DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Degrowth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Degrowth</span></a> and the Unmaking of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Capitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Capitalism</span></a></p><p>By Giuseppe Feola, Olga Koretskaya, originally published by Degrowth.info<br>December 7, 2020</p><p>"Our societies are facing multiple interconnected challenges, which include <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateEmergency" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateEmergency</span></a>, an unprecedented loss of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>biodiversity</span></a>, growing <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/inequality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>inequality</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PlasticPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PlasticPollution</span></a>. What connects these challenges is the underlying capitalist economic model, which prioritizes <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/profit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>profit</span></a>-making over <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/wellbeing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>wellbeing</span></a> and requires endless <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EconomicGrowth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EconomicGrowth</span></a> simply to stay afloat.</p><p>"Degrowth offers an alternative vision – it is a project of urgent and fundamental transformation. Degrowth requires reimagining our societies from the perspective of being profit-centred to being wellbeing-centred. This approach distinguishes degrowth from other, more compromising visions of transformation, such as ‘green growth’. But how can society transition towards degrowth?</p><p>"One idea that has become prominent in thinking about such a transition is that of ‘<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/decolonization" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>decolonization</span></a> of the imaginary’, a concept developed by Serge Latouche. This concept signals the need for a disruption of taken-for-granted ways of seeing the world, and their associated practices, rules and social norms. Decolonization of the imaginary questions deeply rooted beliefs about who we are, how we live, and about our place in this world. Are we merely self-interested individuals or are we also care-oriented members of communities? To what extent do technology and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/consumption" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>consumption</span></a> contribute to human wellbeing? Does our constantly expansive economy threaten human communities and the natural world?</p><p>"Decolonization of the imaginary has been an inspirational idea for scholars and activists alike. Yet, it alone seems to be insufficient to take us to fully grasping the depth of disruptions of capitalism that have been produced by initiatives such as transition towns, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/permaculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>permaculture</span></a> farms, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RepairCafes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RepairCafes</span></a>. Decolonization of the imaginary emphasises the symbolic dimensions of social change but it underplays the material dimensions of such change. It is also usually understood as an end point, and hence fails to help us to recognize – and learn about – what happens along the way.</p><p>"How can we think about the processes by which disruptions of capitalism occur in broader, deeper and more dynamic ways? Is it possible for us to better capture what is going on in concrete initiatives?</p><p>"In a recent article, Giuseppe Feola proposes that we think about the disruption of capitalism in terms of ‘<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/unmaking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>unmaking</span></a>’. He suggests that an unmaking of capitalism is not only necessary, but possibly pre-conditional for a transformation of the magnitude and nature required by degrowth. ‘Unmaking’ refers to individual or collective actions of disengagement or active deconstructions of existing capitalist systems that ‘make space’ for alternatives. Such actions could take the form of a personal decision to limit consumption or to quit a high-paying job at an <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OilCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OilCorporation</span></a>. Unmaking can also be recognized in a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CommunityFarm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommunityFarm</span></a> that refuses to submit to market pressure to expand production and instead turns to a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CommunitySupported" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommunitySupported</span></a> model to sustain itself."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-12-07/degrowth-and-the-unmaking-of-capitalism/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">resilience.org/stories/2020-12</span><span class="invisible">-07/degrowth-and-the-unmaking-of-capitalism/</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SolarPunkSunday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SolarPunkSunday</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PostCapitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PostCapitalism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SmallScaleRuptures" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SmallScaleRuptures</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Polycrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Polycrisis</span></a></p>