Degrowth surrounds us, yet we struggle to see it

Why are we scared of Degrowth? Degrowth surrounds us, yet we struggle to see it.

For those unfamiliar with degrowth, we can refer to Jason Hickel’s quote: “Degrowth is a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being.”

To be clear, this doesn’t mean going back to living in caves, or any sort of recession or austerity. Degrowth is about “Frugal Abundance,” focusing on the importance of the autonomous and pluriversal design of ‘enough’. Katherine Trebeck, founder of Wellbeing Alliance explores the concept of ‘enough’ in her book “The Economics of Arrival” describing it as Economies having sufficient resources to meet one’s basic needs and all that’s required for a good life.

At Transition Bondi’s September guest dinner, we discussed Degrowth after being inspired by the documentary “Outgrowth the System”. We learned that there are many alternative economic models to capitalism: doughnut economics, degrowth, well-being economy, participatory democracy, solidarity economy, non-profit, social enterprise, cooperatives, etc.

The Degrowth Movement in particular aims to enhance human well-being and environmental sustainability by intentionally scaling down economic activities to align with Earth’s ecological boundaries and finite resources.

Degrowth proposes a definition of a society of “Frugal Abundance” (S. Latouche), frugal in the sense of personal sobriety, finding well-being in living simply, and abundant in the sense of public luxury, where everyone has a good life, consumption is low and all the needs are satisfied through the provisioning of the commons.

But how are we transitioning to a society of Frugal Abundance? Degrowth certainly focuses in reducing individual and collective consumption, but as G. Kallis points out, it’s even more important to reorient our production. This means shifting from producing useless and harmful stuff solely for profit to a production that satisfies basic needs, improves well-being, and supports a society of public luxury.

Degrowth is not only about reorienting production in a qualitative sense but also in a quantitative sense, changing our personal and collective relationship with consumption and production, moving towards a model of public provisioning instead of private.

Degrowth also involves a cultural shift of desires and a pluriverse of imaginaries. This means it’s not about doing less of the same, but about expressing ourselves socially, shifting from the desire for accumulation, newness, and power to a different way of living, and rich in reimagining local and global alternatives of abundance and prosperity.

Degrowth is a multifaceted concept: a provocation, a vision, and a political proposal. It’s rooted in a critique of growth based on both scientific evidence and political theory.

 Degrowth can be understood as a synthesis of different strands of growth critics including: ecological, socio-economic, cultural, anticapitalistic, feminist, anti-industrialist and the South-North critique.

Degrowth places global justice at its core, so It’s not just about scaling back; it’s about reimagining a world where resources and well-being are more equitably distributed.

Degrowth theory argues that infinite economic expansion is incompatible with Earth’s finite resources. It proposes abandoning GDP growth as a policy goal, instead focusing on metrics like health, education, and sustainable work to measure human and ecological well-being; this approach can improve living standards and preserve ecosystems while slowing economic growth.

By challenging our assumptions about progress and prosperity, degrowth invites us to envision a pluriverse of alternative futures that prioritize both human and ecological flourishing. 

Degrowth emerged as a grassroots movement in the 1990s and entered the academic discourse in the early 2000s,  through the work of french economist Serge Latouche (décroissance). This movement bridged activism, science, ecological economics, and critiques of development.

The first Degrowth conference took place in Paris in 2008, and since then degrowth literacy has grown, hurray!  Last year in May, the European Greens organized a “Beyond Growth” conference at the European Parliament, attracting over 7,000 enthusiastic participants both in person and online. In February 2023 also was launched the Degrowth Network Australia, which supported also the creation of the International Degrowth Network

Based on Jason Hickel‘s book “Less is More,” here’s a pathway to Degrowth:

1. End Planned Obsolescence: Implement right-to-repair legislation and mandate extended warranties for products.
2. Cut Advertising: Reduce ads that stimulate desire for newness and promise status and social acceptance. Introduce laws that protect citizen wellbeing over corporate interests. For instance, two weeks ago in the Netherlands, the local government of The Hague banned advertisements related to fossil fuels, including those for cruises, aviation, and cars.
3. Shift from Ownership to Usership: Encourage neighborhood projects like tool or toy libraries, scaled up by councils, cities, and governments.
4. End Food Waste: Introduce laws to prevent food waste, such as taxes on rubbish by weight and implementing composting systems, local community supporting regenerative farming
5. Reform Labor Systems: Introduce a 4-day work week to redistribute hours, eliminate “bullshit jobs” (as described by David Graeber), promote socially useful jobs like those in the renewable sector or local food production, and introduce a care income (as proposed by G. D’Alisa).
6. Scale Down Ecologically Destructive Industries: This includes fossil fuels, fast fashion, beef production, tobacco, concrete, arms manufacturing, car production, and single-use plastics.

Degrowth is gaining acceptance, with practical examples emerging everywhere. Recently, Transition Bondi participated in Waverley Council’s second Repair Cafe. The event was highly successful, diverting over 100 kg from landfills and engaging numerous community members.

Now we are looking forward to the next event ”Degrowth for Regeneration”  organised by Regen in partnership with Transition Bondi to earn even more from Sydney Experts, Erin Remblence, Alex Baumann and  Gareth Bryant.