Post-growth explained

Post-growth is a stance on economic growth concerning the limits-to-growth dilemma[1] — recognition that, on a planet of finite material resources, extractive economies and populations cannot grow infinitely.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The term "post-growth" acknowledges that economic growth can generate beneficial effects up to a point, but beyond that point (cited as $25,000 GDP/capita by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in their book The Spirit Level) it is necessary to look for other indicators and techniques to increase human wellbeing.[8]

Post-growth can be distinguished from similar concepts and movements (such as degrowth and steady-state economy) in that it seeks to identify and build on what is already working, rather than focusing on what is not. Post-growth advocates try to encourage, connect and further develop already existing ideas, concepts, technologies, systems, initiatives, and actions. In this way, "post-growth" does not specify the answer to the limits-to-growth challenge, as "steady state economics" and "degrowth" attempt to do, but rather, seeks to understand and address this challenge from an evolving complex systems perspective. With this perspective, post-growth deals with all aspects of self and society (such as psychology, human nature, human evolution, cultures, social systems and economies) and the interrelation of all of these aspects. Accordingly, the post-growth concept also advocates solutions that are appropriate with regards to place, time, resource and cultural factors. Therefore, post-growth initiatives take shape in very different ways under different circumstances.[9]

Post-growth can be considered an asset-based approach to community development — applied not only to community development but across a wide range of categories — in response to limits-to-growth challenges, as it seeks to identify and build on cultural and technological assets to facilitate the emergence of post-growth futures. In his landmark work Prosperity Without Growth (Routledge, 2017), the economist Tim Jackson demonstrates that building a ‘post-growth’ economy is indeed a "precise, definable and meaningful task". Starting from clear first principles, he sets out the dimensions of that task: the nature of enterprise; the quality of our working lives; the structure of investment; and the role of the money supply.[10] [11] [12]

Foundational points

The foundational points that connect "post-growth" perspectives are:

Post-growth initiatives

A main concept present in the post-growth movement is that there is not one post-growth future, but a diverse range of post-growth futures that can unfold simultaneously.

There is an increasing number of post-growth-oriented initiatives that are emerging in order to create prosperity in locally resilient, self-sufficient ways. Often these initiatives have come about as a response to sustainability issues. One example of a post-growth initiative is the Transition Movement, which seeks to create local resiliency in the context of peak oil and climate change (Transition Network). Voluntary simplicity (also known as simple living) and downshifting are also growing trends that can be considered post-growth. Tiny homes, ecovillages, and Quakers are good examples of how voluntary simplicity can be put into practice (see the Testimony of Simplicity). Post-growth ideas and actions are gaining international attention in the mainstream media, as The Guardian and Treehugger both featured articles about the post-growth movement in 2012.[13]

Free Money Day is an annual, global post-growth event, in which people give away money to strangers as a way of sparking dialogues and critical thinking about money, peoples' relationships with money, and the value of economics based on sharing.[14]

In 2012, the Post Growth Institute released the (En)Rich List, a parody of the Forbes List of Billionaires that aimed to highlight influential post-growth thinkers “whose collective contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures”.[15]

Cosmopolitan localism or cosmolocalism has been proposed as a structural framework for post-growth technology. It organises production by prioritising socio-ecological well-being over corporate profits, over-production and excess consumption.[16]

German post-growth theory

The German economist Niko Paech analysed current problems and possible solutions in his publications since 2005.[17]

Paech sketches four reasons for and five steps to implement his theory.

Reasons:

  1. there is no empirical or theoretical reason to disconnect economical growth via markets and money from mankind exterminating risks caused by ecological destruction such as the climate crisis[18]
  2. after achieving a certain level of income there is no further improvement of happiness achieving more monetary income [19]
  3. the "imperative logic of growth", decreasing hunger, poverty(trend of global improvement interrupted in 2020[20]) and economical inequality[21] [22] by further economical growth is ambivalent[23]
  4. economical growth has economical limits like "peak oil". High demand for certain resources limits production capabilities. Highest demands in nations like China or India increases costs for resources that have been essential for growth so far[24]

Implementation :

  1. decluttering and deceleration: it is pure economical logic to get rid of unnecessary goods and gadgets, claiming time, money, space and ecological resources providing little use. Individuals and society shall be liberated from unnecessary "goods"
  2. balance out self and external supply. Dependence on external growth based economy supplies is at risk since interdependencies cause fragility (e.g.European dependence on Russian petrol/gas[25] till the Russian invasion of Ukraine, global dependence on Ukrainian grain[26] [27]). The longer the supply chains are the more fragile and less resilient they are in crisis. Stability is given by short distances between Production and consumption. There is a need for reactivation of basic skills such as gardening and repair satisfying basic needs without using monetary based, international dependent markets. Restructuring self- and foreign provided support should reduce money and growth dependency. Subsistence, community gardening, exchange rings, common use of land and tools are practical approaches for de-globalisation.
  3. regional economics would decrease risks such as climate change(or the impact of global events like the Ukraine war on energy prices) since there is less need for individual mobility and transportation of goods.[28] It should be supported by regional currencies keeping purchasing power in the region while using the advantages of monetary based economies, avoiding the risks of monetary integration in global markets. Concepts like Community supported agriculture allow the consumers participation in the production and distribution of supplies while sharing the risks of farming while creating more biological awareness, making consumers prosumers.
  4. Goods that can not be avoided, such as high-technology like medical equipment, computers and agricultural tools and vehicles shall be limited in production, shared, repaired and used as long and intensive as possible making overproduction and scrapping unnecessary.
  5. Institutional innovations: soil and monetary reforms, implementing local currencies equipped with interest free circulation safety. Environmental exposure limited by universal usage rights for each prosumer oriented on the planets capabilities to deal with pollution and carbon dioxide (Paech estimates 2-3 tonnes of /capita).[29]

Related organizations

There are many organizations worldwide that are dealing explicitly with ideas about how to move beyond the growth-centered paradigm. These include: the Post Growth Institute; the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy; the Center for a New American Dream; Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP),[30] the Postgrowth Economics Network, Post Growth Guide, the Danish Degrowth Network; Degrowth Vancouver; the Donella Meadows Institute; Feasta: The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, Growthbusters; Gund Institute for Ecological Economics; the Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society; the International Society for Ecological Economics; Mouvement Quebecois pour une Decroissance Conviviale; New Economics Foundation; New Economics Institute; the Population Institute; Population Media Center; the Post Carbon Institute; Research and Degrowth; the Simplicity Institute; the Transition Culture (Transition Towns); the P2P Lab; The Zeitgeist Movement;[31] and Via Campesina.[32]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Post Growth Institute. Post Growth Institute homepage. Post Growth Institute.
  2. Blühdorn . Ingolfur . Post-capitalism, post-growth, post-consumerism? Eco-political hopes beyond sustainability . Global Discourse . 2017 . 7 . 1 . 42–61 . 10.1080/23269995.2017.1300415 . free.
  3. Paulson . Lily . Büchs . Milena . Public acceptance of post-growth: Factors and implications for post-growth strategy . . 2022 . 143 . 103020 . 10.1016/j.futures.2022.103020 . free.
  4. Book: Daly, Herman. Beyond Growth: the economics of sustainable development . registration. 1996. Beacon Press. Washington D.C.. 9780807047088. 37.
  5. Book: Jackson, Tim. Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet. 2009. Sustainable Development Commission. 9781844078943. 3–11.
  6. Crownshaw . Timothy . Morgan . Caitlin . Adams . Alison . Sers . Martin . Britto dos Santos . Natália . Damiano . Alice . Gilbert . Laura . Yahya Haage . Gabriel . Horen Greenford . Daniel . Over the horizon: Exploring the conditions of a post-growth world . The Anthropocene Review . 2019 . 6 . 1-2 . 117–141 . 10.1177/2053019618820350 . free.
  7. van Woerden . Winne Fleur . van de Pas . Remco . Curtain . Joel . Post-growth economics: a must for planetary health justice . . 2023 . 19 . 1 . 55 . 10.1186/s12992-023-00957-2 . free. 10410890 .
  8. Book: Wilkinson, Richard. The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. 2010. Penguin Books. London. 9781846140396. 8. Kate Pickett.
  9. News: Maclurcan. Donnie. Post Growth Futures Are Already Here. 2 April 2013. Treehugger. 9 July 2012. June 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190620113913/http://www.treehugger.com/economics/post-growth-futures-are-already-here.html.
  10. Web site: Prosperity Without Growth. Rutledge. 11 June 2017.
  11. Web site: How to kick the growth addiction. Great Transition Initiative. https://web.archive.org/web/20170425062830/http://www.greattransition.org/publication/how%2Dto%2Dkick%2Dthe%2Dgrowth%2Daddiction. 2017-04-25. dead. 11 June 2017.
  12. Jackson . Tim . The Post-growth Challenge: Secular Stagnation, Inequality and the Limits to Growth . . 2019 . 156 . 236–246 . 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.10.010.
  13. News: Jacobs. Sherelle. Sherelle Jacobs. Germany's 'post growth' movement. 6 January 2014. The Guardian. 19 September 2012.
  14. News: New. Catherine. Free Money Day: On Lehman Brothers' Death Anniversary, Activists Pay It Forward. 2 April 2013. Huffington Post. 14 September 2012.
  15. Web site: Post Growth Institute. The (En)Rich List. The (En)Rich List. 2 April 2013.
  16. Kostakis. Vasilis. Niaros. Vasilis. Giotitsas. Chris. 2023-06-30. Beyond global versus local: illuminating a cosmolocal framework for convivial technology development. Sustainability Science. en. 10.1007/s11625-023-01378-1. 1937-0709. free.
  17. Web site: 2005 . Nachhaltigkeit zwischen ökologischer Konsistenz und Dematerialisierung: Hat sich die Wachstumsfrage erledigt? umweltethik.at . 2023-07-26 . de-DE.
  18. News: Carrington . Damian . 2022-08-01 . Climate endgame: risk of human extinction ‘dangerously underexplored’ . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-07-26 . 0261-3077.
  19. Frey . Bruno S. . Stutzer . Alois . June 2009 . Glück: Die ökonomische Analyse (Happiness: The Economic Analysis) . Working paper series / Institute for Empirical Research in Economics . 417 . 10.5167/uzh-51869 . 1424-0459.
  20. Web site: Overview . 2023-07-26 . World Bank . en.
  21. Web site: Global Inequalities . 2023-07-26 . IMF . en.
  22. Web site: The World #InequalityReport 2022 presents the most up-to-date & complete data on inequality worldwide . 2023-07-26 . World Inequality Report 2022 . fr-FR.
  23. Web site: 2022-06-24 . Global food crisis World Food Programme . 2023-07-26 . www.wfp.org . en.
  24. Cahill . Ben . Mazzocco . Ilaria . Huang . Chen . 2023-02-08 . China Holds the Key to Global Energy Demand . en.
  25. Web site: Dependence on Russian gas by European country 2021 . 2023-07-26 . Statista . en.
  26. Web site: European Council . Council of the European Union . Ukrainian grain exports explained . 2023-07-26 . www.consilium.europa.eu.
  27. Web site: How will the end of the Ukraine grain deal hurt Africa? – DW – 07/19/2023 . 2023-07-26 . dw.com . en.
  28. Web site: Cars, planes, trains: where do emissions from transport come from? . 2023-07-26 . Our World in Data.
  29. Web site: Niko Paech: Grundzüge einer Postwachstumsökonomie (2009) – postwachstumsoekonomie.de . 2023-07-26 . de-DE.
  30. Web site: CUSP. Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity. 11 June 2017.
  31. Web site: The Zeitgeist Movement - FAQ. 4 June 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150529131609/http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/faq#faq1. 29 May 2015.
  32. Web site: Post Growth Institute. Forums and Groups. Post Growth Institute Website. 2 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130413125636/http://postgrowth.org/connect/forums-and-groups/. 13 April 2013. dead.

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