Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In this spirit, this article aims to provide an overview of some of the key discussions and points of critique directed towards degrowth over the years, especially by people’s movements, and how they have impacted upon scholarship, activism and discourse.
Our host Vicki Robin takes a turn in the hot seat, asking herself “What Could Possibly Go Right?” After more than 50 episodes in the program, Vicki reflects on the emerging themes and shares thoughts as a cultural scout.
The household is oriented to meeting its own socially defined needs. There is no inherent tendency to the amplification of production or the accumulation of wealth.
Psychologist Jamil Zaki has described ‘distant socialising’ as something most of us might wish for in current conditions: to be connected despite physical distance. He points to the confusion created by the go-to label of social distancing, which implies a loss of companionship and connection.
Normal will end, probably has ended in spite of all our efforts and bleating, because it is artificial and unsustainable. Reality wins every time.
There is no “getting back to normal”; now is the dawn of a new age, either by design or default. We have to thoroughly transform how we live, or it will be transformed for us.
The Biden administration is about to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all U.S. visitors. The plan is likely to become unworkable in very short order. It is an attempt to get around a now very clear fact about widespread international travel: That travel has become a threat to all humankind.
As modern society faces climate change and the sixth extinction, these oldest stories of place and survivance are evolving. And they are also remaining the same, allowing us to see the past and imagine alternate futures as we move with the Earth around the sun.
We have available a wide variety of strategies that can help societies ask, answer, and act on the questions, “What is enough?” “What is too much?” and “How can we keep the Earth livable and achieve sufficiency for all?”
The defence of life, both as a political platform and a political strategy, could pave the way towards eco-hegemony, allowing Greens to provide the radical change we all need.
The great challenge is not to deny this fear, but to take responsibility and overcome it, avoiding paralysis and nihilistic or cynical attitudes. In other words, converting fear into preventive and effective action, into awareness of all species.
We make that vision our own in our proposal for Eco-communitarianism, a post-capitalist utopian order that, never fully achievable, nonetheless operates as a guiding star for daily action.
