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Chapter 10 Uniting the Means and Ends of Degrowth Transformation

  • Nick Fitzpatrick
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The Handbook of Organizing Economic, Ecological and Societal Transformation
This chapter is in the book The Handbook of Organizing Economic, Ecological and Societal Transformation

Abstract

Degrowthers are often depicted as reactionaries or utopians that lack a basic understanding of biophysical reality and social change. This chapter counters this narrative by reconstructing the degrowth movement’s views on political strategy and the arguments used to justify it. Here I demonstrate that the degrowth movement has developed a systematic critique of why economic growth is incompatible with environmental justice. However, the movement should not downplay or deny the difficulties of achieving degrowth when developing social theories and political strategies. Rather they must realize that anything less than uprooting the systemic drivers of climate and ecological breakdown amounts to greenwashing. To this end, the degrowth movement should extend its critique to the State if it believes in uniting the means and ends of degrowth. This is because the means of acquiring and exercising state power runs contrary to the ends of degrowth: self-governing societies based on decentralization, workers’ control, and mutual aid.

Abstract

Degrowthers are often depicted as reactionaries or utopians that lack a basic understanding of biophysical reality and social change. This chapter counters this narrative by reconstructing the degrowth movement’s views on political strategy and the arguments used to justify it. Here I demonstrate that the degrowth movement has developed a systematic critique of why economic growth is incompatible with environmental justice. However, the movement should not downplay or deny the difficulties of achieving degrowth when developing social theories and political strategies. Rather they must realize that anything less than uprooting the systemic drivers of climate and ecological breakdown amounts to greenwashing. To this end, the degrowth movement should extend its critique to the State if it believes in uniting the means and ends of degrowth. This is because the means of acquiring and exercising state power runs contrary to the ends of degrowth: self-governing societies based on decentralization, workers’ control, and mutual aid.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Contributors IX
  4. Part One: By Way of Introduction
  5. Chapter 1 Organizing Economic, Environmental and Societal Transformation: An Introduction 1
  6. Chapter 2 Transformation: For Whom, By Whom, Where, Why and When? 27
  7. Part Two: Opening Up Futures
  8. Chapter 3 Post-anthropocentric Transformations of Consumption in the Anthropocene: Beyond the Nature-Culture Divide 49
  9. Chapter 4 ‘Organising Social Impact’ Master’s Programme as ‘Critical Praxis’ to Transform the University and Society 69
  10. Chapter 5 Futures: Necessity, Experiment and the School for Organizing 87
  11. Part Three: Techno-economic Transformations at Work
  12. Chapter 6 The Social Construction of Digital Technologies: The Politics behind Technology-centered Transformations 103
  13. Chapter 7 The Transformation of Work in the Digital Age: Coworking Spaces as Community-Based Models of Work Organization 125
  14. Chapter 8 Organizing Around Affect: Control and Potentiality in Contemporary Capitalism 145
  15. Part Four: Sustainable Environmental Transformation
  16. Chapter 9 Systemic Risks and Organizational Challenges in Transformative Processes: ‘Cybersecurity’ in the Food Field 165
  17. Chapter 10 Uniting the Means and Ends of Degrowth Transformation 189
  18. Chapter 11 Economic Organizations and the Transformation Towards Degrowth 209
  19. Part Five: Radical Democratic Futures
  20. Chapter 12 Organizing for Social Transformation from Below: Prefigurative Organizing and Civic Action 235
  21. Chapter 13 From Stakeholders to Communities of Care 257
  22. Chapter 14 The Possibilities of Radical Democratic Management 275
  23. Chapter 15 Searching for Transformative Potential: Comparing Conceptualizations of Open, Inclusive and Alternative Organizations 295
  24. Index 315
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110986945-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Contributors IX
  4. Part One: By Way of Introduction
  5. Chapter 1 Organizing Economic, Environmental and Societal Transformation: An Introduction 1
  6. Chapter 2 Transformation: For Whom, By Whom, Where, Why and When? 27
  7. Part Two: Opening Up Futures
  8. Chapter 3 Post-anthropocentric Transformations of Consumption in the Anthropocene: Beyond the Nature-Culture Divide 49
  9. Chapter 4 ‘Organising Social Impact’ Master’s Programme as ‘Critical Praxis’ to Transform the University and Society 69
  10. Chapter 5 Futures: Necessity, Experiment and the School for Organizing 87
  11. Part Three: Techno-economic Transformations at Work
  12. Chapter 6 The Social Construction of Digital Technologies: The Politics behind Technology-centered Transformations 103
  13. Chapter 7 The Transformation of Work in the Digital Age: Coworking Spaces as Community-Based Models of Work Organization 125
  14. Chapter 8 Organizing Around Affect: Control and Potentiality in Contemporary Capitalism 145
  15. Part Four: Sustainable Environmental Transformation
  16. Chapter 9 Systemic Risks and Organizational Challenges in Transformative Processes: ‘Cybersecurity’ in the Food Field 165
  17. Chapter 10 Uniting the Means and Ends of Degrowth Transformation 189
  18. Chapter 11 Economic Organizations and the Transformation Towards Degrowth 209
  19. Part Five: Radical Democratic Futures
  20. Chapter 12 Organizing for Social Transformation from Below: Prefigurative Organizing and Civic Action 235
  21. Chapter 13 From Stakeholders to Communities of Care 257
  22. Chapter 14 The Possibilities of Radical Democratic Management 275
  23. Chapter 15 Searching for Transformative Potential: Comparing Conceptualizations of Open, Inclusive and Alternative Organizations 295
  24. Index 315
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