Multiple Sources,
Dimensions, and Strategies of Degrowth
François Schneider Research & Degrowth ICTA, UAB www.degrowth.net
Second international conference on Economic Degrowth for Sustainability and EquityPlenary session, Barcelona, 27 March 2010, www.degrowth.eu
Outline
1-
What is degrowth?2-
Why degrowth? The multiple Sources.
3- Rebound Effect – Jevons Paradox4-
What grows/degrows? The multiple Dimensions
5-
How to degrow? For the process of transformation: the multiple Strategies.
What is degrowth?
A democratic collective decision, a project with the ambition of voluntarily getting closer to ecological sustainability and socio-environmental justice worldwide.
Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 511–51
It means LESS
Clarifications for SustainableDegrowth
The first degrowth: degrowth of inequityProcess of transformationLower actual and potential consumption and productionDiverse : generalisable but unique lifestylesPersonal and collective at
local and global levels
Deeper democracyNOT a universal conceptAvoiding crisesTransition to multi-dimentional mildly-fluctuating
sustainable stateTaking account of global consequencesInnovative (frugal innovation)
These concepts do not deal with limits to growth
Green growthGreen new dealSustainable developmentTechnical progressCleaner productionIndustrial ecologySustainable consumptionHigher quality of lifeImprovement of well-being
Conference objectives
Get out of the schizophrenia between the green/social discourse and the growth policiesGet into concrete propositions on the political and personal level
Different Degrowth Sourcesa-
Culturalism: Challenge to profit making, development and uniformity. Latouche, Rist, Caillé etc.
b-
Meaning of life: Bringing meaning in our relation to the world. Thoreau, Gandhi, Rabhi etc.
c-
Democracy: Degrowth for democratization.
Illich, Fotopoulos, Cheynet etc
d- Bioeconomy: Degrowth of exploitation of natural ressources, Smith-Bleek, Georgescu-Roegen etc.
e-
Ecology: Defense of ecosystems.
Odum, etc... f- Egalitarism: Degrowth of inequality & exploitation of
other humans. Kempf, Sachs, Ariès etc.Source: inspired from Flipo
Innovations
We can travel further
Reduced fuel costs
More fuel efficient cars
Rebound
Efficiency gain
Savings can be reallocated to
more production or consumption
Reduced costs
Efficiency
Rebound effect
En 1760
En 1910
for 1kwh
for 1kwh
Energy efficiency reducesCoal consumption?
William Stanley JEVONS in 1865
“The very contrary is the truth”
From 1760 to 1910: production of energy from coal increase by a factor 2000.
Increase of production was made possibly by the increase of the multidimensional capacity to exploit coal
From 1760 to 1910: consumption of coal per kwh reduce by a factor 50
In 1760 energy production from coal is limited by prohibitive costs.
Source: Victor
The reduction of exploitation of natural resources and humans needs: Degrowth of the capacities to exploit them
What should degrow?
Rebound Strategies
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Limits
to production and consumption are reached
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Rebound Strategies
is about developing Innovations that suppress limits to production and consumption
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Rebound effect: product (or service) innovation enables us to increase our production/consumption.
= Productivist
Innovation
Rebound strategies
Technological efficiencyLabor productivityExtractive efficiencyInfrastructure optimizationInformation efficiencyEfficiency in fulfilling needsDeregulation
Growth policy
Growth policy
relax collective limits to production and consumption
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Limits
to consumption and production are reached € € €
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Growth policies Increase liquidities, grant rights to make money to banks, capital flow, export policies; reduce value of natural resources or person workIncrease working hours, later retirement, overwork, sunday/night work, suppress speed limits, longer opening hours...New mining areas, new resources, subsidies to extraction, ...More roads, airport, industry, internet, urbanisation...Barriers to mutualisation, less property free...DeregulationAdvertising, rebound unawareness, externalising…Fiscal paradises, bank secrets..
Capacity to exploitMoney
InfrastructuresAccess to Natural Resources
Unawareness
Unsatisfied needs
Inequality
Time
Deregulation
Dimensions of the capacity to exploit
HumanInstitutions
Resourceflows
WG 5 work-sharingReducing time to exploit
Ceiling to Ressourceuse
Leaving some resources
in the environment
WG 8-10-16-17-22
Reducing total infrastructure capacity
WG 6 InfrastructureWG 9 Waste
WG14 MetabolismWG15 Cities
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Reducing monetary capacity to exploit
WG 1 MoneyWG 2 Finances
Against deregulation
Social rights, ecological and quality standards
WG 3 SocialEconomy
Degrowth ofNon sharing WG 4 Property
WG 11 Sharing
Advertising break WG 7
Degrowth of inequalities
WG 12 basic income; ceiling on income
How to degrow
The process of transformation
Degrowth is about collectively reducing the space we take to leave space for everybody
Sharing: - with the world (voluntary simplicity) - with our peers (joint use)
Sharing
We need open localisation:- connection with the diversity in all places- reducing distance between production and consumption
Closedness noCloseness si
Open-localism
Convergence of strategies
2-
Alter-growthVoluntary
simplicity and
frugal innovations
1-
Anti-growth:
oppositiona-
Civil disobedience to banks
b-
Clown actionc-
Anti-nano action; Anti-adverts action
d-
Blocking of mining sitee-
Opposition to mega-projects
f-
Landless demonstration in India
4-
De-growthPolitical actions for the change of institutionsa-
Promotion of gift economy
b-
Engaged artistsc-
Deepening democracy: more direct and
participative d-
Leaving more resources in/on the ground
e-
Radical ecologyf-
For redistribution
5-
No-growth: actions for
steady state of institutionsa-
Political struggle to maintain non-
market relationsb-
Conservation of art tradition
c-
Defense of democratic institutionsd-
Conservation of resources
e-
Defense of ecosystemsf-
Defense of equality rights
3-
A-growth: Against “growth religion”Theorisation & VulgarisationDegrowth work in science and arts
Degrowth directionLess and different in the Global North;More and different in the Global South.
Less urbanised areas;More natural areas preserved.
Less useless products,Less waste and incineration;More reuse and composting.
Less urban space; More cohousing. Less cars, trucks, planes, roads, airports;
More bicycles and public transport.Less speed and distance; more (open) relocation
More “face to face”
meeting; less “screen to screen”
Less supermarketsLess tourism; more travel, local, long & slow. Less industrial agriculture; more organic & vegan. Less fossil and nuclear energy; more renewable
energy. Less explosives, buldozers and other “extractors”Less advertizing; more independent information(...)
Degrowth direction
degrowthpedia.orgwww.decroissance.orgactu.adoc-france.org/www.objecteursdecroissance.be/www.decroissance.infowww.degrowth.euwww.apres-developpement.orgwww.ladecroissance.net/www.simplicitevolontaire.org/www.decreixement.net/www.decrescita.it/www.decrescitafelice.it/www.decroissance.chtransitionculture.org/www.simpleliving.org/www.downshiftingweek.com/www.entropia-la-revue.orgwww.r-m-o-c.net/www.Europe-Decroissance.euwww.degrowth.ch/bretagnedecroissance.fr/wachstumsruecknahme.qsdf.org/www.deshazkundea.org/
www.degrowth.net
Degrowth innovation and policies
Let us allow ourselves to seek solutions to
economic/social/ecological crises in the context of reduction of
capacity to exploit natural resources and humans