Beyond Growth: Rethinking Development and Sustainability
1. Degrowth
- Rejects economic growth as a development goal, advocates using fewer natural resources.
- Emphasizes well-being over profit, challenging the idea that growth = progress.
- Coined by André Gorz in 1977: "Economic growth is not physically sustainable."
- Based on 3 key ideas:
- Abolish economic growth: Shift to simpler living, reduce consumption and production.
- More growth ≠ more happiness: Growth often causes stress, pollution, inequality.
- Earth’s limits: Infinite growth contradicts our finite planet’s resource base.
Case study
Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelona has embraced urban degrowth principles through policies that limit car use, promote cycling and public transport, and encourage local economies.
- The "Superblocks" initiative reallocates road space to pedestrians, reducing pollution and consumption, and enhancing community wellbeing, prioritizing quality of life over economic expansion.
2. Social Metabolism
- Compares society to biological systems, continuous input/output of resources.
- Degrowth aims to reduce this throughput, restructuring how societies function.
Note
- Industrial vs. Agrarian Economies
- An industrial economy like the United States has a high social metabolism, consuming vast amounts of energy and raw materials to sustain infrastructure, buildings, and consumer lifestyles.
- In contrast, agrarian communities in parts of sub-Saharan Africa exhibit a lower social metabolism due to smaller-scale production and lower resource throughput.
3. Decoupling
- Relative decoupling: Efficiency improves, but overall resource use still grows.
- Absolute decoupling: True sustainability, resource use and emissions fall absolutely.
- Degrowth advocates say only absolute decoupling is truly sustainable.
Case study
Absolute Decoupling: Denmark’s Energy Policy
- Denmark has managed to reduce absolute energy consumption and carbon emissions
- While maintaining economic growth through investment in renewables like wind energy
- An example of absolute decoupling where both per-unit and total resource use decline.
4. Regenerative Development
- Critiques sustainable development as too limited, maintains status quo.
- Advocates increasing capacity for future growth, not just maintaining current levels.
- Medard Gabel: Sustainable development is “not good enough”, we need better, resilient systems.
Case study
Regenerative Agriculture in Sikkim, India
- Sikkim became the first fully organic state in India. Its practices, like composting, crop rotation, and avoiding chemical inputs, restore soil health, boost biodiversity, and improve long-term food security.
- This goes beyond sustainability by enhancing the land's capacity to support future generations.
Note
- Linked to technology: New tools can help increase regeneration capacity.
Self review
- How does degrowth theory challenge traditional models of economic development?
- In what ways is regenerative development different from sustainable development?
- What are the main criticisms of infinite economic growth according to degrowth theorists?
Theory of Knowledge
- To what extent can development be measured objectively?
- Consider the role of cultural values and subjective experiences in shaping our understanding of progress.
