#smallscaleruptures — Public Fediverse posts

#Degrowth and the Unmaking of #Capitalism

By Giuseppe Feola, Olga Koretskaya, originally published by Degrowth.info
December 7, 2020

"Our societies are facing multiple interconnected challenges, which include #ClimateEmergency, an unprecedented loss of #biodiversity, growing #inequality and #PlasticPollution. What connects these challenges is the underlying capitalist economic model, which prioritizes #profit-making over #wellbeing and requires endless #EconomicGrowth simply to stay afloat.

"Degrowth offers an alternative vision – it is a project of urgent and fundamental transformation. Degrowth requires reimagining our societies from the perspective of being profit-centred to being wellbeing-centred. This approach distinguishes degrowth from other, more compromising visions of transformation, such as ‘green growth’. But how can society transition towards degrowth?

"One idea that has become prominent in thinking about such a transition is that of ‘#decolonization of the imaginary’, a concept developed by Serge Latouche. This concept signals the need for a disruption of taken-for-granted ways of seeing the world, and their associated practices, rules and social norms. Decolonization of the imaginary questions deeply rooted beliefs about who we are, how we live, and about our place in this world. Are we merely self-interested individuals or are we also care-oriented members of communities? To what extent do technology and #consumption contribute to human wellbeing? Does our constantly expansive economy threaten human communities and the natural world?

"Decolonization of the imaginary has been an inspirational idea for scholars and activists alike. Yet, it alone seems to be insufficient to take us to fully grasping the depth of disruptions of capitalism that have been produced by initiatives such as transition towns, #permaculture farms, and #RepairCafes. Decolonization of the imaginary emphasises the symbolic dimensions of social change but it underplays the material dimensions of such change. It is also usually understood as an end point, and hence fails to help us to recognize – and learn about – what happens along the way.

"How can we think about the processes by which disruptions of capitalism occur in broader, deeper and more dynamic ways? Is it possible for us to better capture what is going on in concrete initiatives?

"In a recent article, Giuseppe Feola proposes that we think about the disruption of capitalism in terms of ‘#unmaking’. He suggests that an unmaking of capitalism is not only necessary, but possibly pre-conditional for a transformation of the magnitude and nature required by degrowth. ‘Unmaking’ refers to individual or collective actions of disengagement or active deconstructions of existing capitalist systems that ‘make space’ for alternatives. Such actions could take the form of a personal decision to limit consumption or to quit a high-paying job at an #OilCorporation. Unmaking can also be recognized in a #CommunityFarm that refuses to submit to market pressure to expand production and instead turns to a #CommunitySupported model to sustain itself."

Read more:
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-12-07/degrowth-and-the-unmaking-of-capitalism/
#SolarPunkSunday #PostCapitalism #SmallScaleRuptures #Polycrisis

Excerpts from "From Taming to #Dismantling: #Degrowth and #AntiCapitalist Strategy" by Ekaterina Chertkovskaya, September 2020.

#SmallScaleRuptures

"As for ruptural transformation, this is not part of Wright’s vision of how to overcome capitalism. So far it has not featured in the work on degrowth either, which has largely followed Wright’s reasoning. A survey of the degrowth movement conducted at the fourth international degrowth conference in Leipzig (2014) found out that about 13% of degrowthers were oriented towards rupture. While this might be a minority position in the movement and while ruptures are to be cautious about, I would not fully dismiss rupture as a logic of transformation (and smashing capitalism, as its strategic logic). When speaking of ruptural transformation, Wright usually refers to it as a complete overhaul of the capitalist system, and as a direct attack on the state. However, rupture does not have to be understood this way, which Wright acknowledged also.

"There can be temporary or smaller scale ruptures and examples of smashing capitalism. Say, an act of #disobedience like blocking a coal plant or occupying a public space – something that is part of the degrowth imaginary – can be seen as an example of a #TemporaryRupture that #empowers and encourages other forms of #resistance. It includes, but also goes beyond resistance, by disrupting, even if temporarily, the rhythm of #ExtractiveCapitalism. Workers overtaking a bankrupt factory and making it a cooperative is another example of rupture and smashing capitalism, in a concrete organisation, such as #VioMe in Greece, #RiMaflow in Italy and the occupied factories in #Argentina. Had they been waiting for the legislation that would allow dismantling capitalism to come into place and support cooperative organisational forms, such pioneering examples of change would probably not exist. However, responding to the crises the way they did created a rupture that may encourage others to do the same, as well as demand policies that would allow cooperativisation. Thus, I would argue that temporary or smaller scale ruptures can be important, supporting interstitial and symbiotic logics of transformation."

Read more:
https://degrowth.info/en/blog/from-taming-to-dismantling-degrowth-and-anti-capitalist-strategy
#SolarPunkSunday #Dissent #CivilDisobedience #SmashCapitalism