On Friday, November 27, 2015, Vincent Liegey, co-authors of a Degrowth Project and coordinator of the next international Degrowth Conference in Budapest gave a lecture at the Central European University: Introduction to Degrowth, From the Deconstruction of our Addictions to Growth Toward a Degrowth Project.
Degrowth is many things. It is, according to Vincent Liegey, spokesperson for the French Degrowth Movement, a « bomb word » that often prompts heated discussions. It is also, he went on to explain, a multidimensional, interdisciplinary field of research that seeks to deconstruct the growth paradigm. Liegey noted that although some people in some parts of the world have benefited enormously from growing economies in recent decades, many of these same people don’t feel that they are living meaningful lives. « Maybe we’re not as rich as we think we are, » he said. Liegey noted also that within these societies, there are glaring and growing inequalities that suggest that growth is not the solution to all of our problems as some people claim it is.
Continuer la lecture
Will they call for a return to protectionism? Try to regulate the markets? Attempt to rein in unemployment by prioritizing economic growth, regardless of the cost? The Left seems to have run out of ideas for social and economic initiatives that are at once sound, liberating, and environmentally sustainable. Faced with such lack of vision, calls to “relocalize” the economy start to look appealing. But what we need is open and altruistic relocalization, the kind that, unlike worrisome and dangerous tendencies toward insularity, can actually “reestablish the right balance of efficiency, power, well-being, autonomy and conviviality.” Here is our viewpoint, to kick-start debate.
