1. What is Degrowth?
Complementarity in diversity
Federico Demaria
fede@degrowth.net
Research & Degrowth
www.degrowth.org
Environmental Science and Technology Institute,
Autonomous University of Barcelona
www.eco2bcn.es

2. Index
I] The post-political condition
II] Degrowth: a proposal for radical change
- Sources
- Strategies
III] Conclusions

3. How can we criticize politics without falling into
the post-political?
How can we criticize economic growth in a
context of economic growth crisis?

4. I] Post-political condition
There are no debate and controversies:
- among ideologies, because there is only one (Consensus);
- over the causes of the crisis, no in depth analysis;
- over the responsibilities (in fact the responsibles are the
ones legitimized to propose solutions);
- among solutions (managerial approach to government).
Europe's post-democratic era by Jurgen Habermas. The Guardian, 10/11/2011.

5. I] The economic crisis → Debtocracy!
Mythologies: debt, spread and speculators ('markets')
But... Why do we have such large private and public debts? Who holds
them? Are they legitimate? What would happen if we don't pay?
What about publicly auditing the debts? Etc...
- Economic crisis → confusion
- Psychological terrorism: catastrophe → fear
Mario Monti (05/12/2011) referring to the adjustment plan:
“Outside the euro and of the common European house there are only abyss and
poverty”
“There is no alternative”
In reality: defense of the status quo and neo-liberal capitalism

6. I] Multi-dimensional crisis
Economic, social, political and ecological.
Urgent and structural.
Consequences of the 2008 economic crisis:
- Economic: recession, debts,...
- Social: unemployment, dismantling of welfare state;
- Political: 'debtocracy';
- Environmental: some improvements.
So, how do we interpret it?
With GDP? Or a Multi-criteria of physical and well-being indicators?

7. II] How can we go back to the political and to
democracy?
Degrowth: a proposal for radical change
Project of voluntary societal shrinking of production and
consumption for social justice and ecological
sustainability.

8. II] History of the term
The term Décroissance:
- 1972 by André Gorz (and Sicco Mansholt, Pres. EU Commission);
- 1979 by Georgescu Roegen.
Activist slogan and social movement:
- 2001: France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere.
Concept discussed in the academic literature:
- 2008: 1º Int. Degrowth Conference, Paris;
- 2010: 2º Int. Degrowth Conference, Barcelona;
- 2012: 3º Int. Degrowth Conference, Venezia.

9. II] Social movement theory
Degrowth: not an ideology, not (yet) a new paradigm, but...
Interpretative frame
Def. Interpretative frames generalize a given problem or individual
life experience and produce new definitions, demonstrating its
link and relevance with wider processes, events and conditions
of other social groups.
Framing process
1) Diagnosis: What is the problem? Who is responsible for it?
Sources
2) Prognosis: What has to be done? How?
Strategies

10. II] Sources
Diversity of arguments which can be
deployed to argue in favour of degrowth.
Streams of thought:
1) Ecology;
2) Critics to Development and Anti-utilitarianism;
3) Meaning of life and well-being;
4) Democracy;
5) Justice;
6) Ecological Economics.
Degrowth: River basin where different streams (of thought) and strategies converged.

11. 1) Ecology
1.1 Ecosystems have values in and of themselves
1.2 Industrial systems VS Ecosystems
Degrowth as a different relation with Nature:
- accept intrinsic value of Nature and right to exist;
- challenge resource-intensive institutions.

12. 2) Critics to Development...
The core of the Western imaginary (not open to debate)
→ growth or progress should be able to continue indefinitely,
constant growth of production will make the future self-evidently
better.
A concept constructed within a particular history and culture
− → a social construction to be deconstructed
Degrowth
- to decolonize (liberalize) the hegemonic imaginary;
- to imagine alternatives.
Authors: Arturo Escobar, Gilbert Rist, Vandana Shiva, Wolfgang Sachs,...

13. 2) Anti-utilitarianism
Critique of Homo Economicus:
against self-interest and utility-maximization as the ultimate driving force of human
behavior
against the dominating influence of markets on human relations and society
(”commodification of human relations”)
Degrowth in that sense calls for more ample visions giving importance to economic
relations based on gifts and reciprocity, where social relations and conviviality are
central.
Change in:
- values structure and value-articulating institutions;
- a change of culture and a rediscovery of human identity which is disentangled from
economic representations.
Authors: Alain Caille and the MAUSS (Anti-utilitarian movement in social sciences).

14. 3) Meaning of life and well being
Critique of life-styles that are based on the mantras of working more, earning more
and selling more.
Happiness and economics:
disassociation between income
increase and satisfaction
with life over time.
Easterlin's Paradox
Search for:
- coherence and unity between contradictory social roles,
- Voluntary simplicity.
Authors: Ghandi, E.F. Schumacher, Henry David Thoreau and Pierre Rabhi.

15. 4) Democracy
Call for a deeper democracy
i.e. Technology:
given threshold technology can no longer be controlled by people.
Technique is a system that grows without democratic feedback and
follows a path of its own.
Degrowth is thus a response to the lack of democratic debates on
economic development, growth, technological innovation and
advancement.
Self-institutionalizing society: democracy can only exist by and with self-
limitation.
Authors: Ivan Illich, Jacques Ellul, Castoriadis

16. 5) Justice
Justice in all its:
- forms: economic, social and environmental;
- time-lines: intra-generational and inter-generational.
Critique of the idea of economic growth and trickle down effect.
Redistribution (degrowth of inequalities).
Environmentalism: rich or poor people?
If western society used less natural resources and wealth was equally
distributed, misery could be overcome and equality would be feasible.

17. 6) Ecological Economics
Non-equivalent descriptions of the economy
The economy is seen as a carroussel between consumers and producers. They
encounter each other in markets for consumer goods or in markets for the
services of production factors (like selling labour time for a wage). Prices are
formed, quantities are exchanged.
This is CHREMATISTICS. Macroeconomic accounts (GDP) aggregate the
quantities multiplied by the prices.
The economy may be described in a different way, as a system of transformation of
(exhaustible) energy and materials (including water) into useful products and
services, and finally into waste.
This is BIOECONOMICS / ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(from N. Georgescu Roegen 1966, 1971, Herman Daly 1968, A. Kneese and R.U.
Ayres, 1969, Kenneth Boulding, 1966).

18. (Circular) Economic Process

19. (Physical) Economic Process
Resources → Social metabolism → Sinks

20. A combination of the two

21. The entropy law and the economic
process (Georgescu-Roegen, 1971)
The entropy law
Human activity transforms energy and materials of low entropy or good
quality into waste and pollution which are unusable and have high-
entropy.
Energy is dissipated and cannot be recycled.
Materials are recycled only to a small extent (entropy law).
Limits
The industrial economy depletes resources and overloads the sinks.
- Limited resources: Hubbert’s peak oil is approaching.
- Limited sinks: Carbon dioxide concentration in atmosphere increasing
2 ppm per year.

22. The economy does not dematerialize
Physical indicators, i.e.:
- MFA, Material Flow Analysis;
- HANNP, Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity);
- MuSIASEM, Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem
Metabolism.
No decoupling between economic growth and environmental indicators
Therefore, continuous new search at the “commodity frontiers” to substitute for
dissipated energy and materials, and for new supplies.
Production function: 'fallacy of endless substitution' (i.e. Pizza)
Natural capital cannot always be substituted by human-made capital

23. Physical indicators: i.e. MFA
Material flows:
minerals, fossil fuels
and biomass
Categories:
imports, exports,
domestic extraction
and indirect flows
Often, not only the absolute amount of materials but also material intensity (tons
of materials / GDP) is increasing! Indicates pressures on the environment.
Convergence to a European average of 16 tons per person/year (only materials,
water not counted here) would multiply Material Flows in the world by 3.

24. Italy (Andreoni, 2009)
TMR: Total Material
Requirement (Tons)

25. Energy and Biomass
Energy
We know that energy use per capita is increasing. Convergence towards 300
Gigajoules per capita/year would mean to multiply by 5 the present energy in the
world economy. If gas and especially coal are used, also multiply by 4 or 5 the
carbon dioxide produced. Also, danger of nuclear civil-military proliferation.
The EROI is declining (energy return on energy input) (e.g. oils sands and heavy
oils, or agrofuels).
Biomass
The HANPP is also increasing – human appropriation of net primary production of
biomass. Population growth, soil sealing, meat eating, agro-fuels increase the
HANPP.
The higher the HANPP, the less biomass available for other species. Indicates loss
of biodiversity.

26. Efficiency
Jevon's Paradox (Rebound effect):
Technological progress that increases the efficiency (i.e. resource
productivity) with which a resource is used, tends to increase
(rather than decrease) the rate of consumption of that resource.
i.e. cars

27. Sources: discussion
Degrowth makes sense when all sources are taken into account
and combined (i.e. we don't want an eco-dictatoship).
Other flows into the river of degrowth: feminism, political ecology,
non violence (including the critique of militarism), radical neo-
Malthusianism and open borders positions,
The diversity within the concept of degrowth is actually a pre-
condition for a diversity of strategies and actors involved in its
deliberation and implementation.

28. II] Strategies and actors
1) Opposition strategy;
2) Alternatives building;
3) Political institutions and reforms;
4) Research;
5) Dissemination;
6) Acting at different scales (local, national, global).

29. Conclusions: 1. An ecological
economics perspective on the crisis
The economy has three levels (Frederick Soddy, 1926):
1) Virtual (or financial) economy;
2) Real (or productive) economy;
3) Real - Real economy: flows of energy and material.
→ Debt-fuelled economic growth is unsustainable.
The financial system confuses expansion of credit for the creation of real
wealth, while the real economy of energy and materials cannot grow at the
interest rate necessary to pay off debts.
As Georgescu-Roegen and Odum explain, the available natural resources are
actually decreasing. The increase of private or public debts is thus the
perfect recipe for economic crises.

30. Conclusions: 2. Degrowth of what?
Degrowth of the economy. The economy as Chrematistics or the economy as
Ecological Economics? The economy described in what terms?
Of course, in terms of the real indicators, i.e. in terms of Material Flows,
Energy use, and the HANPP (and also use of water).
There is consensus that CO2 emissions must decrease by 50 or 60 per cent,
while they are growing more than 3 per cent per year (doubling in 20 years).
Now, however, given the fact that there is strong coupling between use of
materials and energy, and economic growth, given the fact that the HANPP
also increases (sometimes) with economic growth (agrofuels, for instance),
therefore decreasing the physical indicators will decrease GDP.

31. Conclusions: 3. Degrowth to
repoliticize
The originality of degrowth:
Its power to articulate different sources, streams of thought and
strategies, bringing together a vast heterogeneous group of actors.
→ Degrowth to re-politicize our societies
The sources, strategies or political proposals it puts forward are often
not new, but their juxtaposition and combination is innovative and
coherent.

32. Conclusions: 4. Diversity in
complementarity
Compatibility and complementarity of different sources and
strategies.
1) They do not necessarily dismiss each other and can rather be
combined if we take a longer time horizon.
2) Second, the diversity maintains a sort of tension which
stimulates constructive debates and exchanges, an incentive
for continuous improvements.
Focusing on one aspect only brings failure as each approach and
solution alone is incomplete.

33. Conclusion: 5. What is Degrowth?
- Activist slogan
- Interpretative frame of a new social movement
- Concept (activist-led science)

34. Conclusione: 5. Una definizione di
decrescita
Decrescita socialmente sostenibile é
una riduzione volontaria della produzione e del consumo
per migliorare le condizioni ecologiche,
per ridurre la pressione sulle risorse e sugli ecosistemi,
per consentire una vita semplice e per migliorare il
benessere umano,
per le relazioni che non sono basati sul mercato,
per più democrazia,
per la giustizia sociale.

35. Conclusion: 5. Definition of
degrowth
Socially sustainable degrowth is
a voluntary societal downscaling of production and
consumption to enhance ecological conditions,
to allow simple life and improve human well-being,
for relations that are not market-based,
for more democracy,
to reduce the pressure on resources and sinks,
for social justice and cooperation.

36. Thank you!
fede@degrowth.net