Degrowth - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138000779 ISBN 13: 9781138000773

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

Degrowth is a rejection of the illusion of growth and a call to repoliticize the public debate colonized by the idiom of economism. It is a project advocating the democratically-led shrinking of production and consumption with the aim of achieving social justice and ecological sustainability.

This overview of degrowth offers a comprehensive coverage of the main topics and major challenges of degrowth in a succinct, simple and accessible manner. In addition, it offers a set of keywords useful forintervening in current political debates and for bringing about concrete degrowth-inspired proposals at different levels - local, national and global.

The result is the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English and serves as the definitive international reference.

More information at: vocabulary.degrowth.org

View the author spotlight featuring events and press related to degrowth at http://t.co/k9qbQpyuYp.

About this title

About the Author

Giacomo D'Alisa is Research Fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

Federico Demaria is a PhD candidate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

Giorgios Kallis is Research Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

 The three editors are members of Research & Degrowth, www.degrowth.org

Review

‘One of the most thorough and insightful presentations and discussion of economic theory and practice in the field of de-growth economics, a revolutionary attempt to understand the economy as if humans and Nature matter.’ -- Manuel Castells, University of California, Berkeley, USA

‘At a time in history when political, economic and intellectual leaders assure us that nothing fundamental can any longer be questioned, nothing could be more important than the movement - of thought, and of action – that this volume on Degrowth represents. It raises the prospect of finally ejecting the twin demons of productivism and consumerism that are responsible for so many historical failures of the left as well as the right, and begins to set about the real work of imagining and building a society fit for human beings to live in.’ -- David Graeber, London School of Economics, UK.

‘The most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English ... the definitive international reference.’ -- Australian Quarterly

‘This book should be compulsory reading for all students everywhere. The authorities would be well advised to ban it. Perhaps, as in ‘Fahrenheit 451’, in the transition to degrowth global societies idealists will memorize some of these short and inspiring prose poems showing that another world is possible.’ -- Leslie Sklair, The British Journal of Sociology

‘Without question, the publication of this volume is a welcome addition to the literature on degrowth.’ -- Andrew J. Sutter, Ecological Economics

‘An essential resource to initiate the much needed debate for socio-ecological justice across the planet.’ -- Brototi Roy, Antipode

‘An invitation to think differently, imagine different futures, and desire differently.’ – Panos Petridis, International Development Planning Review

‘An indispensable point of reference to the politics of degrowth [which] offers a map to the world of alternatives to capitalisms.’ -- Silvia Federici, Hofstra University, USA.

‘A thought-provoking, wide-ranging, spirited, and deeply original analysis; this book is a must-read on degrowth debates.’ -- Karen Bakker, University of British Columbia, Canada.

‘Illuminates diverse concepts for clear thinking, provides new languages for political discourse, and outlines the many steps we can take to recreate our economy, our lives, and our relations to planet Earth. Call it what you want: happiness, living within limits, community, real democracy – DeGrowth both calls and empowers us to bold action.’ -- Richard Norgaard, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

‘A vital resource for those who want to engage with degrowth.’ -- Massimo De Angelis, University of East London, UK.

‘A comprehensive exploration of the various dimensions of degrowth.’ -- Ashish Kothari, member of Kalpavriksh, Puna; and co-author of "Churning the earth: The Making of Global India".

‘Reinventing the growth trajectory is equally critical for the rest of the world in this age of climate risk and present and future danger. Degrowth is then the new vocabulary that we must learn and practice.’ -- Sunita Narain, Centre of Science and Environment, India; Editor, Down To Earth magazine.

‘In times marked by political stupor, it is refreshing to have such a light-footed guide through a universe of anti-mainstream ideas ranging from conviviality to Ubuntu, and from urban gardening to entropy.’ -- Marina Fischer-Kowalski, Founder, Institute of Social Ecology, Alpen Adria University, Austria.

‘For the poor to grow up to a steady-state economy that is sufficient for a good life and sustainable for a long future, the rich must make ecological space by de-growing down to the same sufficient (not luxurious) steady-state level. Essays in this collection recognize the necessity to face this difficult convergent task of justly sharing our finite world.’ -- Herman Daly, University of Maryland, USA.

‘Exciting and deeply subversive.’ -- Clive Hamilton, Charles Sturt University and University of Melbourne, Australia

‘This exciting book is a pioneering exploration of the recently come-of-age field of degrowth economics and policy. It will be landmark for all those who want to transcend the growth fetish that has so many enthralled today.’ -- James Gustave Speth, Vermont Law School, Royalton.

‘This timely book takes us a great step forward by providing an impressive collection of concepts and ideas related to the degrowth debate.’ -- Inge Røpke, Aalborg University, Denmark.

‘Indispensable for anybody interested in moving beyond mere retrofit solutions to the most important economic and ecological conundrums of our time.’ -- Deepak Malghan, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India, and Princeton University, USA

‘What a splendid vocabulary! A range of international authors brilliantly surveys the emerging field of an economics which bids farewell to the obsession of growth. The entries are compact yet eloquent, learned yet action-oriented. Whoever wants to know more about an economy of permanence for the 21th century should reach for this book.’ -- Wolfgang Sachs, Wuppertal Institute, Berlin, Germany.

‘The definitive collection on degrowth ... an invaluable source of knowledge and inspiration for anyone interested academically or politically in alternative ways of thinking and acting about the environment and development.’ -- Maria Kaika, University of Manchester, UK.

‘Degrowth takes the false coin of economic growth via capital accumulation and confronts it head on. The essential message for our time.’ -- John Bellamy Foster, University of Oregon, USA

‘An encyclopaedic compendium, at once widely accessible and deeply informative.’ -- Ariel Salleh, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany.

‘Like it or not, this persistence of degrowth must be recognized, and credit given to its capacity of spurring new debates and new forms of social mobilization, appealing to all those who continue to see ‘growth’ as a false solution to social problems and a true disaster for the environment.’ -- Stefania Barca, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

‘Will it be possible to escape from the monster of growth? We need to think new utopias to orient us. And these one can find in this book.’ -- Alberto Acosta, Economist and ex-President of the National Constitutional Assembly of Ecuador

‘A must read for all those who firmly believe that modern economy has reached its dead-end.’ -- Sudhirendar Sharma, Independent Environmental Consultant

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1138000779
• ISBN 13: 9781138000773
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248
• Editor: D'Alisa Giacomo