Lecture by Dr. Julien-François Gerber from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) with Q&A. Recorded at the first Dutch degrowth symposium in Utrecht on 28th of june 2019.
Lezing door Dr. Julien-François Gerber van het International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) met Q&A. Opgenomen tijdens het eerste Nederlandse degrowth symposium in Utrecht op 28 juni 2019.
Find a summary of the event here: https://ontgroei.degrowth.net/utrecht-degrowth-symposium/
Degrowth in the Global South: scientific and policy perspectives (Julien-François Gerber)
1. Degrowth in the
global South?
28 June 2019
Scientific
and policy
perspectives
Julien-François
Gerber
Beatriz Aurora, Otro Mundo Es Posible
2. Doesn’t “development” require growth?
Aren’t the rich only supposed to de-grow?
Wouldn’t “degrowth in the global South”
be another form of European (green)
colonialism?
3. Contents
1. Growth for ‘development’? Conflicting views
• Mainstream economists
• Heterodox economists
• Critical scholars from the global South
2. Relevant examples in the global South
3. Five urgent policy actions
4. Conclusion
7. • Assuming high growth rates, we would
need ̴100 years to get everyone at a daily
income of $1.25 and ̴200 years to get
everyone at $5 (Woodward, 2015)
• For $5/d, we would need to grow the
global economy ̴175 times! (ibid.)
Growth for ‘development’?
8. Stages of economic
development
GDP growth
Development through the Kuznets curve?
Environmental
degradation or
inequality
Growth for ‘development’?
9. 0
Growth for ‘development’?
Size of the
economy
(in $ or in
tons)
…decoupling from
resource use
= green growth
GDP growth…
Time
Development through green growth?
11. • Many heterodox economists would
agree with degrowth in the global North
(e.g. Ha-Joon Chang in 2018)
• But strong attachment to growth in the
global South (even among ecological
economists)
Growth for ‘development’?
12. • Herman Daly (1991):
“It is absolutely a waste of time as well as
morally backward to preach steady-state
doctrines to underdeveloped countries
before the overdeveloped countries have
taken any measure to reduce […] the
growth of their per-capita resource
consumption.”
Growth for ‘development’?
13. • Some heterodox economists champion a
Green New Deal = a massive “green
growth” transition to renewable energy, but
unfortunately without problematizing levels
of consumption (Pollin, 2018)
• Huge amount of fossil fuel would be needed
– and most likely for short-term results
(Kallis, 2019)
Growth for ‘development’?
14. • Degrowth is not about shrinking ‘everything’
and imposing austerity everywhere
• Degrowth is about resizing/downsizing our
use of resources, while reorganizing society
differently, with more equity, conviviality and
democracy (D’Alisa et al., 2014)
• Put this way, it’s hard to see why this would
only apply to the North!
Growth for ‘development’?
15. Critical scholars from the South:
“Growth must be problematized”
Growth for ‘development’?
(Painter: Boy Dominguez, Philippines)
16. • Would be naïve to assume that ‘degrowth’
thinkers have only been Northerners
Stella Bloch & Ananda Coomaraswamy
Gandhi
J.C. Kumarappa
Growth for ‘development’?
17. Rabindranath Tagore
(1924): “Most of us who try
to deal with the problem of
poverty think only of a
more intensive effort of
production. We forget that
it brings about a greater
exhaustion of materials as
well as of humanity. […]
Multiplying material
wealth alone intensifies the
inequality between those
who have and those who
have not, and it inflicts so
deep a wound on the social
system that the whole body
eventually bleeds to death”
Vandana Shiva
Tagore
Radhakamal Mukerjee
Growth for ‘development’?
18. • The global North should degrow to stop its
unsustainable metabolism
• But the critique of the growth tyranny
certainly also applies to the global South
(Kothari et al., 2019)
• For critical scholars of the global South, it’s
time to move beyond growthism
Growth for ‘development’?
20. Cuba
Examples in the global South
Ecological footprint per person and
Human Development Index in 2012
Cuba
HDI
Ecologicalfootprintperperson
(Source:GFN,2012)
21. Vietnam
Social thresholds:
1. Life satisfaction
2. Healthy life expectancy
3. Nutrition
4. Sanitation
5. Income
6. Access to energy
7. Education
8. Social support
9. Democratic quality
10. Equality
11. Employment
Biophysical thresholds:
1. CO2 emissions
2. Phosphorus
3. Nitrogen
4. Blue water
5. eHANPP
6. Ecological footprint
7. Material footprint
Vietnam
Examples in the global South(Source:O’Neilletal.,2019)
22. Costa Rica
• The Happy Planet Index looks at life expectancy +
wellbeing + equality, and plots these against
ecological impact: Costa Rica tops the global
ranking every year!
• Costa Rica outperforms the USA with less than
1/5 of its GDP per capita
• The part of Costa Rica where people live the
longest and happiest lives – the Nicoya Peninsula
– is also the poorest in terms of GDP per capita
(Hickel, 2017)
Examples in the global South
23. Bhutan
• New model of development seeking sustainability
and sufficiency
• Examples of policies limiting growth:
– new holistic indicator: Gross National Happiness
– restrictions on foreign investments
– no WTO membership
– no outdoor advertising
– limits on mass tourism
– limits on mining
– free education and healthcare
– 50% of protected areas
– constitutional 60% of forest cover
– willingness to shift to 100% organic agriculture
Examples in the global South
Punakha valley
25. 1. Focus on needs – not growth
• To boost undifferentiated growth is not the
best way to overcome ‘true’ deprivation
• More collective planning for ‘true’ needs –
less market only for those who can afford it
5 degrowth policies
26. • High growth rates are not
necessarily good news for
the poor: growth may
– help the rich rather than
the poor
– be jobless
– need the poor
– create new poverties
5 degrowth policies
DaresSalaam,byJ.Miller
27. 2. Cancel external debt –
acknowledge ecological debt
(Source:IMFBlog,2019)
5 degrowth policies
• Debt pushes poor countries into
unsustainable extractive activities
Debt is rising
in the global
South
28. • In parallel, industrialized countries have
been accumulating a huge ecological debt
by exploiting the raw materials and
ecosystems of poor countries
• Rich countries owe a compensation to poor
nations for the environmental damage
embodied in their growth
5 degrowth policies
29. 3. Redistribute – the wealth is
already there
• Fulfilling needs does not necessarily
require a general increase in wealth –
but a better distribution thereof
• Within and between countries
5 degrowth policies
30. In 2017 in India, the
richest 10% have
almost 80% of the
total wealth
In the NL, the
richest 10% have
about 70% of the
total wealth
(Source:CreditSuisse,2018)
India
5 degrowth policies
31. 4. Stop extractivism
• Post-extractivism calls for a move away from
economies dependent on extractive industries
5 degrowth policies
32. Leave oil in
the soil
Leave coal
in the hole
Leave gas
under the
grass
5 degrowth policies
Demonstrators in the COP17, Durban, 2011
(Source: Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Oilwatch)
33. 5. Organize around the ‘good life’
• What is important in our communities?
– Decommodification of public service?
– More commons?
– Organic food?
• What do we need for achieving it?
5 degrowth policies
34. • Many philosophies in the global South
articulate what constitutes a ‘good life’
– Buen vivir (good life) in the Andes
– Ubuntu (human mutuality) in Southern Africa
– Kyōsei (human welfare) in Japan
– Tri hita karana (three causes of wellbeing) in Bali
– …
5 degrowth policies
36. Doesn’t “development” require growth?
• Vandana Shiva: “growth creates poverty” (2018)
• Our 5 policies point towards more flourishing without
growth addiction
Aren’t the rich only supposed to de-grow?
• Degrowth is not a penalty – it’s a project of healing
• As such, degrowth cannot only be relevant to the rich!
Wouldn’t “degrowth in the global South” be another form
of European (green) colonialism?
• Degrowth is not only a Northern idea
• Degrowth has a lot to learn from the South
Conclusion
