Economy

Post-capitalism by design not disaster: A Grassroots Theory of Change (Part V of Eco Civilisation)

By Samuel Alexander, originally published by The Simplicity Institute

April 8, 2022

Capitalism has various growth imperatives that are inconsistent with environmental limits. That is, capitalism must grow for stability but cannot grow limitlessly on a finite planet. It follows that the future will be post-capitalist – by design or disaster.

In this presentation Samuel Alexander explores a grassroots theory of change that he argues is the most coherent way to help drive a post-capitalist transition by design.

This is Part V 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

FURTHER READING ON DECOUPLING:

http://www.sustainable.soltechdesigns…

https://eeb.org/library/decoupling-de…

https://www.pnas.org/content/112/20/6271

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10…

https://www.resilience.org/stories/20…

FURTHER READING ON LIMITS TO GROWTH:

https://royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/jo…

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science…

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146…

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/ha…

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

The opening image is kindly provided by Melissa Davis.

The material footprints are from Hickel and Kallis, “Is Green Growth Possible?” (2019): https://www.researchgate.net/publicat…

The music is provided by Mortimer’s Method:

https://mortimersmethod.bandcamp.com

Teaser photo credit: Limits to Growth cover

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: Critical Interdisciplinary Perspectives’ into the Master of Environment. He is also a Research Fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. He is author of eighteen books, including Degrowth in the Suburbs: A Radical Urban Imaginary (2018), Art Against Empire: Toward an Aesthetics of Degrowth (2017), Just Enough is Plenty: Thoreau’s Alternative Economics (2016), 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 he is 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). A full publication list is available here.

As well as his academic work, in recent years Sam has been working on a ‘simpler way’ demonstration project which became the subject of a documentary, ‘A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity‘. He is also founder of the Simplicity Collective, a website and social network dedicated to exploring the relationships between voluntary simplicity, energy descent, and post-growth / degrowth economics. Dr. Alexander’s PhD thesis, conducted through Melbourne Law School, is entitled “Property beyond Growth: Toward a Politics of Voluntary Simplicity”.