 'catching up' development, the philosophical foundations of modern science and technology, and the omission of ethics when discussing so many questions including advances in reproductive technology.
In constructing their own ecofeminist epistemology and methodology, they look at movements advocating consumer liberation, subsistence production and sustainability , and argue for an acceptance of limits and reciprocity and the endless commoditification of needs. A book as relevant today as when it was first published.
Vandana Shiva is an Indian environmental activist and anti-globalization author. She has received honors around the world for her work.
Maria Mies is a Professor of Sociology in Cologne, Germany, and author of several feminist books.
Series: Critique. Influence. Change.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Zed Books; Second Edition,New Edition,New edition (April 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1780325630
ISBN-13: 978-1780325637
This groundbreaking work remains as relevant today as when it was when first published. Two of Zed's best-known authors argue that ecological destruction and industrial catastrophes constitute a direct threat to everyday life, the maintenance of which has been made the particular responsibility of women. In both industrialized societies and the developing countries, the new wars the world is experiencing, violent ethnic chauvinisms and the malfunctioning of the economy also pose urgent questions for ecofeminists. Is there a relationship between patriarchal oppression and the destruction of nature in the name of profit and progress? How can women counter the violence inherent in these processes? Should they look to a link between the women's movement and other social movements? Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva offer a thought-provoking analysis of these and many other issues from a unique North-South perspective. They critique prevailing economic theories, conventional concepts of women's emancipation, the myth of 'catching up' development, the philosophical foundations of modern science and technology, and the omission of ethics when discussing so many questions, including advances in reproductive technology and biotechnology. In constructing their own ecofeminist epistemology and methodology, these two internationally respected feminist environmental activists look to the potential of movements advocating consumer liberation and subsistence production, sustainability and regeneration, and they argue for an acceptance of limits and reciprocity and a rejection of exploitation, the endless commoditization of needs, and violence.
The authors offer an analysis of such issues from a unique North-South perspective. They critique prevailing economic theories, conventional concepts of women's emancipation, the myth of 'catching up' development, the philosophical foundations of modern science and technology, and the omission of ethics when discussing so many questions including advances in reproductive technology.
In constructing their own ecofeminist epistemology and methodology, they look at movements advocating consumer liberation, subsistence production and sustainability , and argue for an acceptance of limits and reciprocity and the endless commoditification of needs. A book as relevant today as when it was first published.
Vandana Shiva is an Indian environmental activist and anti-globalization author. She has received honors around the world for her work.
Maria Mies is a Professor of Sociology in Cologne, Germany, and author of several feminist books.
Series: Critique. Influence. Change.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Zed Books; Second Edition,New Edition,New edition (April 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1780325630
ISBN-13: 978-1780325637
This groundbreaking work remains as relevant today as when it was when first published. Two of Zed's best-known authors argue that ecological destruction and industrial catastrophes constitute a direct threat to everyday life, the maintenance of which has been made the particular responsibility of women. In both industrialized societies and the developing countries, the new wars the world is experiencing, violent ethnic chauvinisms and the malfunctioning of the economy also pose urgent questions for ecofeminists. Is there a relationship between patriarchal oppression and the destruction of nature in the name of profit and progress? How can women counter the violence inherent in these processes? Should they look to a link between the women's movement and other social movements? Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva offer a thought-provoking analysis of these and many other issues from a unique North-South perspective. They critique prevailing economic theories, conventional concepts of women's emancipation, the myth of 'catching up' development, the philosophical foundations of modern science and technology, and the omission of ethics when discussing so many questions, including advances in reproductive technology and biotechnology. In constructing their own ecofeminist epistemology and methodology, these two internationally respected feminist environmental activists look to the potential of movements advocating consumer liberation and subsistence production, sustainability and regeneration, and they argue for an acceptance of limits and reciprocity and a rejection of exploitation, the endless commoditization of needs, and violence.
Research Interests: Sociology, Geography, Social Sciences, Sustainable Development, Ecofeminism, and 15 moreFeminism, Postcolonial Feminism, Black feminism, Islamic feminism, Environmental Sustainability, Transnational Feminism, Women of Color Feminism, Feminism(s), Feminism and Social Justice, Feminismo, Ecocriticism and Ecofeminism, Feminisme, Decolonial Feminism, Latin American feminisms, and Histories of Feminisms
Most of us who live in the North and the West consume far too much - too much meat, too much fat, too much sugar, too much salt. We are more likely to put on too much weight than to go hungry. We live in a society that is heading for a... more
Most of us who live in the North and the West consume far too much - too much meat, too much fat, too much sugar, too much salt. We are more likely to put on too much weight than to go hungry. We live in a society that is heading for a crash. We are aware of what is happening and yet we refuse to take it fully into account. Above all we refuse to address the issue that lies at the heart of our problems - namely, the fact that our societies are based on an economy whose only goal is growth for growth's sake.
Serge Latouche argues that we need to rethink from the very foundations the idea that our societies should be based on growth. He offers a radical alternative - a society of 'de-growth'. De-growth is not the same thing as negative growth. We should be talking about 'a-growth', in the sense in which we speak of 'a-theism'. And we do indeed have to abandon a faith or religion - that of the economy, progress and development--and reject the irrational and quasi-idolatrous cult of growth for growth's sake.
While many realize that that the never-ending pursuit of growth is incompatible with a finite planet, we have yet to come to terms with the implications of this - the need to produce less and consume less. But if we do not change course, we are heading for an ecological and human disaster. There is still time to imagine, quite calmly, a system based upon a different logic, and to plan for a 'de-growth society'.
This little book is a pleasure to read. It is critical, contrarian, informative, and provocative. Latouche advances a coherent set of proposals for reversing the treadmill of an ever-more insistent growth dynamic in favour of a more serene existence based on quality of life, solidarity, and respect for the environment.
Bob Jessop, University of Lancaster
Serge Latouche argues that we need to rethink from the very foundations the idea that our societies should be based on growth. He offers a radical alternative - a society of 'de-growth'. De-growth is not the same thing as negative growth. We should be talking about 'a-growth', in the sense in which we speak of 'a-theism'. And we do indeed have to abandon a faith or religion - that of the economy, progress and development--and reject the irrational and quasi-idolatrous cult of growth for growth's sake.
While many realize that that the never-ending pursuit of growth is incompatible with a finite planet, we have yet to come to terms with the implications of this - the need to produce less and consume less. But if we do not change course, we are heading for an ecological and human disaster. There is still time to imagine, quite calmly, a system based upon a different logic, and to plan for a 'de-growth society'.
This little book is a pleasure to read. It is critical, contrarian, informative, and provocative. Latouche advances a coherent set of proposals for reversing the treadmill of an ever-more insistent growth dynamic in favour of a more serene existence based on quality of life, solidarity, and respect for the environment.
Bob Jessop, University of Lancaster
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Economics, Development Economics, Anthropology, and 19 moreComparative Politics, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Marxism, Political Ecology, Ecological Economics, Economic Growth, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Politics, Rural Development, Biology, Natural Science, Socialism, Small & Micro Business Growth, DeGrowth, and Secular stagnation
Joan Martínez-Alier, Professor of Economics and Economic History, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain The Environmentalism of the Poor has the explicit intention of helping to establish two emerging fields of study – political... more
Joan Martínez-Alier, Professor of Economics and Economic History, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
The Environmentalism of the Poor has the explicit intention of helping to establish two emerging fields of study – political ecology and ecological economics – whilst also investigating the relations between them.
The Environmentalism of the Poor has the explicit intention of helping to establish two emerging fields of study – political ecology and ecological economics – whilst also investigating the relations between them.
The book analyses several manifestations of the growing ‘environmental justice movement’, and also of ‘popular environmentalism’ and the ‘environmentalism of the poor’, which will be seen in the coming decades as driving forces in the process to achieve an ecologically sustainable society. The author studies, in detail, many ecological distribution conflicts in history and at present, in urban and rural settings, showing how poor people often favour resource conservation. The environment is thus not so much a luxury of the rich as a necessity of the poor. It concludes with the fundamental questions: who has the right to impose a language of valuation and who has the power to simplify complexity?
Joan Martinez-Alier combines the study of ecological conflicts and the study of environmental valuation in a totally original approach that will appeal to a wide cross-section of academics, ecologists and environmentalists.
ENDORSEMENTS:
‘[Joan] Martinez-Alier combines the honest discipline of a scholar with the passionate energy of an activist. The result, The Environmentalism of the Poor, is highly recommended!’
– Herman E. Daly, University of Maryland, College Park, US
‘Any book by the ecological economist Joan Martinez-Alier is a Big Publishing Event. . . this is a book by a writer who loves his subject, knows it well, respects its history, and is driven by the desire to do justice. These are qualities enough to send you to the bookshop or the library in search of The Environmentalism of the Poor.’
– Andrew Dobson, Environment Politics
Contents: Preface 1. Currents of Environmentalism 2. Ecological Economics: ‘Taking Nature into Account’ 3. Indices of (Un) Sustainability, and Neo-Malthusianism 4. Political Ecology: The Study of Ecological Distribution Conflicts 5. Mangroves Versus Shrimps 6. The Environmentalism of the Poor: Gold, Oil, Forests, Rivers, Biopiracy 7. Indicators of Urban Unsustainability as Indicators of Social Conflict 8. Environmental Justice in the United States and South Africa 9. The State and Other Actors 10. The Ecological Debt 11. On the Relations between Political Ecology and Ecological Economics Bibliography Index
The Environmentalism of the Poor has the explicit intention of helping to establish two emerging fields of study – political ecology and ecological economics – whilst also investigating the relations between them.
The Environmentalism of the Poor has the explicit intention of helping to establish two emerging fields of study – political ecology and ecological economics – whilst also investigating the relations between them.
The book analyses several manifestations of the growing ‘environmental justice movement’, and also of ‘popular environmentalism’ and the ‘environmentalism of the poor’, which will be seen in the coming decades as driving forces in the process to achieve an ecologically sustainable society. The author studies, in detail, many ecological distribution conflicts in history and at present, in urban and rural settings, showing how poor people often favour resource conservation. The environment is thus not so much a luxury of the rich as a necessity of the poor. It concludes with the fundamental questions: who has the right to impose a language of valuation and who has the power to simplify complexity?
Joan Martinez-Alier combines the study of ecological conflicts and the study of environmental valuation in a totally original approach that will appeal to a wide cross-section of academics, ecologists and environmentalists.
ENDORSEMENTS:
‘[Joan] Martinez-Alier combines the honest discipline of a scholar with the passionate energy of an activist. The result, The Environmentalism of the Poor, is highly recommended!’
– Herman E. Daly, University of Maryland, College Park, US
‘Any book by the ecological economist Joan Martinez-Alier is a Big Publishing Event. . . this is a book by a writer who loves his subject, knows it well, respects its history, and is driven by the desire to do justice. These are qualities enough to send you to the bookshop or the library in search of The Environmentalism of the Poor.’
– Andrew Dobson, Environment Politics
Contents: Preface 1. Currents of Environmentalism 2. Ecological Economics: ‘Taking Nature into Account’ 3. Indices of (Un) Sustainability, and Neo-Malthusianism 4. Political Ecology: The Study of Ecological Distribution Conflicts 5. Mangroves Versus Shrimps 6. The Environmentalism of the Poor: Gold, Oil, Forests, Rivers, Biopiracy 7. Indicators of Urban Unsustainability as Indicators of Social Conflict 8. Environmental Justice in the United States and South Africa 9. The State and Other Actors 10. The Ecological Debt 11. On the Relations between Political Ecology and Ecological Economics Bibliography Index
Research Interests: Sociology, Geography, Environmental Science, Economics, Environmental Economics, and 15 moreAnthropology, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Political Ecology, Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, Politics, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Ecology, Urban Ecology, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Urban Political Ecology, and Joan Martinez-Alier
This book, explores a subject of growing significance. Acknowledging that the use of monetary value as a measuring rod is of limited applicability in assessing environmental and resource questions, "Ecological Economics" focuses instead... more
This book, explores a subject of growing significance. Acknowledging that the use of monetary value as a measuring rod is of limited applicability in assessing environmental and resource questions, "Ecological Economics" focuses instead on the crucial role played by the flows of energy and materials in the economy. Despite the dramatic increase in attention paid to ecological economics by mainstream economists since the first energy crisis of the early 1970s the subject is by no means as new as is often supposed. On the contrary, as Dr Martinez-Alier shows, it has a long and distinguished history and an extensive literature, much of it generated by the physicists, biologists and chemists of the 19th century. His discussion of these writers brings into the open for the first time a tradition of investigation and analysis which is of great contemporary relevance.
TAGS
Agricultural energetics. The 'entropy law' and the economic process. Social-darwinism and ecology. Ecological and pecuniary economics. 'Social engineering' and the 'history of the future'. 'Modern' agriculture: a source of energy? Ethanol form sugar cane. The energy cost of modernizing chinese agriculture. The energy balances of Spanish agriculture (1950s - 1970s). Boussingault, liebig, guano and agrarian chemistry. The history of agricultural energitics: podolinsky. One of the Narodniki. Eduard Sacher's formulation of Podolinsky's principle. Rudolf Clausius: 'On the energy stocks in nature'. The electrical revolution. The club of ideologists. The kaiser's birthday. The coal question. Patrick geddes' critique of economics. Ruskin and geddes. An ecological critique of industrial urbanization. The carrying capacity of the earth, according to pfaundler. The energy cost of horizontal transport. The availability of energy and the energy requirements of humankind. Limits of the growth of food production. A simple account of the second law of thermodynamics. Henry adams''Law of acceleration' in the use of energy. Life against entropy. Soddy's critique of the theory of economic growth. Lancelot Hogben v. Hayek. Methodological individualism and inter-generational allocation. Neo-corporatist and neo-liberal macro-economics. Externalities. Max Weber's chrematistic critique of wilhelm ostwald. Ecological utopianism: popper-lynkeus nad ballod-atlanticus. The history of the future. Marxism and ecology. Political epilogue.
TAGS
Agricultural energetics. The 'entropy law' and the economic process. Social-darwinism and ecology. Ecological and pecuniary economics. 'Social engineering' and the 'history of the future'. 'Modern' agriculture: a source of energy? Ethanol form sugar cane. The energy cost of modernizing chinese agriculture. The energy balances of Spanish agriculture (1950s - 1970s). Boussingault, liebig, guano and agrarian chemistry. The history of agricultural energitics: podolinsky. One of the Narodniki. Eduard Sacher's formulation of Podolinsky's principle. Rudolf Clausius: 'On the energy stocks in nature'. The electrical revolution. The club of ideologists. The kaiser's birthday. The coal question. Patrick geddes' critique of economics. Ruskin and geddes. An ecological critique of industrial urbanization. The carrying capacity of the earth, according to pfaundler. The energy cost of horizontal transport. The availability of energy and the energy requirements of humankind. Limits of the growth of food production. A simple account of the second law of thermodynamics. Henry adams''Law of acceleration' in the use of energy. Life against entropy. Soddy's critique of the theory of economic growth. Lancelot Hogben v. Hayek. Methodological individualism and inter-generational allocation. Neo-corporatist and neo-liberal macro-economics. Externalities. Max Weber's chrematistic critique of wilhelm ostwald. Ecological utopianism: popper-lynkeus nad ballod-atlanticus. The history of the future. Marxism and ecology. Political epilogue.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Physics, Economics, and 20 moreEnvironmental Economics, Social Sciences, Marxism, Renewable Energy, Political Ecology, Environmental History, Ecological Economics, Sustainable Development, Energy, Politics, Agriculture, Energy and Environment, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Environmental Sustainability, Natural Science, Social Ecology, Karl Marx, Solar Energy, Society, and Energetics
Ecologie et révolution, in «Le Nouvel Observateur», 397, 1972. (M. Bosquet), 1972, Nouvel Observateur, París, 397, 19 de junio. Actas de de un debate público titulado «Ecologie et revolution» organizado en París por el Club du Nouvel... more
Ecologie et révolution, in «Le Nouvel Observateur», 397, 1972.
(M. Bosquet), 1972, Nouvel Observateur, París, 397, 19 de junio. Actas de de un debate público titulado «Ecologie et revolution» organizado en París por el Club du Nouvel Observateur. En el que participaron, entre otros, Herbert Marcuse, Edgar Morin, Edward Goldsmith y Sicco Mansholt. Los actos de este debate se publicaron en castellano
bajo el título «Ecología y revolución» en Chile (Universitaria, 1972) y Argentina (Nueva Visión, 1975).
"El término «décroissance» (decrecimiento, en francés) fue utilizado por primera vez por el intelectual francés André Gorz en 1972. Gorz planteó un interrogante que continúa siendo esencial en el actual debate sobre el decrecimiento: «¿El equilibrio del planeta, para el cual el no crecimiento —y hasta el decrecimiento— de la producción material es una condición necesaria, es compatible con la supervivencia del sistema capitalista?» (Gorz, 1972: IV)."
Desde: "Decrecimiento: Vocabulario para una Nueva Era" (Icaria, 2015)
http://www.worldcat.org/title/ecologia-y-revolucion/oclc/42793887
(M. Bosquet), 1972, Nouvel Observateur, París, 397, 19 de junio. Actas de de un debate público titulado «Ecologie et revolution» organizado en París por el Club du Nouvel Observateur. En el que participaron, entre otros, Herbert Marcuse, Edgar Morin, Edward Goldsmith y Sicco Mansholt. Los actos de este debate se publicaron en castellano
bajo el título «Ecología y revolución» en Chile (Universitaria, 1972) y Argentina (Nueva Visión, 1975).
"El término «décroissance» (decrecimiento, en francés) fue utilizado por primera vez por el intelectual francés André Gorz en 1972. Gorz planteó un interrogante que continúa siendo esencial en el actual debate sobre el decrecimiento: «¿El equilibrio del planeta, para el cual el no crecimiento —y hasta el decrecimiento— de la producción material es una condición necesaria, es compatible con la supervivencia del sistema capitalista?» (Gorz, 1972: IV)."
Desde: "Decrecimiento: Vocabulario para una Nueva Era" (Icaria, 2015)
http://www.worldcat.org/title/ecologia-y-revolucion/oclc/42793887
Research Interests: Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Development Studies, Social Sciences, and 23 moreRenewable Energy, Herbert Marcuse, Utopian Studies, Sustainable Development, French Revolution, Politics, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Utopian Literature, Environmental Sustainability, Utopianism, DeGrowth, Edgard Morin, Ecologia, Serge Latouche, Medio Ambiente, Ecología, Revolución Mexicana, écologie, Post Extractivismo Y Derechos De La Naturaleza, Decrecimiento, Desarollo Sustentable, EDWARD MORIN, and Sicco Mansholt
La última década argentina se caracteriza por la emergencia y visibilidad de conflictos socioambientales con diversas dimensiones y particularidades. Entre estos conflictos, se destacan los generados por la llegada de proyectos mineros a... more
La última década argentina se caracteriza por la emergencia y visibilidad de conflictos socioambientales con diversas dimensiones y particularidades. Entre estos conflictos, se destacan los generados por la llegada de proyectos mineros a gran escala, que conforman lo que se conoce como megaminería. Para entender este fenómeno desde una perspectiva hasta ahora poco explorada en los trabajos académicos, Lucrecia Soledad Wagner aborda las intervenciones públicas de vecinos autoconvocados, asambleas y organismos multisectoriales que se movilizaron para rechazar esta actividad en la provincia de Mendoza, buscando ahondar en dos dimensiones del proceso en continua relación. Por un lado, reconstruye las acciones colectivas que llevaron a que el conflicto tomara estado público y que la megaminería se constituyera como una de las temáticas más debatidas en la provincia y en el país. Por otro lado, analiza los caminos institucionales que tomaron estas disputas socioambientales, especialmente vinculados a los procedimientos de evaluación de impacto ambiental. A fin de contextualizar estos hechos de manera exhaustiva, la autora sitúa el caso mendocino en un marco nacional de creciente movilización socioambiental, aborda los debates teóricos sobre estos procesos y delinea una breve perspectiva histórica de la actividad minera en el país.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In their own battles and strategy meetings since the early 1980s, EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and their networks have introduced several concepts to political ecology that have also been taken up by academics and policy... more
In their own battles and strategy meetings since the early 1980s, EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and their networks have introduced several concepts to political ecology that have also been taken up by academics and policy makers. In this paper, we explain the contexts in which such notions have arisen, providing definitions of a wide array of concepts and slogans related to environmental inequities and sustainability, and explore the connections and relations between them. These concepts include: environmental justice, ecological debt, popular epidemiology, environmental racism, climate justice, environmentalism of the poor, water justice, biopiracy, food sovereignty, "green deserts", "peasant agriculture cools downs the Earth", land grabbing, Ogonization and Yasunization, resource caps, corporate accountability, ecocide, and indigenous territorial rights, among others. We examine how activists have coined these notions and built demands around them, and how academic research has in turn further applied them and supplied other related concepts, working in a mutually reinforcing way with EJOs. We argue that these processes and dynamics build an activist-led and co-produced social sustainability science, furthering both academic scholarship and activism on environmental justice.
Depuis le début des années 80, à travers leurs propres luttes et réunions stratégiques, les EJOS (Organisations de Justice Environnementale) et leurs réseaux ont introduit quelques concepts différents d'écologie politique qui ont été repris par le monde académique et par les décideurs politiques. Dans cet article, nous expliquons les contextes qui ont promu l'émergence de ces concepts, et offrons des définitions pour un large ensemble de concepts et de slogans lies aux inégalités environnementales et à la protection durable de l'environnement, et nous explorons les connections entre eux. Ces concepts incluent: La justice environnementale, la dette écologique, l'épidémiologie populaire, le racisme environnemental, la justice climatique, l'environnementalisme des pauvres, la justice hydrique, la bio-piraterie, la souveraineté alimentaire, «les déserts verts», «l'agriculture paysanne rafraichit la terre», la prise des terres (land grabbing), l'Ogonisation et la Yasunisation, les plafonds de ressources, la responsabilité des entreprises, l'écocide, les droits indigènes territoriaux, et quelques autres. Nous examinons comment les activistes ont inventé ces termes, construit des demandes autour d'eux, et comment la recherche académique les a appliqués, et ensuite comment elle a offert de nouveaux concepts, travaillant de manière symbiotique avec les EJOS. Nous argumentons que ces processus et dynamiques construisent une science du développement durable conduite et co-produite par les activistes, ce qui renforce ainsi la littérature académique et l'activisme sur la justice environnementale.
Desde el inicio de la década de 1980, las OJAs (organizaciones de justicia ambiental) y las redes que ellas forman introdujeron diversos conceptos de ecología política en sus campañas y en sus reuniones para determinar estrategias, que han sido adoptados también por académicos y por tomadores de decisiones. En este artículo explicamos los contextos que dieron lugar a esas nociones, compilamos muchos conceptos y lemas que se refieren a inequidades ambientales y a la sustentabilidad, examinando sus interrelaciones. Dichos conceptos incluyen, entre otros, los siguientes: justicia ambiental, deuda ecológica, epidemiología ambiental, racismo ambiental, justicia climática, ecologismo de los pobres, justicia hídrica, biopiratería, soberanía alimentaria, "desiertos verdes", el lema "la agricultura campesina enfría la Tierra", acaparamiento de tierras, Ogonización y Yasunización, topes al uso de recursos, pasivos ambientales y responsabilidad ambiental empresarial, ecocidio y derechos territoriales indígenas. Estudiamos cómo los activistas de las OJAs acuñaron tales conceptos configurando exigencias políticas a partir de ellos, y cómo los investigadores académicos también los han aplicado y, a su vez, han aportado otros conceptos, en un proceso de fortalecimiento mutuo. Estos procesos y dinámicas dirigidos por activistas co-producen y construyen una ciencia social de la sustentabilidad, que apoya tanto el trabajo científico como el activismo, favoreciendo así nuevos logros en favor de la justicia ambiental.
Depuis le début des années 80, à travers leurs propres luttes et réunions stratégiques, les EJOS (Organisations de Justice Environnementale) et leurs réseaux ont introduit quelques concepts différents d'écologie politique qui ont été repris par le monde académique et par les décideurs politiques. Dans cet article, nous expliquons les contextes qui ont promu l'émergence de ces concepts, et offrons des définitions pour un large ensemble de concepts et de slogans lies aux inégalités environnementales et à la protection durable de l'environnement, et nous explorons les connections entre eux. Ces concepts incluent: La justice environnementale, la dette écologique, l'épidémiologie populaire, le racisme environnemental, la justice climatique, l'environnementalisme des pauvres, la justice hydrique, la bio-piraterie, la souveraineté alimentaire, «les déserts verts», «l'agriculture paysanne rafraichit la terre», la prise des terres (land grabbing), l'Ogonisation et la Yasunisation, les plafonds de ressources, la responsabilité des entreprises, l'écocide, les droits indigènes territoriaux, et quelques autres. Nous examinons comment les activistes ont inventé ces termes, construit des demandes autour d'eux, et comment la recherche académique les a appliqués, et ensuite comment elle a offert de nouveaux concepts, travaillant de manière symbiotique avec les EJOS. Nous argumentons que ces processus et dynamiques construisent une science du développement durable conduite et co-produite par les activistes, ce qui renforce ainsi la littérature académique et l'activisme sur la justice environnementale.
Desde el inicio de la década de 1980, las OJAs (organizaciones de justicia ambiental) y las redes que ellas forman introdujeron diversos conceptos de ecología política en sus campañas y en sus reuniones para determinar estrategias, que han sido adoptados también por académicos y por tomadores de decisiones. En este artículo explicamos los contextos que dieron lugar a esas nociones, compilamos muchos conceptos y lemas que se refieren a inequidades ambientales y a la sustentabilidad, examinando sus interrelaciones. Dichos conceptos incluyen, entre otros, los siguientes: justicia ambiental, deuda ecológica, epidemiología ambiental, racismo ambiental, justicia climática, ecologismo de los pobres, justicia hídrica, biopiratería, soberanía alimentaria, "desiertos verdes", el lema "la agricultura campesina enfría la Tierra", acaparamiento de tierras, Ogonización y Yasunización, topes al uso de recursos, pasivos ambientales y responsabilidad ambiental empresarial, ecocidio y derechos territoriales indígenas. Estudiamos cómo los activistas de las OJAs acuñaron tales conceptos configurando exigencias políticas a partir de ellos, y cómo los investigadores académicos también los han aplicado y, a su vez, han aportado otros conceptos, en un proceso de fortalecimiento mutuo. Estos procesos y dinámicas dirigidos por activistas co-producen y construyen una ciencia social de la sustentabilidad, que apoya tanto el trabajo científico como el activismo, favoreciendo así nuevos logros en favor de la justicia ambiental.
Research Interests: Political Ecology, Ecological Debt, Ecologia Política, écologie Politique, Environmentalism of the Poor, and 10 moreEnvironmental Justice Organizations, Activist Knowledge, Organisations De Justice Environnementale, Environnementalisme Des Pauvres, Dette écologique, Connaissance Activiste, Organizaciones De Justicia Ambiental, Ecologismo De Los Pobres, Deuda Ecológica, and Conocimiento Activista
Degrowth is a slogan, a missile word, and a new social and intellectual movement of the North. The intention is to engage into a very contentious process: the one of making a diagnosis and a prognosis of our society. Degrowth attempts to... more
Degrowth is a slogan, a missile word, and a new social and intellectual movement of the North. The intention is to engage into a very contentious process: the one of making a diagnosis and a prognosis of our society. Degrowth attempts to re-politicize the debate ...
A response to a thought-provoking piece by Andre Reichel, where he argues that sustainable development (as represented by the SDGs) can be compatible with approaches like degrowth and swaraj; we respond that it cannot since SDGs are... more
A response to a thought-provoking piece by Andre Reichel, where he argues that sustainable development (as represented by the SDGs) can be compatible with approaches like degrowth and swaraj; we respond that it cannot since SDGs are centred around economic growth.
Research Interests:
UN and governmental support for 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' approaches notwithstanding, these approaches are not fundamentally transformative enough to save the world; more attention is needed to radical alternatives... more
UN and governmental support for 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' approaches notwithstanding, these approaches are not fundamentally transformative enough to save the world; more attention is needed to radical alternatives that do provide such potential.
Research Interests:
The 'green economy' and 'sustainable development' are not enough to lead us to a better future, we need more radical alternatives, and these exist already.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary contains 110 essays on critiques of development, commentaries on mainstream 'false' solutions such as green growth, and description of several dozen radical alternatives (practical, conceptual)... more
Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary contains 110 essays on critiques of development, commentaries on mainstream 'false' solutions such as green growth, and description of several dozen radical alternatives (practical, conceptual) from around the world. Each essay is just 1000 words, with further references. Ideal for youth/students, activists, politicians and bureaucrats, and anyone else interested in knowing what and how one can change the world towards more justice, equity, and sustainability.