Newsflash: Degrowth is not decolonisation

Private sector and academic discourse on degrowth and postgrowth has overt colonial agendas.

One way we can easily identify colonial patterns within degrowth discourse is through the concepts it considers as fundamental, while intentionally ignoring basic decolonial objectives and approaches such as anti-oppression and justice, let alone self-determination and care. It assumes that modern Western civilisation (and therefore white supremacy culture) will remain relevant and dominant.

Intro to Decolonial Sustainability is where POSSIBLE FUTURES hosts a co-learning space for sustainability professionals and interested others to confidently identify patterns of coloniality in narratives, behaviours, systems and organisations, and to redirect thought and effort towards decolonial perspectives.

Several hours ago I learned from the horse’s mouth that “progressive” discourse within the “regenerative capitalism” area of “sustainable mining” — yes, a lot of navel gazing here — does not consider degrowth a relevant topic. Neither does it consider the possibility of degrowth becoming a relevant topic even interesting in the least. Obviously, this straight-up dismissal is very unsurprising.

Well-respected corporate and political advisors have expressed to me in private their frustration and depression at the unapologetic stubbornness consistently displayed by the corporate and political ruling classes in implementing degrowth policies even after years of kindly (and then I assume a little more forcefully but not enough to really burn bridges) introducing the concept and educating on its necessity in the face of planetary systems collapse.

POSSIBLE FUTURES recently engaged with Degrowth In Action, a nascent group of students who came together while studying at the world’s first international Master’s degree on degrowth, held by the Autonomous University of Barcelona’s Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and Research & Degrowth International (R&Di).

Some of our conversation went like this -

PF: Can you imagine a world that has gotten on the path of degrowth but staunchly retains colonial power structures? It’s not hard to imagine that, isn’t it, because that is already what degrowth and post-growth promotes.

DIA: Right, so what could “decolonial degrowth” look like?

PF: That would just be decolonisation. If your aim is decolonisation, degrowth is already a part of that, where the Global North has very little choice but to be as thrifty, self-sufficient and sustainable as possible. If your aim is just degrowth, then colonial agendas persist and dominate, and the Global South continues to get crushed by the Global North.

DIA: Clearer now. We might need to reassess our position.

Here’s some pattern recognition in simply looking at words currently avoided in mainstream degrowth discourse.

POSSIBLE FUTURES is a Global South-centred collective focussed on one inquiry: If planetary regeneration is the regeneration of the Global South, what are the narratives that are rooted in that direction of cultural evolution?

A chapter we wrote to introduce our inquiry and perspectives has been published within a Springer Nature book entitled Transformation Literacy.