1. The imaginary of DegrowthGiorgos Kallis, ICREA Professor at ICTA,UAB www.eco2bcn.esLund UniversityLund, 26 March 2014

2. This presentation1. Origins of Degrowth.2. The concrete utopia of degrowth in SergeLatouches work.3. Advancing the degrowth imaginary with the aidof Urusula Le Guins science-fiction.4. A new Imaginary of Degrowth. 3. This presentation1. Origins of Degrowth.2. The concrete utopia of degrowth in SergeLatouches work.3. Advancing the degrowth imaginary with the aidof Urusula Le Guins science-fiction.4. A new Imaginary of Degrowth. 4. Three phases Oil crisis and limits to growth (1975-1980). The French movement against sustainabledevelopment (2002-2008). Degrowth going international (2008c). 5. Growth is an entropic process Economy increasesentropy. Finite stocks arebeing depleted. Thermal pollution. In the long-term, theeconomy can onlybe sustained bysolar flows.Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1906-1994)A pioneer of Ecological Economics 6. Autonomy..from centralizedtechnologies andinstitutionsfrom paid workfrom social lawsand given truthsIvan Illich (1926 2002) Andre Gorz (1923 2007) Cornelius Castoriadis (1922 1997) 7. The movement pour la Dcroissance 8. Degrowth going international 9. Key theses1. Global economic growth is ecologically un-sustainable.2. Growth in wealthy countries is no longereconomic.3. Continued growth in wealthy countries may nolonger even be possible.4. This is not a problem: managing withoutgrowth for autonomy. 10. This presentation1. Origins of Degrowth.2. The concrete utopia of degrowth in SergeLatouches work.3. Advancing the degrowth imaginary with the aidof Urusula Le Guins science-fiction.4. A new Imaginary of Degrowth. 11. Latouches concrete utopia of frugalabundance (Re)localizedsufficient economies. Agro-food productionand relational goods. Democraticconfederations withparticipatoryprocesses. 12. Criticisms to Latouche1. Negative imaginary.2. Romanticizing thepast.3. Malthusian.4. Too idyllic: where isthe conflict? 13. This presentation1. Origins of Degrowth.2. The concrete utopia of degrowth in SergeLatouches work.3. Advancing the degrowth imaginary with the aidof science-fiction.4. The Imaginary of Degrowth. 14. Ursula Le Guins social science fiction To put a pig on thetracks of a one-wayfuture consisting ofgrowth. But: dont read mynovels as theexpression of anidea!. Le Guins fantasyworld as an empiricaluniverse ofexperimentation. 15. The Dispossessed 16. Not a negative, but a subversiveutopia Anarres is the moon of Urras and vice versa. Sharing-owning; frugal-luxurious; Syndicates-hierarchy. Anarres looks from our gaze like a catastrophe. Isthis what utopia is what is supposed to look like? Why not?! 17. The past has the seeds of the future The new world is not asequence of the old: the twoare simultaneously present. Anarres embodies principlesfrom primitive societies butit uses also advancedtechnologies. We have something to learneven from stone-agedsocieties. 18. Limits as autonomy, not scarcity The Anarresti chose todepart and live this way(c.f. the Neo-Malthusiananarchists). Having enough is theonly way to escapecapitalism. And sharing the commonsis the only way to settlewith enough. Scarcity is social; theAnarresti, unlike theUrrasti, do not feel theyare in deficit. 19. A future of conflict, not bliss A founding act of conflict. Without internal conflict, a revolution stales into ahierarchy itself. The risks of opening. Is exodus enough? 20. This presentation1. Origins of Degrowth.2. The concrete utopia of degrowth in SergeLatouches work.3. Advancing the degrowth imaginary with the aidof Urusula Le Guins science-fiction.4. A new Imaginary of Degrowth. 21. A new imaginary Not less of the same,but differently. A pastiche ofprimitive andmodern elements. 22. Thank you!giorgoskallis@gmail.comwww.eco2bcn.eswww.degrowth.org