Act: Inspiration

Life in ‘Degrowth’ Economy: Envisioning a Prosperous Descent (Part IV of Ecological Civilisation)

By Samuel Alexander, originally published by The Simplicity Institute

March 28, 2022

degrowth graffiti

What would daily life would be like in a ‘degrowth’ economy? That is, in an economy seeking planned contraction of energy and resource demands in order to achieve sustainability, equity, and social wellbeing. In this presentation Samuel Alexander explores theses issues by seeking to envision what such a ‘prosperous descent’ might look like.

This is Part IV of the Ecological Civilisation series. The introduction to this series is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxC-r…

The series is grappling with the problems of consumerism and the growth economy; envisioning alternative, post-carbon ways of life; and considering what action can be taken, both personally and politically, to help build an ecological civilisation. New presentations will be added to this playlist over time: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

You can support this channel by purchasing an e-book from the Simplicity Institute, available on a ‘pay what you can’ basis (edit the price as you choose for a donation):

https://249897.e-junkie.com

Paperbacks are available here:

https://au.permacultureprinciples.com…

Samuel Alexander’s work is available here: http://samuelalexander.info

The Simplicity Institute website is here: https://simplicityinstitute.org

If you find this presentation stimulating but would like more detail, see Entropia: Life Beyond Industrial Civilisation, available here:

https://249897.e-junkie.com/product/1…

Other books and essays mentioned in the presentation include David Holmgren’s Retrosuburbia, available here:

https://au.permacultureprinciples.com

Ted Trainer’s essay, “Remaking Settlements” available here:

https://journals.librarypublishing.ar…

And Local is Our Future, by Helena Norberg-Hodge: https://www.localfutures.org/publicat…

Thanks to Andrew Doodson, Jordan Osmond, and Antoinette Wilson for offering invaluable production advice.

The opening image is kindly provided by Melissa Davis.

Other image references are available here:

http://samuelalexander.info/image-ref…

The music is provided by Mortimer’s Method: https://mortimersmethod.bandcamp.com

 

Teaser photo credit:Moss Graffiti | Image: Kulturlabor Trial&Error, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Samuel Alexander

Dr. Samuel Alexander, co-director of the Simplicity Institute, is a lecturer at the Office for Environmental Programs, University of Melbourne, Australia, teaching a course called 'Consumerism and the Growth Economy: Interdisciplinary Perspectives' into the Masters of Environment. He is also a Research Fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. He is author of Prosperous Descent: Crisis as Opportunity in an Age of Limits (2015),Sufficiency Economy: Enough, for Everyone, Forever (2015), and Entropia: Life Beyond Industrial Civilisation (2013), and editor of Voluntary Simplicity: The Poetic Alternative to Consumer Culture (2009) and co-editor of Simple Living in History: Pioneers of the Deep Future (2014).
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