as an aside in the latest Trillbillies episode Terrence said that we need degrowth communism and it got me wondering what that means to everyone. to hopefully stifle any silly debates i’ll clarify that i’m talking about the West, not underdeveloped/overexploited nations in the Global South.
an end to oil drilling, gas extraction, and coal mining will obviously be necessary to stop climate change. how much modern technology can we replicate without relying on those things or other ecologically violent resource extraction? what does an agriculture system that doesn’t rely on petrochem-derived fertilizers and herbicides look like? how do we repair the immense damage that’s already been done?
i’d really appreciate some book recommendations on this topic as well as everyone’s thoughts
The biggest degrowth guy is Kohei Saito. Check out his book, Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism
He is VERY technical though, and while great, not very approachable unless you’re already very familiar with Marx.
A better first introduction to the “practical” reality of degrowth is the more pop-left “Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World” by Jason Hickel. It’s not as radical as most people here, but it’s like that on purpose, to help people get acclimated to the idea.
Also interesting to note that (imo) Jason Hickel’s more recent contributions seem like he’s become more radical. I think he’s already contributed a lot to driving us towards postcapitalism, and I think he still has tons more to offer
Definitely! I don’t know enough about the guy to say he’s radical or not, but reading the book itself I felt he is able to lay out a very well structured and solid critique of all the contradictions of capitalism and environmental issues without using rhetoric that might scare off someone who’s not an anticapitalist to begin with. I call it “pop-left” because I feel it’s the kind of book I can give to someone who feels the system should change, but isn’t sure how or why.