Giorgos Kallis is ICREA Professor at the Institute of
Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of
Barcelona.
Susan Paulson is Professor at the Center for Latin
American Studies, University of Florida.
Giacomo D’Alisa is a FCT post-doctoral fellow at the
Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra.
Federico Demaria is a lecturer in ecological economics and
political ecology at the University of Barcelona.
“COVID-19 is the symptom; the profit-driven destruction of natural
and social habitants is the disease. There's only one cure
consistent with global social justice. Read this eloquent and
urgent book and find out what it is.”
Mike Davis, University of California and author of Ecology of
Fear and Planet of Slums “The Case for
Degrowth is a brief and straightforward explainer, and a good
starting point for anyone who wants to get their head around the
degrowth movement and what it wants to acheive.”
Jeremy Williams, editor of Time to Act and co-author of The
Economics of Arrival “The Case for Degrowth does what
its title promises; it assertively advocates for a society and
economy that aim at the wellbeing of all while also sustaining the
natural basis of life, refuting the myth of green growth, and
providing a clear compass to evaluate the directionality of
sustainability transitions.”
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions “This
is a major contribution to the current debate on growth and
degrowth. The authors lay bare the innards of each and show us the
importance of degrowth. Wellbeing, equity, and sustainability are
key vectors organizing this text. These should be understood in the
fullness of their capacities to move us out of our current
modernity --a decaying order that is today still dominant. But
history has shown us across the centuries that no system of power
can last for ever, and nor will our current system. Indeed, it is
busy destroying itself.”
Saskia Sassen, Columbia University and author of Expulsions
“Degrowth is one of the most important ideas of the 21st century.
Here it is in compact form. Clear, timely, urgent. Don't miss this
book.”
Jason Hickel, London School of Economics and author of The
Divide and Less is More “The COVID pandemic is
laying bare dysfunctions of the growth model and the urgency of a
pathway to sanity, climate protection, and security for all. This
wonderful and accessible introduction by leading degrowth scholars
is a vital resource for anyone interested in viable alternatives,
rooted in cooperative economic relations and respect for planetary
limits.”
Juliet Schor, author of After the Gig: how the sharing economy
got hijacked and how to win it back
“A superb account of why capitalist economies fail life on Earth,
even as peoples initiatives in community sharing already revive joy
and hope for our futures. This small book teaches economics like no
other. It will reply to your doubts about change. It should be on
every public library shelf and every syllabus; give copies to your
friends.”
Ariel Salleh, activist and editor of Eco-Sufficiency and
Global Justice: Women write Political Ecology
“As the panoply of growth-induced disasters becomes ever more
evident with the COVID-19 crisis, it becomes patently clear that
the growth imperative must come to a stop. A new vision of the
economy –and, hence, of economics—is absolutely essential to the
welfare of Earth and all its beings. With The Case for Degrowth,
Kallis, Paulson, D’Alisa and Demaria give us a decisive chapter
towards such reframing. They show that degrowth is about much more
than just the economy: it’s about a radically different way of
being, doing and world-making. Degrowth enlightens us on the design
of wiser societies that go at a slower pace precisely because they
are attuned to Earth. By incorporating the paradigms of care,
mutual aid, commoning, and justice, this stunning short book by the
foremost thinkers of degrowth finally makes tangible a radical
transition towards the peaceful and mutually-enhancing co-existence
of humans and the Earth.”
Arturo Escobar, author of Encountering Development,
and Designs for the Pluriverse and Professor of
Anthropology at University of North Carolina
“The case for degrowth as argued in this book is so well rounded
and compelling that it is difficult to imagine how progressive
politicians could avoid integrating the many policies advocated
here into their party manifestos . . . unless of course they cannot
escape the growth mentality that has suffocated progressive
policies for decades. But even in this case, the book offers ways
of changing that mentality through commoning and collective
action.”
Massimo De Angelis, University of East London, editor of The
Commoner, and author of Omnia Sunt Communia
"Many before have made the point that there are limits to growth,
but few have pondered so convincingly on how to break from our
addiction to growth."
Stefania Barca, University of Coimbra, co-editor of Towards a
Political Economy of Degrowth
“The degrowth movement now has its Manifesto. A rigorous, practical
analysis that will guide grassroots and institutional politics so
they can realize a transformation akin to degrowth and turn the
current global crisis into a new opportunity and pathway towards
more sustainable and carrying societies.”
Isabelle Anguelovski, Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice
and Sustainability (BCNUEJ) and author of Neighborhood as
Refuge “By this book, degrowth finally becomes adult. No longer a
simple game of hide-and-seek with the growth regime. No longer a
vague illusion postponed until the advent of a catastrophe that
never comes. No longer a generous experimentation among circles of
virtuosos nor an extreme form of resilience by the excluded from
the banquet of the consumer society, but a mature and innovative
political project, facing the hegemony challenge in the open field
of the social arena. The authors are the best fruits of the
degrowth movement: activists at the forefront and at the same time
leading scholars.”
Onofrio Romano, University of Bari and author of Towards a
society of degrowth “Decrecer es la consigna. Más y más crecimiento
económico en un mundo finito es una locura. Más todavía si éste
ahonda las diferencias sociales, las frustraciones y la
infelicidad. No podemos mantener ese ritmo despiadado de
acumulación del que afloran múltiples pandemias, como la del
coronavirus. No hay duda, requerimos una desaceleración programada
de la actividad económica para reencontrarnos armónicamente con los
ritmos de la Madre Tierra, así como para construir otras sociedades
basadas en la diversidad, la sostenibilidad, la pluralidad y la
reciprocidad; bases fundamentales del Pluriverso: un mundo donde
quepan todos los mundos posibles que aseguren una vida digna a
humanos y no humanos.”
Alberto Acosta, former president of the Constituent Assembly of
Ecuador and author of Buen Vivir
“Degrowth is one of the most exciting approaches to emerge from the
belly of the industrialised and colonising world, fundamentally
challenging its unsustainable and inequitable path of
'development'. But approaches and concepts also need praxis, else
they remain in rarified ivory towers. Perhaps for the first time,
here, degrowth proponents transform visions and recommendations
into a coherent set of actions, from our individual choices to
macro-economics and politics. Essential reading for anyone
interested in transforming society to be crisis-resilient and
crisis-avoiding!”
Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh/Global Tapestry of Alternatives
and co-editor of Pluriverse: A Post-Development
Dictionary
"Is there life after economic growth? Kallis and his co-authors
have taken up the baton from the early proponents of degrowth and
created a vibrant, accessible discourse for the 21st
Century. The Case for Degrowth provides the why, the
where and the how of a better economy and a richer society. Its
vision is needed now more than ever."
Tim Jackson, Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable
Prosperity, author of Prosperity without Growth
“This is a bold book that goes beyond naysaying and critique, and
in writing such a book, the authors are doing a great service to
all us educators who are frequently asked by our students ‘now
what? What can we do?’”
Manisha Anantharaman, Saint Mary’s College of California
“A concise and thorough overview of the case for degrowth and an
alternative vision of sustainable and equitable wellbeing.”
Anders Hayden, Dalhousie University
“The Case for Degrowth is a brief and straightforward
explainer, and a good starting point for anyone who wants to get
their head around the degrowth movement and what it wants to
achieve.”
Jeremy Williams, editor of Time to Act and co-author
of The Economics of Arrival
“This pithy book offers a well-argued critique of growth systems
while presenting policy packages for promoting degrowth that will
help people produce only as much, consume less, share more, enjoy
time, and live with dignity and joy.”
The Hindu
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