Degrowth is a common name, which stands for a way of thinking, a societal project, and a political movement. It is a common name and this is why we make sure to write it with a capital “D”.
We named it the Degrowth movement, because it proposes to exit Growth society.
We believe that growth society is at the origin of the multi-dimentional crisis “humanity is experiencing”:
environmental collapse (climate change, biodiversity crisis, depletion of resources, change in environments
social crisis (increase in inequalities, debt crisis and crisis of the financial system) political and democratic crisis (disaffection and downfall of democracy) crisis at the individual level (loss of meaning, the unravelling of social interactions)
Growth society is neither sustainable, nor desirable; we must get out of it. This is what Degrowth means: constructing together new desirable and sustainable societal projects
More connections, less goods!
Degrowth cannot be measured in quantitative indexes. It would be as absurd to build a society around a growth of the GDP as it has been built. It is not a matter of increasing or decreasing economic indexes. This is why we talk about ‘a-growth”, we must simply abandon the religion of Growth.
Over the last few years, Growth Objectors have been careful to explain clearly what degrowth is and what it is not. To attribute to Degrowth a “return to candlelight”, degrowth of everything for everyone (specially for the ‘developing countries), together with the notion of quantification, Malthusianism, and every other caricatures, amounts to bad faith and we have not ceased to denounce it.
It is often mentioned that one must support the growth in well-being, of trees, children, love, etc: it is because the term as the power to interrogate in each of us, in our imaginary, the links we have established between the “ living well and well-being, and the “evermore”, “one must be positive”: as in the advert.
It is because it has a strong impact on the minds, it chocks, it unsettles the souls….,that we use the term Degrowth. It is an “ambiguous word”, which allows us to demolish the absurd ideology of growth for growth sake, and to decolonise our imaginary.
We need a term on par with the damage caused by the dominant thinking and the commodification of the world….
“ Living more simply so that others can simply live.”
Nevertheless we are aware of the “off-putting’ aspect of the term for the uninitiated. This is why we call ourselves: “ Growth Objectors”, and that, according to our detractors we are defending “Objection to Growth” rather than Degrowth, which only represents part of our endeavour.
That said, the term Degrowth is a formidable tool to undermine the bases of the growth society; capitalism and productivism, in order to open wide the debate on how to embark on an alternative path to avoid crashing into the wall which is looming closer, courtesy of the growth society.
Therefore, we go forward with our battery of ambiguous words: degrowth, anti-capilalism, anti-productivism, anti-consumerism.
But we always go forward with our main action terms: UAA (Unconditional Autonomy Allowance), maximum income ceiling, free usage and overcharge of misuse, relocalisation, slowing down, care of the other, autonomy, solidarity, serenity, conviviality and zest for life.
An infinite growth in a finite world is an absurdity!
