quarta-feira, 28 de dezembro de 2011

Neil Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death

Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

The prophetic landmark work exploring the corrosive effects of electronic media on a democratic society

Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining controlof our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.

Lester Brown: Plan B 4.0 - Mobilizing to Save Civilization

http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Plan-B-40/

"[Brown's] ability to make a complicated subject accessible to the general reader is remarkable."-Katherine Salant, Washington Post

As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens, and concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging. Wind, solar, and geothermal energy are replacing oil, coal, and natural gas, at a pace and on a scale we could not have imagined even a year ago. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, we have begun investing in energy sources that can last forever. Plan B 4.0 explores both the nature of this transition to a new energy economy and how it will affect our daily lives.

terça-feira, 27 de dezembro de 2011

Helga Dittmar: Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being


Series Edited by Professor Rupert Brown.

Series: European Monographs in Social Psychology series.

Advertising, materialism and consumption are central aspects of contemporary Western culture. We are bombarded with idealised images of the perfect body, desirable consumer goods, and affluent lifestyles, yet psychology is only just beginning to take account of the profound influence these consumer culture ideals have on individuals’ sense of identity and worth.

Consumer Culture, Identity, and Well-Being documents the negative psychological impact consumer culture can have on how individuals view themselves and on their emotional welfare. It looks at the social psychological dimensions of having, buying and wanting material goods, as well as the pursuit of media-hyped appearance ideals. In particular, it focuses on:

  • The purchasing of material goods as a means of expressing and seeking identity, and the negative consequences of this
  • Psychological buying motivations in conventional buying environments and on the Internet
  • The unrealistic socio-cultural beauty ideals embodied by idealized models.

Throughout, different approaches from social psychology are integrated, such as self-completion, self-discrepancy and value theory, to create a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the impact of internalising core consumer culture ideals on how individuals see themselves and the implications this has for their psychological and physical health.

Consumer Culture, Identity, and Well-Being is of interest to anybody who wants to find out more about the psychological effects of living in modern consumer societies on children, adolescents, and adults. More specifically, it will be of interest to students and researchers in social psychology, sociology, media studies, communication and other social sciences, as well as to psychologists, health workers, and practitioners interested in the topics of identity, consumption pathologies, body image, and body-related behaviours.

sábado, 10 de dezembro de 2011

What's the Economy For, Anyway? By John de Graaf and David K. Batker


Named Best Business Book for Fall 2011 by Publishers Weekly

The question no one ever bothered to ask about the economy: How can we make it work for us, instead of the other way around?

In this funny, readable, and thought-provoking book based on the popular film of the same name, activists John de Graaf (coauthor of the bestselling Affluenza) and David Batker tackle thirteen economic issues, challenging the reader to consider the point of our economy. Emphasizing powerful American ideals, including teamwork, pragmatism, and equality, de Graaf and Batker set forth a simple goal for any economic system: The greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run. Drawing from history and current enterprises, we see how the good life is achieved when people and markets work together with an active government to create a more perfect economy-one that works for everyone.

Beginning by shattering our fetish for GDP, What's the Economy For, Anyway? offers a fresh perspective on quality of life, health, security, work-life balance, leisure, social justice, and perhaps most important, sustainability. This sparkling, message-driven book is exactly what those lost in the doldrums of partisan sniping and a sluggish economy need: a guide to what really matters, and a map to using America's resources to make the world a better place.

terça-feira, 22 de novembro de 2011

Where is future growth in GDP going to come from? THE GROWTH CONUNDRUM

Most forecasts for the world economy, world energy supply and demand, climate change and the economy and so on assume that economic growth will march on.  The Stern report on climate change and the economy said it would “not be unreasonable” to assume the world economy will grow by 2% to 3% annually this century, based on historical growth.  So, what does this growth look like?

The first graph at the top of the page shows the projection of Gross World Product to 2100 at 2% or 3% annual growth, with 2009 indicated.  The second graph shows world ecological footprint: we started using up the biocapacity of the planet faster than it can regenerate by the 1980s. But footprint and GDP (or GWP) correlate very closely: the bigger GDP is, the more energy and material we put through the economy - for food, transportation, the amenities of home and workplace, basically everything we consume.  We’re getting more efficient, but not fast enough.

The top graph to the right shows growth in GDP up to 2009 - a sharply rising exponential growth curve.  In the past 50 years, growth in GWP has averaged about 4% per year.  The last graph shows what this growth has done to the biosphere and how clearly economic growth correlates with exponential increase in human use of natural resources - paper consumption, fish consumption, use of freshwater and soil resources, extinction of species, fertilizer use, and so on (thank you Gus Speth!!). 

So, if the economy is going to go from $61 trillion in GWP in 2009 to somewhere between $450 and $1100 trillion in GWP in 2100, what kind of energy and material throughput are we talking about?  What kind of ecological footprint, if we are already overconsuming the Earth by 20%?  For anyone who thinks runaway banks and credit derivative swaps are the major problem facing the world (and that kind of financial shenaniganism is a HUGE problem, yes), take a close look at these graphs.  They tell the story of the real long-term crisis we are facing.

For a PDF with these graphs, click here:  Growth presentation PDF.pdf

domingo, 20 de novembro de 2011

The Future of Money : New Lenses of Wealth

http://www.emergence.cc/wp-content/files/FOM_infographic_1280x1811.png

Click the above image to open a 1280px x 1811px PNG file in a new window.
2010 BY-NC-SA Emergence Collective
Research and concept by Gabriel Shalom, Venessa Miemis and Jay Cousins.
Design by Patrizia Kommerell.

After several months of research and graphic design we’re happy to present you with our infographic The Future of Money: New Lenses of Wealth. It represents the aggregation of our research on emerging marketplaces, platforms, tools, initiatives and opportunities for the new economy.

quarta-feira, 9 de novembro de 2011

The network that runs the world

http://makewealthhistory.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/network.jpg

This image shows the connections between the 1,318 biggest companies in the world, mapped according to share ownership out of an original 43,000 companies. At the core are 147 super-connected companies, the ones in red. That group, less than one percent of the whole, effectively controls 40% of global revenue. No prizes for guessing which sector dominates that core group. At the top of the tree is Barclays, with JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Merrill Lynch all in the top ten.

This, says the New Scientist, gives credence to the Occupy movement’s claim that the world is run for the benefit of the richest one percent. According to this particular exercise in systems theory, that’s entirely correct.

If you want to check out the methodology, the study is online here (pdf).

quarta-feira, 2 de novembro de 2011

Robert Biel : The Entropy of Capitalism

http://www.brill.nl/entropy-capitalism
The project of applying general systems theory to social sciences is crucial in today’s crisis when social and ecological systems clash. This book concretely demonstrates the necessity of a Marxist approach to this challenge, notably in asserting agency (struggle) as against determinism. It similarly shows how Marxism can be reinvigorated from a systems perspective. Drawing on his experience in both international systems and low-input agriculture, Biel explores the interaction of social and physical systems, using the conceptual tools of thermodynamics and information. He reveals the early twenty-first century as a period when capitalism starts parasitising on the chaos it itself creates, notably in the link between the two sides of imperialism: militarism (the ‘war on terror’) and speculative finance capital.

terça-feira, 1 de novembro de 2011

Life Rules: Why so much is going wrong everywhere at once & how Life teaches us to fix it.

http://www.ellenlaconte.com/life-rules-the-book/

Economic and polar meltdowns, inept, corrupt and bankrupt governments, long-term double-digit unemployment, climate instability, failing social services, collapsing ecosystems, a widening wealth-poverty gap, unprecedented species extinctions, mass migrations, peak fossil fuels, religious, ethnic and resource wars, spreading hunger, poverty, chaos and disease. . .

Why is so much going wrong everywhere at once?
The global economy has gone viral. It is ravaging Earth’s immune system, triggering a Critical Mass of mutually reinforcing environmental, economic, social, cultural and political crises that are compromising the ability of Earth’s human and natural communities to provide for, protect and heal themselves.

The prognosis? If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, Life will last but Life as we know it—and a lot of us—won’t.

What should we do instead? We should remember that Life rules, we don’t. The global economy operates as if it were larger than Life. It isn’t. As if it had multiple Earth’s to supply its appetites. It doesn’t. Life learned how to deal with global economies two billion years ago: It put them out of business. It encoded in other-than-human species an adaptable protocol of economic rules that help them to avoid causing Critical Mass and survive Critical Mass when it occurs naturally.

What are those rules? Among the rules written into Life’s Economic Survival Protocol are local self-reliance, intercommunity and regional functional cooperation, non-carbon energy sourcing, resource conservation, sharing and recycling, and organically democratic methods of self-organization and governance. These rules have worked for Life for two billion years. We can make them work for us, too.

How? We can learn Life’s rules and adopt lifeways that mimic Life’s ways.

Take back your future! A tool for community transition and cultural and personal transformation, Life Rules offers a clear and compelling context for understanding our global crisis and a treatment plan for Critical Mass that is at once authentically conserve-ative, deeply green and profoundly liberating.

With Forewords by John Robbins, Diet for A New America and The New Good Life & John Rensenbrink, publisher of Green Horizon Magazine AND an Afterword by August Jaccaci, General Periodicity: Nature’s Creative Dynamics

Invitation to the International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas, Montreal 2012

http://montreal.degrowth.org/
Dear friends,

We are pleased to invite proposals for workshops, panels, papers, posters, artistic presentations, symposia and special sessions for the Montreal International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas from May 13-19, 2012.

A voice is rising among those who are deeply concerned with global environmental degradation and escalating poverty and inequality. A root of the problem lies in an unrelenting priority given to economic growth. Degrowth is a new social and economic paradigm that challenges the growth–driven economic model on which existing policies are based. To build on the emergent international discussion on degrowth, the Montreal International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas will articulate the needs and aspirations of the Americas for a post-growth, more equitable and better world.

Nineteen years after the Earth Summit in Rio the growth-driven “sustainable development discourse” has failed. It has not offered a convincing solution to one of the most dramatic crises in history: how to avert ecological collapse while enhancing social justice. A degrowth perspective will help us visualize and build towards a post-growth world.

Drawing from previous degrowth conferences in Paris and Barcelona, the Montreal conference, a co-operative effort of four Montreal Universities, will focus on the particular situations and dynamics of the Americas. What does degrowth mean for our Hemisphere with its rich geographical, cultural, social and economic diversity? How can degrowth models apply to different contexts from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego? What does degrowth mean for the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their aspirations for their lands and peoples?

In the spirit of seeking alternative societies, the conference will bring together a diversity of social actors to share a deeper understanding of the degrowth paradigm, and build networks and relationships over six days. It will also include a convivial degrowth fair, with exhibits, art/video/cultural events, opportunities for international participants to exchange beyond that possible in most formal academic conferences. Tours and interaction with Montreal, Quebec and regional social movements and local, alternative food, housing and cooperative experiences are planned. Every effort is being made to reduce the ecological footprint of the event and to maximize its benefits in relation to the ecological and carbon impacts of traditional travel and research activities. Trilingual translation will be available for larger sessions and a cadre of volunteer personal translators for French, Spanish and English speakers is being recruited.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://montreal.degrowth.org/

Our proposal guidelines can be viewed at: http://montreal.degrowth.org/downloads/call_for_proposals.pdf
Our proposal submission form can be viewed at: http://montreal.degrowth.org/call_form.html

We look forward to your participation.

Yves-Marie Abraham, HEC, Université de Montréal
Julie Anne Ames, McGill University
Peter G Brown, McGill University
Chantal Forgues, David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise, Concordia University
Nicolas Kosoy, McGill University
Olga Navarro-Flores, UQAM
Hervé Phillipe, Université de Montréal
François Schneider, Research & Degrowth, Autonomous University of Barcelona
Shannon Scott, McGill School of Environment, McGill University
Paul Shrivastava, David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise, Concordia University
Bob Thomson, Ottawa

Source: http://peakoil.com/generalideas/invitation-to-the-international-conference-on-degrowth-in-the-americas-montreal-2012/

segunda-feira, 31 de outubro de 2011

Glenn Greenwald: With Liberty and Justice for Some

http://us.macmillan.com/withlibertyandjusticeforsome/GlennGreenwald

From "the most important voice to have entered the political discourse in years" (Bill Moyers), a scathing critique of the two-tiered system of justice that has emerged in America

From the nation's beginnings, the law was to be the great equalizer in American life, the guarantor of a common set of rules for all. But over the past four decades, the principle of equality before the law has been effectively abolished. Instead, a two-tiered system of justice ensures that the country's political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution, licensed to act without restraint, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in greater numbers than in any other country in the world.

Starting with Watergate, continuing on through the Iran-Contra scandal, and culminating with Obama's shielding of Bush-era officials from prosecution, Glenn Greenwald lays bare the mechanisms that have come to shield the elite from accountability. He shows how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, and financial fraud.

Cogent, sharp, and urgent, this is a no-holds-barred indictment of a profoundly un-American system that sanctions immunity at the top and mercilessness for everyone else.

sábado, 29 de outubro de 2011

El gobierno de las palabras. Política para tiempos de confusión

http://www.juancarlosmonedero.com/2011/06/gobiernodelaspalabras/

Segunda edición aumentada y corregida. Madrid. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2009 y 2011.

Descargar prefacio del libro (PDF)

Este libro destaca que nunca tan pocos engañaron a tantos. En nombre de la democracia y la soberanía el Estado moderno cede a la dictadura de los mercados. El pensamiento moderno, exhausto, cede las soluciones racionales a supercherías y sectarismos, remedos de espiritualismo de consumo rápido y libros de autoayuda. Época de transición y confusión. ¿Y si la reinvención de la política fuera un antídoto?

Frente a soluciones individuales, ésta es una propuesta de “autoayuda colectiva”. La que convierte la resignación y el cansancio en combustible para la democracia. Para la vida buena. Para recuperar la alegría de la política.

En las revoluciones en el mundo árabe, la diferencia entre un contratista o un mercenario la marcaba el bando en el que se peleaba. En la Roma clásica, a los esclavos se les llamaba instrumenti vocali; en la Alemania nazi, no se gaseaban personas sino unmenschen. En las barriadas pobres de América Latina, los niños de la calle ya han sido condenados a muerte cuando se les dice desechables.

El lenguaje que creemos hablar, en realidad nos habla. Si el tiempo es oro ¿cómo encontrar cuándo escucharnos? Biendecir es dialogar; maldecir, monologar. Sólo el diálogo construye la felicidad. En su soliloquio, Hamlet enloquecía. Don Quijote, cuerdo, hablaba con Sancho Panza. Tiempo de despensar las palabras que la política convirtió en callejones sin salida.

Enlaces relacionados: Entrevista en ATTAC TV

quinta-feira, 27 de outubro de 2011

Earth Grab: Geopiracy, the New Biomassters and Capturing Climate Genes

http://fahamubooks.org/book/?GCOI=90638100969040

Authors: Diana Bronson, Hope Shand, Jim Thomas, Kathy Jo Wetter

This three-part book 'pulls back the curtain on disturbing technological and corporate trends that are already reshaping our world and that will become crucial battlegrounds for civil society in the years ahead.'
Vandana Shiva, Founder, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology

'Geopiracy' analyses how Northern governments and corporations are cynically using growing concerns about the ecological and climate crisis to propose geoengineering 'quick fixes'. These threaten to wreak havoc on ecosystems, with disastrous impacts on the people of the global South. As calls for a 'greener' economy mount and oil prices escalate, corporations are seeking to switch from oil-based to plant-based energy.

'The New Biomassters' exposes how a biomass economy based on using gene technologies to reprogramme living organisms to behave as microbial factories will facilitate the liquidation of ecosystems. This constitutes a devastating assault of the peoples and cultures of the South, accelerating the wave of land grabs that are becoming common in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

'Capturing Climate Genes' shows how the worlds largest agribusiness companies including Monsanto, BASF, Dupont and Syngenta are pouring billions of dollars into, and claiming patents on, what are claimed to be 'climate-ready crops'. Far from helping farmers adjust to a warming world – something peasant farmers already know how to manage – these crops will allow industrial agriculture to expand plantation monocultures into lands currently cultivated by poor peasant farmers. These crops are not a solution to growing hunger, they will feed only the gluttony of corporate shareholders for profits.

sexta-feira, 21 de outubro de 2011

Circuses Without Bread

The barefaced lie about Gadaffi being killed in the crossfire bodes ill for the openness, transparency and good government we can expect to see now in Libya. But today I am worrying about the effect on our society of human death as entertainment. I have never been an apologist for Gadaffi, but if his regime tortured and murdered, the remedy is not to torture and murder him – even the Nazis were given due process.

This murder is becoming the norm. It was a NATO air strike which took out Gadaffi’s escaping convoy and first wounded him. Two days ago two teenage sons of Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical US/Yemeni cleric executed without trial last week, were executed by a US drone attack as they had dinner. They were aged 16 and 19. They had committed no crime I can find alleged against them. There has been no publicity.

All this killing brings triumphalist politicians smirking on our screens. We seem to have become as dehumanised as ancient Rome. Little human pity is expressed for the way Gadaffi was killed – indeed there is notably less media reflection of pity or revulsion than there was at the (at least judicial) hanging of Saddam Hussein. Is that a measure of the descent into bloodlust barbarism in our society? The complete lack of empathy towards the traveller families being torn from their homes at Dale Farm is part of the same brutalism towards “the other”. Why don’t we go the whole way and have them eaten by lions in the ring?

History shows that bloody appetite once aroused feeds upon itself. We have already had Defence Secretary Hammond on Sky News today positing NATO action now against Syria, while the current US proto-pretext for attacking Iran – the fantasy plot against the Saudi Ambassador – is as believable as Gadaffi’s death in the crossfire.

More death is on the way, to keep the circus going. Then the crowds may not notice there is no bread – no jobs, and their earnings and income eaten up by huge state enforced transfers to the bankers, whether by bailouts or “quantitive easing”.

Quantitive Easing is the best con of all for the ruling classes. In the UK, the £225 billion of printed money to date under quantitive easing has been – every single penny – given to the bankers. Good money for bad, used to buy up the junk bonds which the bankers bought in their terrible investment decision making, and for which fake assets they had awarded themselves many, many billions in personal bonuses. They are rescued from the consequences of their disastrous judgements by the Bank of England printing (in old parlance) new, good money to buy the rubbish they invested in. The result – more rounds of huge personal bonuses for celebrating bankers!! Hooray!!! For you and I, stagflation.

30 months ago, when I explained that Q.E. was another huge transfer to the bankers and predicted it would lead to stagflation, I was widely ridiculed across the web. Now we have the stagflation and everything I predicted has come to pass.

All of which you would normally expect to make people pretty unhappy at the biggest transfer of wealth from poor to rich in history.

Quick! More War! More Militarism! More Blood! More Executions! More Victory for Democracy! Keep the Peasants Happy!
Get a Move On There! Come On!! Come On!! More Blood!! More Blood, Quick, Damn You!!
 
Source:  http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/10/circuses-without-bread/

terça-feira, 11 de outubro de 2011

Addicted to tax havens: The secret life of the FTSE 100

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/11/ftse100-subsidiaries-tax-data

ActionAid have produced another fine report, this time about the use of tax havens by multinational corporations listed on the FTSE 100. The statistics are staggering: for example more than half of the financial sector's overseas subsidiaries are in tax havens. More precisely:

  • The FTSE 100 largest groups registered on the London Stock Exchange comprise 34,216 subsidiary companies, joint ventures and associates.
  • 38% (8,492) of their overseas companies are located in tax havens.
  • 98 groups declared tax haven companies, with only two groups, Fresnillo and Hargreaves Landsdown, who did not.
  • The banking sector makes heaviest use of tax havens, with a total of 1,649 tax haven companies between the ‘big four’ banks. They are by far the biggest users of the Cayman Islands, where Barclays alone has 174 companies.
  • The biggest tax haven user overall is the advertising company WPP, which has 611 tax haven companies.
  • The FTSE 100 companies make much more use of tax havens than their American equivalents.
  • There are over 600 FTSE 100 subsidiary companies in Jersey (more than in the whole of China), 400 in the Cayman Islands and 300 in Luxembourg – all tiny tax havens.
Alongside the financial sector, oil and mining companies are also huge users: TJN recently noted that they are often headquartered in Canada, and ActionAid noted that

"BP and Shell have almost 1,000 tax haven companies between them, including more than 100 in the Caribbean (hardly a major source of oil)."
(Recently we noted the huge role that the Netherlands plays in hosting offshore subsidiaries of oil companies, and another report by Publish What You Pay Norway noted the huge role played by Delaware too.)

ActionAid points to the artificiality of it all:
"In locations such as Mauritius, Jersey and Delaware we have identified hundreds of subsidiaries owned by dozens of different multinationals that are registered at a handful of individual addresses, belonging to offshore law firms."
And to the crucial development angle:
Corporate tax avoidance, one of the main reasons companies use tax havens, has a massive impact on developing and developed countries alike. The lack of transparency makes it difficult for developing country tax authorities to identify and collect taxes owed by global companies operating in their countries.
All credit to ActionAid for this:
This research is based on information that had never been disclosed, let alone analysed, until this year.11 UK law compels companies to report all of their subsidiary companies, together with their country of registration. When we looked for this information in early 2011, we discovered that more than half of the FTSE 100 were not complying with this legal obligation. When enquiries to individual companies failed to persuade them to disclose the information, we submitted complaints to Companies House, forcing the disclosures as part of companies’ annual returns and sparking Business minister Vince Cable to announce an investigation.
The Guardian, reporting this, (and providing a listing of the FTSE 100 and their subsidiaries) notes that:
"There is no standard definition of what constitutes a tax haven."
Indeed. We use the terms 'tax haven' and 'secrecy jurisdiction' interchangeably, and recently produced a two-pager (as part of our Financial Secrecy Index) entitled What is a Secrecy jurisdicsion? which says exactly that, and explores ways to think about the phenomenon.

Also see The Independent reporting on this, along with the Press Association, and Metro.

Older reports, involving the use of companies in tax havens by Swiss, US, France, and the Netherlands, are here. Further information on Spain, is here.

Source: http://taxjustice.blogspot.com/

terça-feira, 4 de outubro de 2011

"Propaganda has become the primary means by which the wealthy communicate with the rest of society. Whether selling a product, a political candidate, a law, or a war, seldom do the powerful delivery messages to the public before consulting their colleagues in the public relations industry."

"Psywar" Film by Scott Noble

sábado, 1 de outubro de 2011

Putting Brussels' lobbyists on the map

Our unique new guide to the hidden world of corporate lobbying in Brussels is now available, highlighting the players, the locations, and the tactics used by big business to influence decision making in the European Union. 
 
http://www.corporateeurope.org/publications/putting-brussels-lobbyists-map

The new edition of the Lobby Planet to Brussels’ EU quarter features a guide to some of the biggest lobby players operating in Brussels, as well as three thematic tours, highlighting the carbon lobby, the finance lobby and the agribusiness lobby. The guide also features a specially-commissioned cartoon of Brussels’ lobbyists at work, and full colour maps to guide you through the streets and squares of the EU quarter.

There are an estimated 15-30,000 lobbyists targeting EU decision makers in Brussels, mainly representing business interests, making the EU quarter home to one of the highest concentrations of lobbyists in the world. The Lobby Planet guides you through the maze of the EU institutions, the lobby groups, the agencies and the company offices which make up their lobbying world.

The first edition of Corporate Europe Observatory’s Lobby Planet guide was produced in 2004, and proved an eye-opener to many who were unaware of the scale of industry lobbying in Brussels. The number of lobbyists in the EU capital has grown significantly since then and there are growing calls for greater transparency and stricter rules on lobbying. Download a copy of the Lobby Planet to Brussels' EU quarter here: Lobbycracy 

quinta-feira, 29 de setembro de 2011

Black Tuesday, A Novel by Nomi Prins

http://www.nomiprins.com/black-tuesday

In this vivid tableau of New York on the cusp of the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929, Black Tuesday captures the romance and desperation of one of our most fascinating historical epochs. From the beleaguered immigrant community of the Lower East Side to the feral pit of Wall Street and the alluring glitter of Park Avenue, Nomi Prins reveals a world of fraud, obsession and economic devastation in a turbulent era that shines a revealing light on our current times. Black Tuesday is an epic saga that probes the complex intersections of class, family loyalty, passion, and the terrible consequences of deception, greed and power.
Click here for excerpt.

segunda-feira, 26 de setembro de 2011

Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism


Sheldon S. Wolin, born in 1922, is Emeritus Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He taught political theory for 40 years at Oberlin College, the Universities of California, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles, Princeton University, Cornell University, and Oxford University.

Democracy is struggling in America—by now this statement is almost cliché. But what if the country is no longer a democracy at all? In Democracy Incorporated, Sheldon Wolin considers the unthinkable: has America unwittingly morphed into a new and strange kind of political hybrid, one where economic and state powers are conjoined and virtually unbridled? Can the nation check its descent into what the author terms "inverted totalitarianism"? Wolin portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested and submissive—and where elites are eager to keep them that way. At best the nation has become a "managed democracy" where the public is shepherded, not sovereign. At worst it is a place where corporate power no longer answers to state controls. Wolin makes clear that today's America is in no way morally or politically comparable to totalitarian states like Nazi Germany, yet he warns that unchecked economic power risks verging on total power and has its own unnerving pathologies. Wolin examines the myths and mythmaking that justify today's politics, the quest for an ever-expanding economy, and the perverse attractions of an endless war on terror. He argues passionately that democracy's best hope lies in citizens themselves learning anew to exercise power at the local level. Democracy Incorporated is one of the most worrying diagnoses of America's political ills to emerge in decades. It is sure to be a lightning rod for political debate for years to come.
Source: http://universitypressaudiobooks.com/detail.php/24

segunda-feira, 12 de setembro de 2011

Economics Unmasked: From power and greed to compassion and the common good


By Manfred Max-Neef and Philip B. Smith

The economic system under which we live not only forces the great majority of humankind to live their lives in indignity and poverty; it also threatens all forms of life - indeed life itself. Economics Unmasked presents a cogent critique of the dominant economic system in order to help transform our society into one in which all forms of life will be protected.

The first part of this book is devoted to showing that the theoretical constructions that have been selected work mainly to bring about injustice. The second part is concerned with what should be the foundations of a new economics where justice, human dignity, compassion and reverence for life must be the guiding values.

quinta-feira, 8 de setembro de 2011

Économie solidaire & monnaie locale

 
Économie solidaire & monnaie locale - 2/5 

Économie solidaire & monnaie locale - 3/5  
 
Économie solidaire & monnaie locale - 4/5

Économie solidaire & monnaie locale - 5/5

Juillet 2011 Jean-Paul PLA, conseiller municipal délégué à la ville de Toulouse, présente l'économie solidaire et la monnaie complémentaire locale crées pour la cité.

quarta-feira, 7 de setembro de 2011

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization



Dr. David Montgomery, professor of geomorphology, University of Washington discusses the problem of global soil degradation and soil erosion and why it is one of the most significant environmental crises that face our species and planet for the next 400 years to come.

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations by David R. Montgomery


Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil—as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

PAIS - Fase 1 - Escolha do Terreno

 
PAIS - Fase 2 - Preparação do Quintal
 
PAIS - Fase 3 - Construção de Galinheiro
 
PAIS - Fase 4 - Implantação de Horta
 
PAIS - Fase 5 - Instalação de Irrigação

PAIS - Produção Agroecológica Integrada Sustentável. 
Uma parceria SEBRAE e Fundação Banco do Brasil.

terça-feira, 6 de setembro de 2011

Life After Growth - Economics for Everyone



Directed, Written, Shot, and Edited by Leah Temper and Claudia Medina

IT'S TIME TO RECLAIM THE ECONOMY

The economic crash of 2008 revealed not only the frailty and vulnerability of the economic system, it also showed the false basis that the growth economy is built on – the financial bubble grows bigger and crashes bigger, but we don't seem to be getting any happier. To the contrary, we suffer from greater job insecurity and environmental chaos threatens.

The prescription from the mainstream economists is more growth – but is this just taking more of what ails us?

Has growth become uneconomic?

Is there another way?

This film is part of an ongoing project to document the rise of a new movement – calling not for more economic growth, but LESS. The degrowth movement, or "mouvement por le decroissance", argues that through a voluntary reduction of the economy we can work less, consume less and live better, fuller lives.

Many have been pointing out that our current economic system is leading us to an environmental
and social catastrophe. "Life After Growth" begins to point to the people and communities who are looking for ways out. These are the pioneers who are rethinking the role of economics in our lives, and are engaging in different types of economic activity, right now.

The D word is still taboo in many circles – politicians are loath to go against the growth orthodoxy that our society is based on. But everywhere people are engaging in degrowth type activity - the beginning of a wave that is laying the groundwork for a post-capitalist future...

Because it's not the size of the economy that counts, it's how you use it!

contact: lifeaftergrowth@gmail.com

This film was made with the support of the Fundació Autònoma Solidària,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

segunda-feira, 5 de setembro de 2011

TEDxBloomington - Keith Johnson "Food Security and Resilence"


http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com

Keith Johnson was raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (where he learned at an early age he was related to Johnny Appleseed), and has been a commercial landscaper, stonemason, and organic gardener since 1976 in places as varied as subtropical Bay Area of California, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Michigan, & the mountains of W. North Carolina. After devouring Permaculture One in 1978 he continued to learn all he could on the subject. He's been teaching Permaculture since '95, has instructed more than 700 students, many of those through Indiana University's annual Design Course which began in 2003. He's taught or trained with Bill Mollison, Larry Santoyo, Tom Ward, Penny Livingston, Peter Bane, Chuck Marsh, Starhawk, and Jerome Osentowski.

Now resident in Bloomington, Indiana, Keith participates in a number of local activism projects including the editorial guild of the Permaculture Activist, the founding of Transition Bloomington (Indiana's first Transition Town Initiative), boardmember of the Local Growers Guild, contributor to Bloomington's Peak Oil Task Force, member of the Bloomington Permaculture Guild & member of the Bloomington Food Policy Council. A frequent public speaker and radio interviewee, he works constantly to share a vision of cultural and ecological regeneration and continues to provide ecological design and consultation services via Patterns for Abundance.

Keith's presentation at TEDxBloomington included a remarkable visual presentation of the transformation of the suburban forest garden he co-manages on the 2/3 acre site where he homesteads with Peter Bane and a regular flow of interns.

La doble cara de la moneda



Versión original con subtítulos en español.

La double face de la monnaie

Le pourquoi des monnaies complémentaires dans un monde où l’argent est roi.

L’argent est devenu la valeur centrale de nos sociétés. Comme une drogue, les individus, toujours à sa recherche, craignent d’en manquer. Beaucoup sont prêts à faire n’importe quoi pour s’en procurer. Depuis la fin des années 90, des systèmes d’échanges complémentaires sont mis en place par des citoyens un peu partout dans le monde. La monnaie redevient un outil social, au service de l’homme. Le Chiemgauer allemand, la Banque du temps anglaise et les Systèmes d’Echange Locaux (SEL) français, sont des preuves concrètes que la monnaie peut redevenir un sujet de débat dans la société occidentale.

domingo, 4 de setembro de 2011

The Economics of Enough


http://www.thersa.org/events/video

Economist Diane Coyle proposes first steps towards creating a sustainable economy - but can we have enough to be happy without cheating the future?

GROWTH FETISH by CLIVE HAMILTON



At last a coherent new set of ideas for critics of economic rationalism and globalization. Hamilton argues that an obsession with economic growth lies at the heart of our current political, social and environmental ills - and offers a thought-provoking alternative.
'Right on target, and badly needed' Noam Chomsky

'Every now and then a book that is perfect in timing and tone hits my desk. Growth Fetish is that book. It is powerful and potentially transformative.' Rev. Tim Costello

'This book reveals the undelivered reality of economic growth and the hollow mantras of the Third Way. Growth Fetish provides a much needed road map to a new politics in a post-growth world.' Senator Natasha Stott Despoja

For decades our political leaders and opinion makers have touted higher incomes as the way to a better future. Economic growth means better lives for us all.

But after many years of sustained economic growth and increased personal incomes we must confront an awful fact: we aren't any happier. This is the great contradiction of modern politics.

In this provocative new book, Clive Hamilton argues that, far from being the answer to our problems, growth fetishism and the marketing society lie at the heart of our social ills. They have corrupted our social priorities and political structures, and have created a profound sense of alienation among young and old.

Growth Fetish is the first serious attempt at a politics of change for rich countries dominated by the sicknesses of affluence, where the real yearning is not for more money but for authentic identity, and where the future lies in a new relationship with the natural environment.

sábado, 3 de setembro de 2011

Conferencia Carlos Taibo


Conferencia día 13 de abril en Barcelona

Carlos Taibo - Decrecimiento


http://www.attac.tv/

En esta entrevista Carlos Taibo nos explica qué es el decrecimiento, nacido como crítica al crecimiento ilimitado en un mundo con recursos limitados, y como propuesta de debate social.
El decrecimiento es una corriente de pensamiento político, económico y social favorable a la disminución controlada de la producción económica con el objetivo de establecer una nueva relación de equilibrio entre el ser humano y la naturaleza, pero también entre los propios seres humanos.

Homenaje a Cataluña II



"Homenaje a Catalunya II es un documental, una investigación, una historia de historias sobre la construcción de una economía sostenible, solidaria y descentralizada. Tejiendo redes que superan la individualización y la división jerárquica del trabajo. Miles de personas cada día en todo el mundo. Aquí y ahora."

Sitio web: homenatgeacatalunyaii.org/​es
Licencia: creativecommons.org/​licenses/​by-nc-sa/​3.0/​deed.es

sexta-feira, 2 de setembro de 2011

Are we slaves to debt? The history of spending more than we have


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/

The debate over what to do about debt is nothing new, according to anthropologist David Graeber. Alison Stewart talks with Graeber about our misconceptions about debt and why it plays such a large role in history. Need to Know airs Fridays on PBS.

domingo, 28 de agosto de 2011

DEBT: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber


Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter system--to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There's not a shred of evidence to support it.

Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the beginning of the agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems. It is in this era, Graeber shows, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.

With the passage of time, however, virtual credit money was replaced by gold and silver coins--and the system as a whole began to decline. Interest rates spiked and the indebted became slaves. And the system perpetuated itself with tremendously violent consequences, with only the rare intervention of kings and churches keeping the system from spiraling out of control. Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history--as well as how it has defined human history, and what it means for the credit crisis of the present day and the future of our economy.

sábado, 27 de agosto de 2011

Subconscious War


New half hour documentary on media, reality & a culture of violence.

Capitalism Is The Crisis (Full Movie)


http://capitalismisthecrisis.net/

The 2008 “financial crisis” in the United States was a systemic fraud in which the wealthy finance capitalists stole trillions of public dollars. No one was jailed for this crime, the largest theft of public money in history.

Instead, the rich forced working people across the globe to pay for their “crisis” through punitive “austerity” programs that gutted public services and repealed workers’ rights.

Austerity was named “Word of the Year” for 2010.

This documentary explains the nature of capitalist crisis, visits the protests against austerity measures, and recommends revolutionary paths for the future.

Special attention is devoted to the crisis in Greece, the 2010 G20 Summit protest in Toronto, Canada, and the remarkable surge of solidarity in Madison, Wisconsin.

It may be their crisis, but it's our problem.

quinta-feira, 25 de agosto de 2011

New Dream Mini-Views: Visualizing a Plenitude Economy



This fun animation provides a vision of what a post-consumer society could look like, with people working fewer hours and pursuing re-skilling, homesteading, and small-scale enterprises that can help reduce the overall size and impact of the consumer economy. Narrated by economist and best-selling author Juliet Schor (julietschor.org).

Peak Oil Blues - We're All Bozos on this Bus


http://www.peakmoment.tv

Peak Moment 199: "My own reaction seemed so crazy to me," says psychologist Kathy McMahon of her response to Peak Oil. Wondering if she was the only "wacko", she started the Peak Oil Blues blog to explore her own and readersapos; responses. As the "Peak Shrink," Kathy formulated a delightfully tongue-in-cheek "Panglossian Disorder" -- an unrealistic optimism about the future. She is about to publish "I Can't Believe You Actually Think That! A Couple's Guide to Finding Common Ground about Peak Oil, Climate Catastrophe, and Economic Hard Times." (http://www.feistylife.com/).

quarta-feira, 24 de agosto de 2011

Marinaleda, otro mundo es posible. Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo


Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, alcalde de Marinaleda nos muestra la experiencia que estan realizando en la población andaluza y comparte su visión sobre como hacer para caminar hacia ese otro mundo posible.

terça-feira, 23 de agosto de 2011

Catherine Austin Fitts The Looting Of America



http://solari.com | Financial terrorism and the war on the middle class.

Former Assistant Secretary of Housing under George H.W. Bush Catherine Austin Fitts blows the whistle on how the financial terrorists have deliberately imploded the US economy and transferred gargantuan amounts of wealth offshore as a means of sacrificing the American middle class. Fitts documents how trillions of dollars went missing from government coffers in the 90′s and how she was personally targeted for exposing the fraud.

sábado, 20 de agosto de 2011

Douglas R. Hofstadter - Singularity Summit at Stanford



Douglas R. Hofstadter: Trying to Muse Rationally about the Singularity Scenario

see http://www.singinst.org/media/ for more

sexta-feira, 19 de agosto de 2011

THE KINGDOM OF SURVIVAL - OFFICIAL TRAILER


http://www.slowboatfilms.com/

THE KINGDOM OF SURVIVAL seeks out radical and alternative visions that challenge the status quo and features Prof. Noam Chomsky, Joe Bageant, Dr. Mark Mirabello.

The Kingdom of Survival is an interdisciplinary documentary combining speculative travelogue and investigative journalism in order to trace possible links between survivalism, spirituality, art, radical politics, outlaw culture, alternative media and fringe philosophy.
Circling through themes of utopianism, globalized capitalism, anarchism, intellectual and spiritual self-defense, religion and art, the film investigates physical and psychological survival strategies practiced by groups and individuals in a conflict-ridden and confused post-post- modern world.
Maverick writer and filmmaker M.A. Littler hits the outlaw highway in search of visions that challenge the status quo.
On his journey Littler crosses paths with renowned linguist and dissident Prof. Noam Chomsky, outlaw historian Dr. Mark Mirabello, gonzo journalist Joe Bageant, legendary reclusive cabin builder Mike Oehler, anarchist book publisher Ramsey Kanaan, egalitarian radio host Sasha Lilley and folk musician Will "The Bull" Taylor.
Together they explore radical and alternative visions for the 21st century.
Bob Meisenbach, Mike Oehler, Sasha Lilley, Ramsey Kanaan of AK/PM Press and Will "The Bull" Taylor.

The Kingdom of Survival est un documentaire interdisciplinaire qui combine enquête-itinérante-spéculative et journalisme d'investigation afin de tracer des liens possibles entre le survivalisme, la spiritualité, l'art, la radicalité politique, la culture hors-la-loi, les contre-médias et la philosophie de marge.
Naviguant autour des thèmes de l'utopie, du capitalisme mondialisé, de l'anarchie, de l'auto-défense intellectuelle et spirituelle, de la religion et de l'art, le film étudie des stratégies de survie physique et psychologique telles qu'elles peuvent être pratiquées par des groupes ou des individus qui ne se reconnaissent plus dans une société post-moderne régie par la confusion et les conflits permanents.
M.A Littler, écrivain et cinéaste dissident, taille la route à travers l'Amérique à la recherche de visions qui défient le statut quo.
Au cours de son voyage il croise le chemin d'un objecteur de consciences et linguiste renommé, Noam Chomsky, d'un universitaire spécialisé dans l'histoire des Hors-la-lois, Mark Mirabello, d'un écrivain et journaliste gonzo, Joe Bageant, d'un légendaire ermite et constructeur de cabanes à 50 dollars, Mike Oheler, d'un éditeur de littérature anarchiste, Ramsey Kanaan, d'une productrice de radio égalitaire, Sasha Lilley, et d'un musicien de Folk, Will « the Bull » Taylor.
Ensemble ils explorent et proposent des visions radicales et alternatives pour le XXI ème siècle.

Conférence sur la Décroissance, Barcelone 2010



"Celui qui 
croit que la croissance peut être infinie dans un monde fini est soit un fou, soit un économiste."

Kenneth Boulding (1910-1993), président de l’American Economic Association.

L’association "Recherche & Décroissance" (degrowth.net) met en œuvre et diffuse des études et des recherches théoriques et pratiques s’inscrivant dans le champ de la décroissance économique. R & D soutient une décroissance économique en tant que réduction collective des capacités d’appropriation et d’exploitation des ressources naturelles ayant pour objectif une société plus écologique, plus équitable, plus démocratique et répondant aux besoins humains.

En marge de la deuxième Conférence sur la Décroissance, organisée par R & D , au mois de mars 2010 à Barcelone, nous avons pu recueillir les impressions de quelques intervenant-e-s et participant-e-s. Ils nous livrent leurs analyses à chaud de la situation du mouvement de la décroissance et leurs réflexions sur les changements nécessaires pour sauver notre monde de la catastrophe.

Cette seconde conférence, s’appuyant sur le succès de la première et l’élan de chercheurs travaillant sur la décroissance, entendait se concentrer sur les nouvelles conditions amenées par la crise économique et souhaitait développer des propositions politiques claires et des stratégies d’action dans le cadre de la décroissance.

Musique : "Puerquerama" de Toluca (Etat de Mexico), "I wanna be a white trash man" "Pare de sufrir" "Cinismo al servico de la masas" - myspace.com/​pqrm

quarta-feira, 17 de agosto de 2011

Geoffrey West: The surprising math of cities and corporations


http://www.ted.com

Physicist Geoffrey West has found that simple, mathematical laws govern the properties of cities -- that wealth, crime rate, walking speed and many other aspects of a city can be deduced from a single number: the city's population. In this mind-bending talk from TEDGlobal he shows how it works and how similar laws hold for organisms and corporations.

domingo, 14 de agosto de 2011

Dave Montgomery at Edmonds Community College



Prof. Dave Montgomery gives his talk 'Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations' at Edmonds Community College in April 2010. Prof. David Montgomery is a geomorphologist who has discovered that the roughly 3 foot-deep skin of our planet is being slowly eroded away, and we are in danger of suffering the same fate as the fallen empires of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, and Rome. To learn more, visit: http://www.samaralectures.com/speakers/david-montgomery/

Dave Montgomery - Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations



Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Author David Montgomery has discovered that the three-foot-deep skin of our planet is slowly being eroded away, with potentially devastating results. In this engaging lecture, Montgomery draws from his book 'Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations' to trace the role of soil use and abuse in the history of societies, and discuss how the rise of organic and no-till farming bring hope for a new agricultural revolution.

sábado, 13 de agosto de 2011

Deep Green Resistance - Strategy to Save the Planet


http://deepgreenresistance.org/

Deep Green Resistance - Strategy to Save the Planet Part 2 of 7
http://youtu.be/Xru_O51Ccg4

Deep Green Resistance - Strategy to Save the Planet Part 3 of 7
http://youtu.be/rqWoICL-2GQ

Deep Green Resistance - Strategy to Save the Planet Part 4 of 7
http://youtu.be/9ZxBg1CbmG8

Deep Green Resistance - Strategy to Save the Planet Part 5 of 7
http://youtu.be/LXvDj-FNPiU

La Via Campesina em Movimento... Soberania Alimentar Já!


Vean este documental de 20 minutos de duración y difúndanlo entre sus vecinos, amigos, comunidades, organizaciones locales, en centros culturales, festivales de cine, manifestaciones... Pueden incluso organizar una proyección seguida de un debate al que puedan invitar a campesinos y autoridades locales o a quien esté interesado.

sábado, 11 de junho de 2011

12 lines of flight for just degrowth


Now, our stirring paper for the debate of Attac Germany about degrowth is available in English – here.

1.) Our goal: Social rights – global and concrete

What is our goal in criticising growth, and why do we think it necessary in principle to sketch lines of flight for a degrowth economy at this juncture? Our goal is to establish social rights globally, such that a good life is possible for everybody. Our alternative of a just degrowth economy is not simply focused on an abstract „survival of humanity“ or „saving nature,“ as are many varieties of growth criticism. This kind of perspective is in danger of obscuring the concrete social rights of individuals and groups. Instead, it aims at meeting the demand for social justice and equality in the here and now, and in the future. Just as in the past when the English farmers were driven from the commons by the landed aristocracy, the social question cannot be considered separately from the ecological – despite the fact that this has been done frequently in the past. After a period in which transnational corporations have seized more and more natural resources, and in view of the worldwide escalation of the biocrisis (that is: the climate crisis, peak oil, loss of biodiversity, land degradation, etc.), which dramatically threatens the survival of hundreds of millions of people, (global) justice can only mean socio-ecological justice. A central coordinate pointing in that direction is the just degrowth economy.

2.) Nature is limited and resistant

Unlimited growth on a finite planet is impossible. Neoclassical economists block out the existence of nature and its resistance. Matter, space and time, as dimensions of what we call reality, do not appear in their textbooks. Nature appears only in the form of resources, which when scarce can be substituted for by the increased investment of capital. Yet production and reproduction are fundamentally based on nature: the planet provides services (clean air, farmland, etc.), and raw materials are extracted from it and transformed. Nature has limits, and they can only be insufficiently compensated for by capital. Of course, it would be possible to calculate the costs of using artificial pollination machines for an orchard in California, but when there are no more bees, then we are in serious trouble.
The global biocrisis, above all the climate crisis, and the fact that the production peak of petroleum (Peak Oil) will soon be reached, place external limits on growth. The connection between the exploitation of highly concentrated fossil energy sources and the capitalist system of growth makes Peak Oil (prognoses range from 2005 to 2020) an especially critical phenomenon – the question is simply how to respond: chaotically and violently, or with democratic planning and cooperation. Deadly weather extremes and resource wars cast longs shadows ahead. This will not improve conditions for social struggles worldwide.

3.) Decoupling is not possible

The past few years have seen a renaissance in concepts of „sustainable“ or „green“ growth, a Green New Deal and other variations of „green“ capitalism. Think tanks develop new concepts, with which politicians try to create new majorities. Common to all of these programmatic approaches is the notion that a comprehensive decoupling of economic growth from resource use and environmental destruction is possible. Technological innovations, renewable energies, increases in resource-use efficiency and the “green” service sector society – the proclaimed goals of dematerialized growth – would make it possible for the gross domestic product to continue to grow, while at the same time less and less fossil energy and other limited resources are used. This kind of decoupling – to the absolute degree that would be necessary – is an illusion. The necessity for reducing CO2 emissions in the advanced industrial countries of the North, while simultaneously maintaining their economic growth, necessitates increases in resource efficiency and technological developments that are beyond what is technically and politically possible. This is true also in view of the manner in which our economy functions, the historical evidence of the falling rate of innovation and the failure of decoupling strategies up until now.[1] Hence, growing out of the biocrisis is not a viable option. Moreover, shrinking the economy to a healthy level in the North is also necessary because the poorer regions in the South must be given options for development and growth in the mid-term future.

4.) „Leur récession n’est pas notre décroissance!“

…was a slogan during the protests against the crisis in 2009 in France („Their recession is not our degrowth!“). Because one thing is clear: Our idea of a degrowth economy is not to shrink the economies within the existing economic and social structures and distributory relations – this would lead to massive social cutbacks, poverty and other symptoms of capitalist crisis, such as we are currently experiencing. Within the existing growth-dependent structures, shrinking the economy means that increases in productivity cannot be compensated for by growth, and consequently unemployment increases rapidly. Demand decreases, the crisis intensifies, the recession is accompanied by deflation. At the same time publicly administered tax revenues decrease, social security systems come under pressure, and debt explodes. Both lead to a dangerous spiral of recession and pauperisation. In growth-dependent capitalism the following holds: shrinkage = recession = social crisis.

5.) …and your austerity is not our degrowth!

The transformation to a just degrowth economy demands struggling for a new economic grammar, one that would make social justice and a good life for people all over the world possible in the first place. It would lead consequently to a reduction of the GDP. However, focusing solely on the imperative to shrink is reductionist and dangerous. This is made evident by neo-liberal and conservative or neo-feudalistic varieties of growth criticism, especially in the Federal Republic of Germany, which, with their ecologically motivated arguments join the reactionary chorus of: „We have lived beyond our means,“ or: „We have to tighten our belts,“ and turn criticism of growth into a lever for justifying austerity and cuts in social services.[2] In opposition to this, the concept of a solidarity-based degrowth economy of décroissance aims at a democratically negotiated reduction of production and consumption in order to enable social rights for everyone, globally, now and in the future.

6.) There is no good growth, only a good life!

Degrowth is not aimed at abstract and utopian speculation about a society that emerges after capitalism, rather it aims at recognizing often unseen socio-economic and ecological dynamics, and the corresponding reorientation of emancipatory strategies. Governments and transnational corporations are opposed to this. Yet the same is true of those who agitate against the current crisis with the slogan „No cuts, more growth“, like the bureaucrats of the European Federation of Trade Unions. Despite the necessity for pushing back against social cuts, they fall into the illusion that social problems can be solved by more growth. For decades the growth rates of the industrial countries have been declining, a process which has its causes not only in the limits to growth (increasing cost of resources, destruction of the climate, etc.), but also in the internal barriers of capitalistic development (relative saturation of demand). Growth alone has not been enough to alleviate structural unemployment effectively (jobless growth) for a long time; nor does growth increase public welfare; and the rising tide does not lift all boats.[3] Peak Oil is also a serious challenge to the growth strategies of the traditional left. Wars fought to secure raw materials, catastrophic deep-sea drilling and millions of refugees are an integral part of the fossilistic growth model. Growth is opposed to the goal of global social rights. Because what grows are abstract exchange values and accumulation opportunities for the few, which make a good life for everyone impossible.

7.) Goodbye, Keynes – good morning Keynes and beyond…

Keynesian policy-making failed in the 1970/80s when it was no longer able to satisfy the requirements for returns on capital. In short: the Keynesian growth model reached its limits. The answer was the neo-liberal counter-revolution, as Milton Friedman, its mastermind, called it. In the meantime, the neo-liberal growth model of finance capitalism is also in a crisis. In view of the failure of Keynesianism – above all in the global context – and the apparent ecological limits, hopes for a new Keynesian phase, an eco-Keynesian growth program beyond neo-liberal finance-market capitalism, miss the mark. Many concepts discussed by the emancipatory Left – even Keynesian – are still important, especially those aimed at reducing social injustice and exploitation: radical redistribution, shortening of working hours, economic democracy and control of capital and investment. It is necessary to re-conceptualize these in connection with ideas that go further, such as (re)appropriating common goods, deglobalisation, new forms of work, food sovereignty[4] and energy democracy, under the guiding principles of an economy that does not grow, but shrinks to a point of stabilisation. So it is necessary to discover the hidden Keynes, the theoretician of stagnation, who sketched a society freed from the compulsion to work and the profit motive. In the end we have to pass through and go beyond Keynes, in order to arrive at our just degrowth economy.

8.) Reduce production, shorten working hours, redistribute wealth, regulate investment

Degrowth means a break with the superficial, positive-sum game logic of distributory policy making and the illusion of an economy based on scarcity, one in which there is only redistribution when the economy grows. Not only has „trickle-down“ failed radically; growth actually contributes to the production of underdevelopment and the increasing inequality of distribution. Yet there is enough for all. Wealth must be distributed equitably, and not grow further. For this to happen, we not only need a minimum income, but also a maximum income, as the French décroissance movement demands.
Degrowth also says goodbye to the illusion of a growth-based full-employment society. For a long time, the real rates of growth have not been sufficient to integrate the work force, set free by increases in productivity and commoditisation, back into the labour market. The alternative to making large sections of society poorer and „obsolete“ is to shorten the working hours for everyone. In addition, reducing the absolute number of hours performed in wage-labour is actually necessary for a long-term reduction of the GNP. 20 hours are enough – for a start![5] And don’t forget: there is a life beyond working for wages, in which – as feminist economists always stress – much of the necessary work (re)producing society is performed. And this also has to be distributed – to everyone.
The reduction of working hours is sand in the gears of the growth economy and it creates necessary strategic latitude, but that alone is not enough. In the end, additional massive „rationalisation“ would be the answer of corporations, and their imperative to make profits, to grow, would not be dislodged. New forms of demonetised transaction, a just solidarity-economy and the cultivation/management of commons are crucial. At the same time it is necessary to intervene in the actually existing finance capitalism, to control investment democratically and turn it around – away from fossil high-growth sectors to the „care economy“, use-value oriented grass-roots services and social-ecological reorganisation. And instead of servicing (public) debt, we struggle for debt cancellation. Drop the debt! [6]
 
9.) Beyond capitalism 


All those who seriously attempt to go beyond a criticism of growth and strive for degrowing the economy face enormous challenges, because it is a matter of fundamental social transformation, one which takes hold at the roots. Plausible technocratic concepts for a degrowth economy, as well as exemplary islands of projects of a solidarity-based economy are essential – but they are not enough if the accumulation process of capitalism continues. Growth is driven by the blind self-realisation of capital: Money is invested in production in order to earn more money, which requires an increase in the production of value. So degrowth means that the self-valorisation opportunities of capital decrease and the fictitious asset claims, inflated by the financial markets, cannot be realised. In addition, in order to arrive at a just and ecological economy, many production facilities – above all in the fossil sectors – must be shut down in the course of a transformation to a degrowth economy (disinvestment). Both mean the destruction of capital. There is no way around this central core of political economy if global social rights are to be realised, and thus no way around the question of power. The problem: the neo-liberal project of globalisation, with its liberalisation of markets (WTO, IMF), privatisation, de-regulation and attacks on collective social agents, has increased the power of transnationally active capital enormously. FAQ: what constellation of social agents, with what interests, means and strategies has the will and ability to establish a just degrowth economy and the necessary de-commodification and de-monetisation of the (re)production sectors?


10.) Buen vivir beyond tradition and modernity


The idea of eternal growth, tied to the idea of homo economicus, is an integral component of the concept of modernity. It is time to abandon this notion here and now. But the good news is: „We never were modern!“, as Bruno Latour discovered and Donna Haraway confirmed.[7] Nor are we the „dromomaniacs“ (speed fanatics) as we have been called by the French urbanist Paul Virilio.[8] But even if we abandon growth – farewell, farewell! – we will continue to claim the modern concepts of human rights and democracy, which have been the fruits of struggles for emancipation. Degrowth does not mean abandoning the idea of the possibility for progress – instead it means liberating the idea of progress from the belief in piling up goods and economic growth. Thus, degrowth does not mean returning to tradition, to the stone age, or giving in to an anything-goes post-modernism. Degrowth takes seriously the post-colonial situation and the multi-polar constellation caused by the ascendancy of newly industrialising countries – and thus the question of global justice and equality. The concrete utopia of the good life (buen vivir) in an egalitarian society without growth constitutes a new point of orientation beyond tradition and modernity. The idea of a just degrowth economy reopens the horizon of opportunity beyond the dominance of ruling economic conceptions and imperatives. It is a matter of de-colonizing the imagination, of the de-mystification of fetishised conceptions such as economic growth, progress, wage labour, efficiency and GNP. Preguntando caminamos…

11.) Trans-communalism instead of post-democracy


Democracy has been suffering severe attacks through the neo-liberal rollbacks since the 1970/80s. At the latest with the emergency conditions of the world economic crisis and the massive bailout packages put together overnight for the banks we have arrived at a post-democracy. The social impact of the crisis and the social consequences of the biocrisis increase the pressure on democratic structures. Therefore, a just degrowth economy requires new democratic institutions, a reconstitution of local and national democracy. European democracy and a global democracy are still a long way off. Therefore the restructuring of production aims for deglobalisation, a new articulation of the local level with the national and global on the basis of new democratic procedures.[9] Among these are the control of financial markets, and especially investments. We will not fall into the trap of shortsighted localism. Nor that of racist chauvinism in view of the streams of migrants and the projected nine billion people living on this planet. Instead, it is necessary to invent democratic trans-communal strategies.

12.) The horizon of degrowth

Defensive battles against the politics of austerity will impact the second phase of the crisis, which began in the Euro zone. These struggles against social cuts are and will continue to be defensive. An offensive project that actually points beyond (neo-liberal, finance-market driven) capitalism is not yet evident. But we need a new horizon in order to focus our energies. One of the guiding points (directions) which mark this new horizon is the (solidarity-based) degrowth economy.
The altermondialiste or „global justice“ movements (comprising trade unions, political groups, networks and organisations) with their anti-neo-liberal position played an important part in reconstituting the social question after the long years of the neo-liberal „pensé unique“ of the 90s. Around 2007/08 – symbolized by the founding of Climate Justice Now! at the climate summit in Bali, the first degrowth conference in Paris, and most of all by the indigenous movements at the World Social Forum in Belem[10], etc. – the reconstitution of the field of critical political ecology, environmental and climate justice began.
It appears imperative to us that ecological justice becomes an integral component of a potential second cycle of the „global justice“ movement. The degrowth horizon links the social and ecological questions (of distribution), it connects micro-practices with macro-economic concepts and joins trans-communally the local with the national and the global level. The just degrowth economy is a perspective for an offensive movement that connects the old and the completely new in a coming horizon.
(Translated from German by Larry Swingle, Coorditrad, with additions from Michelle Wenderlich)

[1] Cf. Sustainable Development Commission (2009), Prosperity without growth?, http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/redefining-prosperity.html; NEF (2010), Growth Isn’t Possible, http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/growth-isnt-possible.
[2] Cf. www.denkwerkzukunft.de/index.php/englishdocuments Cf. also the ideas of Zac Goldsmith, a conservative representative in the House of Commons, „The Constant Economy.“
[3] This saying can be traced back originally to J.F. Kennedy, and it claims that growth raises the income of the poorest. Cf. for example, the speech by the managing director of the IMF, Rodrigo de Rato, A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: How Europe, by Promoting Growth, Can Help Itself and Help the World, http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2006/052206.htm; and the report by NEF (2006), Growth Isn’t Working, http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/growth-isn%E2%80%99t-working.
[4] Cf. http://viacampesina.org.
[5] Cf. www.neweconomics.org/publications/21-hours.
[6] Cf. www.cadtm.org
[7] Bruno Latour (2008), We Have Never Been Modern. Attempt at a Symmetrical Anthropology, Harvard University Press; Donna Haraway (1991), Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, New York.
[8] Paul Virilio (1986), Speed and Politics: An Essay on Dromology, Autonomedia.
[9] Walden Bello (2002), Deglobalisation: Ideas for a new world economy, Zed Books.
[10] Cf. www.movimientos.org/fsm2009.