{"id":1841,"date":"2014-07-22T09:49:52","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T09:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/?p=1841"},"modified":"2014-07-22T09:55:49","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T09:55:49","slug":"a-degrowth-project-review-in-les-cahiers-de-lecture-de-laction-nationale-by-yves-marie-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.projet-decroissance.net\/?p=1841","title":{"rendered":"\u00ab\u00a0A Degrowth Project\u00a0\u00bb review in Les cahiers de lecture de l\u2019Action nationale by Yves-Marie Abraham"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2014ete250\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

How to escape from the \u201csteel cage\u201d of capitalism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Yves-Marie Abraham
\n<\/strong>Published in\u00a0Les cahiers de lecture de\u00a0<\/em>l\u2019Action nationale<\/em>, Volume VIII, num\u00e9ro 3, \u00e9t\u00e9 2014, p. 25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The project of a \u201csustainable Degrowth\u201d entered the public debate over ten years ago. Rather, ideas formulated during the 1960s-70s that had been eclipsed by the conservative and ideological revolution that is sustainable development, re-appeared under a new form. Here is a summary of the main ideas: the economic growth argued for by our \u201crepresentatives\u201d as being a prerequisite to solve our problems is in fact the cause of our problems. This endless race for the production of goods, measured by the GDP, is destructive, unjust and alienating. Not only this infinite growth is impossible in a finite world, it is also not desirable if we want to respect of equality and freedom meant to be our values. At the collective level, we must break away from the dogma of Growth and\u00a0commit ourselves to build post-growth societies.
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>How can we successfully implement this revolution? In their book, Liege\"Imageny and his co-authors attempt to answer this question, by proposing a tool for a \u201cserene and democratic transition\u201d towards societies freed from the straitjacket of Growth: The Unconditional Autonomy Allowance (UAA). In essence the UAA guarantees to all community members (town, shire, country\u2026) from birth to death, free access to a minimum amount of resources (water, energy, land, food, clothing\u2026) and services (health, education, transport, culture\u2026) these communities deem necessary to lead a dignified and meaningful life. This amount is decided democratically, therefore locally and it respects the ecological limits of the local residents\u2019 territories. Those who wish to consume more goods and services must pay a price that takes into consideration the ecological costs etc. of this over-consumption. This principle of free access and taxes for overconsumption is coupled with a Maximum Acceptable Income (MAI), <\/i>which is arrived at in a democratic manner and is designed to impose limits to consumption and production in order to reduce inequalities and devastating ecological impacts. Money is not completely eliminated but it takes the form of local currencies (the value of which decreases in time) that can\u2019t be used to speculate.<\/p>\n

\"projet-decroissance-ecosociete-quebec\"<\/a>Producing less, sharing more and taking more decisions: here are the three basic principles of the UAA. Their implementation leads to a fundamental re-thinking of this goods-producing capitalist machine (privately or state owned). Its main engine; paid employment, is no longer required once the UAA has been implemented. To make it possible, private ownership of the means of production needs to be abolished and only the right of access prevails in accordance with the Zapatista slogan: \u201cThe land belongs to the people who cultivate it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Of course, the authors of this \u201clittle (green!) book\u201d are aware that many of their contemporaries, starting with the elites in power, are not ready to endorse the UAA yet. Therefore they draw three possible scenarios that could lead to it without violence or disasters, starting from the actual situations in Western societies. The most probable scenario revolves around the multiplication of practical, local and collective alternatives until a critical mass is reached and results are sufficiently encouraging to convince public authorities, at the local, regional or national levels, to support the movement. This support could come in the form of a reduction of the working time so that it can be shared around. The time freed would lead people to re-take control of their live by increasing their participation to the politics of their communities and learning to produce and consume according to their needs and not to capitalist requirements. The last step towards a UAA could then be the implementation, as a transitory measure, of an <\/i>Unconditional Basic\u00a0Income, which would be the last nail in the coffin of paid work through which Capital enriches itself at our expense.<\/p>\n

Liegey, Madelaine, Ondet and Veillot\u2019s book is very successful in Europe since its publication in January 2013. Until then, the literature on Degrowth was confined to criticising the perverse effects of economic growth and only offered sparse and often heteroclite proposals for a transition towards post-growth societies. A Degrowth Project <\/i>is the first serious attempt to answer the question: \u201cWhat can we do?\u201d within a Degrowth perspective. It successfully integrates the ideas developed by the \u201cGrowths Objectors\u201d over the last ten years, into a coherent and pragmatic tool. We must salute the tone of the book: it is highly critical in its form but totally non-violent in its substance. The readers who could be wary of a revolutionary discourse will appreciate the pacific anti-capitalism displayed by these young authors. People who remain convinced that we need an economic growth will remain sceptical, no doubt. To these readers we suggest reading texts dealing with the limits to growth, as the ones we me<\/i>ntioned in a previous issue of Cahiers<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(\u201cIl n\u2019y a pas d\u2019avenir pour les goinfres<\/a>\u201d, <\/i>autumn 2013). But A Degrowth Project <\/i>is a must read and must be debated by all the people concerned with freeing the world from the \u201csteel cage\u201d of capitalism.<\/p>\n

Vincent Liegey, St\u00e9phane Madelaine, Christophe Ondet, Anne-Isabelle Veillot, (2014), A Degrowth Project: Manifesto for an Unconditional Autonomy Allowance (UAA),\u00a0<\/i>\u00c9cosoci\u00e9t\u00e9, Montreal \/ Utopia, Paris \/ Icaria – Barcelona.<\/p>\n


\"\"<\/em>\u201c [\u2026] the prerequisite for the transfromation of the economy is \u201c a strong adhesion from all and a participation to this desire for change\u201d. That is the least \u2026 But we have to start somewhere and this stimulating book contributes to it undoubtedly\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>Herv\u00e9 Kempf in\u00a0Le Monde<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00a0And the success of the book may suggest that \u201ctransition is well underway\u201d.<\/i>\u00a0Emmanuel Daniel in\u00a0Slate.fr<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And also:<\/p>\n