Capitalism and Degrowth: An Impossibility Theorem

Foster, John Bellamy

doi:10.14452/mr-062-08-2011-01_2

Cited by 108 publications

(72 citation statements)

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“…John Bellamy Foster (2011), however, argued that the South needs more than a conceptual shift. It also requires structural and practical initiatives aimed at "overcoming imperial linkages, transforming the existing mode of production, and creating sustainable-egalitarian productive possibilities."…”

Section: Political Ecology and Degrowthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond (anti)utilitarianism: khat and alternatives to growth in northern Madagascar

Gezon¹

2017

Journal of Political Ecology

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Abstract:Madagascar has one of the lowest GDPs in the world. Colonization brought the country into the global economy, but left it at its margins-vulnerable to the hardships of structural adjustment and limitations of state infrastructure. This analysis reveals economic decision-making that defies the utilitarian logic of homo economicus and inspires creative thinking about alternatives to growth as a dominant paradigm. In northern Madagascar, the economy of the stimulant khat is part of one socionatural world characterized by low levels of production and consumption. Madagascar provides a case study for suggesting that "making a living" invokes an intricate web of material desires, cultural meaning, and social connections that do not necessarily revolve around a capitalist growth motive. This article proposes that a path to sustainability is not only in changing social imaginaries but also in valorizing and leveraging cognitive orientations and practices that exist but that may fall below the radar of traditional economic analysis. Keywords: Madagascar, khat, utilitarian, degrowth, economy, urban Résumé:Le Madagascar a un des PIB les plus bas au monde. La colonisation a ouvert le pays à l'économie mondiale, mais l'a laissé dans les marges-vulnérable aux difficultés d'ajustement structurel et aux limites des infrastructures de l'état. Cette analyse montre les prises de décisions économiques qui défient la logique utilitariste de l'homo economicus, et elles inspirent une pensée créative qui conçoit des alternatives de croissance comme paradigme prédominant. Dans le nord du Madagascar, l'économie du stimulant khat fait partie d'un des mondes socio-naturels caractérisé par de bas niveaux de production et consommation. Madagascar fournit une étude de cas qui le fait de « gagner sa vie » qui invoque un réseau de désirs matériels, de signification culturelle, ainsi que d'appartenance sociale qui ne gravitent point autour d'une motivation de croissance capitaliste. Cet article propose que le chemin vers la durabilité ne réside pas seulement dans le changement des imaginaires sociaux, mais dans la valorisation et l'appropriation d'orientations cognitives et de pratiques qui existent mais qui ne sont pas détectées dans les analyses économiques traditionnelles. Mots clés: Madagascar, khat, utilitarisme, décroissance, économie, urbain ResumenMadagascar tiene uno de los PIB más bajos del mundo. La colonización connectó el país con la economía global, pero lo dejó a sus márgenes, vulnerable a las dificultades del ajuste estructural y las limitaciones de la infraestructura estatal. Este análisis revela un caso en que la toma de decisiones económicas desafía la lógica utilitaria del homo economicus y así inspira el pensamiento creativo sobre alternativas al crecimiento como paradigma dominante. En el norte de Madagascar, la economía del khat, un estimulante, es parte de un mundo socio-natural caracterizado por bajos niveles de producción y consumo. Este caso de estudio en Madagascar sugiere que, en algunos contextos, la id...

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Section: Political Ecology and Degrowthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond (anti)utilitarianism: khat and alternatives to growth in northern Madagascar

Gezon¹

2017

Journal of Political Ecology

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“…Critics take issue with the term degrowth because it is oblivious to the devastation of recession (Foster 2011). Degrowth frightens people unnecessarily, they argue: in a desirable socioecological transition, only bad things, such as military expenditures or dirty industries, should degrow, whereas others, such as renewables, education, or organic agriculture should grow (Schwartzman 2012;Chomsky 2014).…”

Section: Imaginaries Of Hope: the Utopianism Of Degrowthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Degrowth frightens people unnecessarily, they argue: in a desirable socioecological transition, only bad things, such as military expenditures or dirty industries, should degrow, whereas others, such as renewables, education, or organic agriculture should grow (Schwartzman 2012;Chomsky 2014). Others are critical of a romanticization of poverty and of oppressive non-Western societies (Navarro 2013), Malthusianism, in conceiving limits to growth rather than to capital (Xobardά& 2014), a fetishization of the local (Romano 2012) and an incomplete politics of transition that glosses over dispossession and conflict under capitalism (Foster 2011;Saed 2012;Navarro 2013).…”

Section: Imaginaries Of Hope: the Utopianism Of Degrowthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaginaries of Hope: The Utopianism of Degrowth

Kallis

March

2014

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

137

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“…Using an institutional frame of analytical reference is vital in order to consider the environmental and economic consequences of impending biophysical limits to growth. What the future needs, quite frankly, is a social structure of deaccumulation (a term used by both Klitgaard and Krall and Foster, unbeknownst to one another at the time) [2,38]. We need a series of institutions that create stability and reduce conflict without the need for further economic growth.…”

Section: Social Structure Of Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterodox Political Economy and the Degrowth Perspective

Klitgaard

2013

Sustainability

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Abstract:The transition to sustainability will be difficult. Environmental sustainability entails living within the Earth's limits, yet the majority of scientific studies indicate a condition of overshoot. For mainstream economists sustainability means perpetuating economic growth. Consequently, environmental and economic sustainability are incompatible in the present institutional context. This paper seeks to develop a new theory of sustainability based upon historical and institutional contexts, the role of economic crises, as well as focusing upon energy quality and meaningful work. Mainstream economics, which emphasizes market self-regulation and economic growth, is not a good vehicle for a theory of sustainability. Better insights are to be found in the literature of heterodox political economy and political ecology. Political ecology is based upon the theory of monopoly capital. Monopoly capitalism exhibits a tendency towards stagnation, because the economic surplus cannot be absorbed adequately in the absence of system-wide waste. The Monthly Review School continues this tradition in the context of the metabolic rift, while the Capitalism, Nature and Socialism School develops the idea of a second contradiction of capitalism. The Social Structure of Accumulation school pursues the idea of long swings of economic activity based upon institutional structures that aid or inhibit capital accumulation.

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Capitalism and Degrowth: An Impossibility Theorem

Cited by 108 publications

References 0 publications

Beyond (anti)utilitarianism: khat and alternatives to growth in northern Madagascar

Beyond (anti)utilitarianism: khat and alternatives to growth in northern Madagascar

Imaginaries of Hope: The Utopianism of Degrowth

Heterodox Political Economy and the Degrowth Perspective

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