Prospects for Degrowth: the story so far.
by Anna Gregoletto and Mark H Burton1
In the series _Prospects for Degrowth_
_pdf version of the article_
## **Overviews of the current conjuncture – openings and risks**
We opened the series with Mark’s stock take _,___Prospects for Degrowth 2025__ of the current situation of polycrisis2, which presents a multitude of challenges but also opportunities for degrowth horizons to flourish. He offered a system diagram, showing how a number of factors interact to shape the current global conjuncture in relation to the goals of degrowth. These factors were,
* Collapsing planetary and ecological systems in the face of insignificant mitigation and excessive material flows.
* The internal and external limits of capitalist expansion.
* Bankruptcy of political leadership.
* Renewed growthism – backtracking on environmental and social protection.
* Geopolitical conflict and population displacement.
* Right populism, fascism and racist movements.
Mark went on to argue that despite this depressing picture, there are some openings for the degrowth movement to influence and create an alternative future:
* Disenchantment of sections of the left and centre-left.
* Popular resistance to mega-projects, fossil fuel expansion and other extractivism, data centres, green space erosion.
* Interest in demonstration projects and degrowth-friendly alternatives.
* Anti-fascist resistance and solidarity movements.
He proposed that following a multi-level strategy, the degrowth movement, despite its small size, could be key in building an effective counter-hegemony, an alternative ‘good sense’ of the kind of world we want and need, and how we can struggle together to get it. As he noted,
_“We do not expect to win but we cannot afford to lose. Our approach will be collective not individual, caring, sharing and resisting, while always showing the way along the alternative degrowth pathway that we will be constructing as we go. Or at the very least, helping prepare for a ‘better collapse.”_
Following Mark’s opening gambit, Vincent Liegey offered another analysis on the current conjuncture and what that means for degrowth in ‘ __Nothing surprises me__ ’. Drawing a caricature of the growthist, capitalist, neocolonial paradigm, Vincent offered an analysis of the polycrisis not dissimilar to Mark’s, commenting on how the extreme degree of the current system’s corruption can represent a paradoxical opportunity for anti-systemic efforts:
“ _It forces all those, who are truly sincere in their progressive and emancipatory aspirations, and in their understanding of ecological reality, to stop kidding themselves.”_
As the message ‘no infinite growth in a finite planet’ becomes ever more intuitive, it is clear that no solution would be complete without being anchored on the imperative of social justice and radical democratic participation. In this way, Vincent offers us a powerful warning that not all anti-systemic efforts (or not all those that claim that label, at least) will be able or willing to provide such a solution. He brings the example of illiberal Hungary, his country of residence, which has acted as a test bed for the authoritarian and nationalistic politics and policies that are now becoming more mainstream in multiple locations. In an echo of one of the originators of the degrowth concept, Castoriadis, he concludes the article by posing the dichotomy of _degrowth vs barbarism_.
Mladen’s piece, __Stories of expanded solidarity: the personal and the political in the degrowth perspective from the European periphery__ _,_ self described as a ___“semiperipheral recipe for meaningful degrowth prospects in the present conjuncture”,_ had its origins in the same discussion that Mark’s and Vincent’s pieces grew out of. However, in his case he was frustrated by,__
“ _… the tacit assumption that the material juggernaut of the human socio-economic activity entangled with the raging climate transformation and living world die-off will simply keep spinning for the foreseeable future. We seemed to be discussing micro-politics, whilst it seemed to me we had been ignoring the proverbial elephant – or their imminent heart attack. That is, we were engaged with the daily tactical choices, worrying about greater representation in institutional structure, as well as our daily navigation through social structures.”_
Mladen found hope, or at least a semblance of it, through two examples. Firstly, the 1920s Zagreb activist August Cesarec, a Marxist who, acknowledging anarchist and utopian sensibilities, drew on the natural world with concepts such as ‘sensible organizing and solidarity’ and ‘general principles of justice’, in the attempt to build a narrative that made sense for those from his semi-peripheral context. Mladen suggests that in a similar way, we might draw on a broad understanding of life in the natural world, its _“biophysical trends and their aggregate effect on us, each only a few degrees of separation from the weather extremes, the food failures, and other interacting lifeforms”_ to paint _“the bigger picture of what is and can be done”._
Secondly, he draws inspiration from the 1970s Limits to Growth debates in the context of self management in socialist Yugoslavia. While “ _the growthers won”_ , o _ne of the lessons was the organisational power of the ‘one world’ perspective … a genuinely one-world perspective in which the resources, benefits and human commitment are all limited and require deliberation over distribution. A willingness to share radically, to see and understand the other, and to fully accept the collapsing world narrative.“_3
Ultimately, Mladen finds inspiration in the collective effort to tell a better story of what might be, or at least how, taking the beautiful and powerful forces of nature very seriously, we might live through a better collapse4. As he says, quoting Oxana Lupatina5, imagining the end of capitalism, or the end of the world, is different in the global periphery and semi-periphery, than in the still (but for how long) dominating world cities.
Words of warning came also from Aurora Despierta’s piece, ‘ __Degrowth: a dead end or the way out? Capital’s future scam__ ’, in which she outlines the worrying possibility of the ruling class appropriating degrowth discourse: “We cannot pin our hopes on the collapse of capitalism”. Her analysis is reminiscent of Nancy Fraser’s _Cannibal Capitalism_ _6_ , since Aurora also understands capitalism as an essentially cannibalistic, illogical, brutal system. In the physical impossibility of further economic growth, the system would find something else to cannibalise on. Hence, we need to insist on “an anti-capitalist and voluntary degrowth”.
The last article of the series examined very current developments in Left British politics and what they might mean for degrowth. In __As UK politics turns both right and left, how do we get degrowth onto the agenda?__ , Mark offers a nuanced critique of the left turn of the Green party, with the election of Zack Polanski, and the slow and troubled creation of a new left party, provisionally named Your Party. Mark’s piece notes that, although both of these constitute positive developments for the Left, neither of them seems ready to confront the ecological reality of overshoot that we all live in, together with the necessity to equitably but urgently downscale our economies. Certainly, Your Party is not a fully formed organisation and there is no political programme critique just yet. However, given the latest leadership spats and internal divisions, questions arise as to whether it will ever be.
## **The degrowth movement – critique and defence******(Ted, Manuel, Mark)
The previous pieces, more focused on creating a concrete understanding of the conditions in which we’re operating, were accompanied by other articles that confronted the question of what, as degrowthers, we should be doing in order to face these circumstances. Ted Trainer’s ‘ __Friendly Critique of Degrowth__ ’ led to a three-way exchange. Ted’s critiques of the movement include the following key points: degrowth has to be just about reducing consumption, the rest is the movement is losing focus on the imperative to change lifestyles over everything else (turning to his proposed ‘Simpler Way’) he criticised the focus on the State in favour of a consciousness raising strategy to create prefigurative spaces.
Perhaps as a result of their respective European standpoints, both Manuel and Mark had difficulty in recognising Ted’s portrayal of the degrowth movement – their experience is clearly different from his. _Manuel’s_ __Reply__ brought attention to the existing literature, particularly Spanish and French literature, to which we might add some English- speaking authors, such as Jason Hickel, which does recognise the need to (qualitatively) reduce consumption and rejects capitalism. Manuel’s piece also highlighted the compatibility between anarchist visions, like the Simpler Way, and the broader degrowth movement, advocating for a ‘dual strategy’, combining bottom-up and top-down strategies.
Following Manuel’s, Mark’s reply, __Degrowth, the Movement, the State, Socialism and Marx__**,** noted that, insofar as degrowth activists focus on government and its institutions, this can be seen in terms of non-reformist demands waged both within and outside a State that is always a terrain of contestation. The dichotomy of top-down and bottom-up is a simplification, and like Manuel he advocated a combination of strategies. In response to Ted’s disparaging comments about socialism and Marxism, he argues that Marxism is not inherently productivist, despite there having been a strong productivist strand in that tradition, a claim also shared by Anna’s later article.
## **Aspects of and approaches to degrowth** (Graham, Eva, Richard, Anna)
This discussion also sparked reflections on other aspects of degrowth. Eva Martinez’s __Proposals for Degrowth__ built on this exchange adding a critical perspective of lived experience on living in intentional communities and of other interstitial approaches. Eva says, _“communities are in danger of becoming a hideaway for members to escape conditions of mainstream society”._ Her piece also interrogates the uncomfortable question of the privileges of the Simpler Life. In other words, who can actually afford to lead that kind of intentional life? Eva concludes her piece by urging those living in intentional communities to engage with organising efforts in their localities, or in urban neighbouring spaces, to re-politicise their lifestyles.
Anna’s piece, __Degrowth as an Essential Part of an Eco-Socialist Transition__ _,_ echoing Manuel’s concept of dual strategy, investigated and affirmed the need for a State strategy, as part and parcel of ecosocialist degrowth, in conjunction with more local and non-State strategies. There is an echo of this in a recent interview with Jason Hickel, who argued that degrowth _is_ a socialist trajectory, but one that needs a mass class-based movement to take on the vested interests that govern the State under late capitalism7. Anna sets out the advantages of engaging with the State, while being clear that at present it protects the interests of capital. She also argues that there is a need for a revolutionary (and ecosocialist) political force, built painstakingly from the various strands of the left – a daunting task indeed.
Richard Muscat’s __Creatively disrupting capitalism__ traces the genesis of a degrowth activist in the making,rom the privileges of what we might call an ecomodernist lifestyle as a worker in climate tech, to the uncomfortable realisation of the reality of ecological collapse and its entanglements with the capitalist-imperialist system, to his experience as an activist and advocate for degrowth, led Richard to offer some suggestions to the movement. One of his recommendations is simplifying the way that we share our theories to become more accessible to ‘regular people’, in favour of which Richard proposes the need for even more anti-capitalist, degrowth ‘instruction manuals’. Richard ends his article by returning to the creativity he mentioned in the title, the very antithesis of capitalism.
Creativity is the centre of Graham Janz’s piece, __Familiarizing degrowth: art and grounded communities__ _,_ is a prefigurative exploration of the problematic of how to anchor degrowth in communities, and, more boldly, how to transform degrowth ideas from academic niches to wildly popular discourse. Put more simply, how to ‘familiarise’ them. The answer for Graham lies in the arts. Graham imagines ways of picturing glimpses of post-growth living through the visual arts while at the same time pushing for the creation of community spaces that enable degrowth lifestyles and democratic participation to flourish.
In __Th__ __e Macavity of Degrowth – Waste, the Empire that isn’t there…__ , Jon Cloke gets specific about the material dimension of growth and degrowth, focusing on the neglected global problem of waste. The accelerating scale of all kinds of waste is truly incredible and as Jon notes, this presents a series of problems for even imagining a degrowth future, although only degrowth will address the issue:
_Before any practical degrowth policies can be implemented, the fundamental reality of growth and increase have to be challenged as concepts and policies at the very root. But this devious, diabolical ‘reality’ is cunning, greedy and has more disguises than can be imagined – the most important of which are that growth and increase are invisible, unstoppable, inevitable and that terminating them is outside human reality._
## Conclusion: Thinking of Silences and Further Prospects
We conclude this appraisal by pointing out some areas of silence in the series, as well as areas that present further prospects for degrowth thinkers and activists.
The first of two major silences we identify is on degrowth and decolonisation. While anti-imperialist commitment was mentioned in a couple of the pieces, no article centred on the relationship between the two. It is possible that this reflects a general silence within the degrowth literature. However there are some notable exceptions8. At the recent _Oslo conference_ , there was a ‘degrowth and delinking tent’, with discussions and events organised around _Samir Amin’s concept of delinking_ from the global economic system. This was not a theme of the conference but nevertheless acted as a contemporaneous commentary and critique.
The second absence within the series has been gender, feminism and queer perspectives to degrowth. The relationship of feminist thinking, economics and ecology has added an important perspective to the degrowth scholarship in recent years through the work of theorists like Stefania Barca and networks like FaDA. This is a topic on which we invite contributions for future articles in the series or stand alone articles.
The final prospect, unfolding at the time we’re writing this closing piece, is captured by two developments for us in the UK. Firstly, the launch of a new Left party (provisionally called ‘Your Party’) by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, and secondly the apparent leftward and social movement orientated shift in the Green Party’s leadership team. Do these developments have the potential of shifting the prospects outlined for degrowth in this series so far? Is there a serious prospect that either force, or an alliance of the two, will take the degrowth agenda seriously? As Mark _explored, in the piece noted above_ , the Green Party of England and Wales tends to downplay their position against growth, and Your Party has hardly mentioned the climate and ecological crises so far. Against this, in the UK and internationally, there is an extremely worrying turn to xenophobia and outright fascism, together with moves to curtail even the inadequate policies in place for environmental and climate protection. _Malign and dangerous forces are in play_ and they are the sworn enemies of degrowth. As we write this, we hear that the Tory Party too has now broken with the already grossly inadequate consensus of the mainstream parties on decarbonisation targets. Dangerous times indeed.
What our series shows is that despite the storm clouds, there is a lively and pluralistic degrowth movement waiting in the wings, with a life-belt to hand, since it is degrowth that is the only hope for a viable future.
### Notes
1 Anna and Mark are the coordinators of the website, _Degrowth UK._
2 Mark prefers the term ‘pancrisis’ since we are faced with an all-embracing crisis with multiple dimensions and ramifications. That crisis is the crisis of capitalism’s endless, growth-demanding destruction of people and planet.
3 See T Hirvilammi, Tuuli, et al. _Towards a Postgrowth Policy Paradigm. Report on the Theoretical Framework on Sustainable Wellbeing and Transformation_. Zenodo, _https://zenodo.org/records/14899252/files/D1.1%20Towards%20a%20postgrowth%20policy%20paradigm.%20Report%20on%20the%20theoretical%20framework%20on%20sustainable%20wellbeing%20and%20transformation%20.pdf?download=1_ section 4.2.
4 Burton , M. _Prospects for Degrowth 2025_
5 Lopatina, Oxana. “Where Is Hope?” _Postgrowth Futures: New Voices, Novel Visions_ , edited by Vedran Horvat and Lana Pukanić, IPE, 2025, pp. 13–18. https://gef.eu/publication/post-growth-futures-new-voices-novel-visions/
6 https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2685-cannibal-capitalism
7 _https://breakdownjournal.substack.com/p/interview-with-jason-hickel-degrowth-a84_
See also this response to Jason Hickel: _https://degrowth.info/en/blog/debating-degrowth-a-response-to-jason-hickel_ We plan to pick up this debate with our own response later.
8 Some degrowth thinkers have, moreover, emphasised the extractive colonial nature of the capitalist, growthist, accumulation model. Based in the Global North, examples include Joan Martínez Alier, Ulrich Brand, and Jason Hickel, while in the Global South, Ashish Kotari, Vandana Shiva, Alberto Acosta, Max Ajl, and Maristella Svampa are degrowth-aligned thinkers among many others.
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