Towards a Society of Degrowth

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-032-17673-4
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 148 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 240 g

Reihe: Routledge Explorations in Environmental Studies

This book explores the concept of degrowth, beginning from a basic assumption, not of resource depletion, as is common in most literature in the field, but rather from a state of abundance, arguing that there is a vast amount of energy on the planet waiting to be utilized by all its inhabitants.

Adopting a sociological approach, Onofrio Romano argues that the growth momentum is not simply a broadly shared “value,” but the physiological outcome of a specific institutional frame. The problem is that in its mainstream formulation the degrowth alternative shares with the growth-led regime some basic anthropological, political, and institutional pillars. In order to build a real alternative, Romano suggests reviewing degrowth in the light of the dépense notion by Georges Bataille. According to Bataille, our societies have no problem with acknowledging scarcity, but with dealing with the surplus energy that calls us to act for a qualified life. So, in order to erase the growth obsession, we have to ward off the “servile” dimension, i.e., the utilitarian activities needed for the mere reproduction of life, to regain sovereignty, as reflected in the de-thinking subject.

Innovative and provocative, Towards a Society of Degrowth will be of great interest to students and scholars of degrowth, sociology, social anthropology, political ecology, and ecological economics.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Romano, Onofrio

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften, Biologie: Sachbuch, Naturführer
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Umweltökonomie
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Nachhaltigkeit
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Geographie: Sachbuch, Reise
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Ökologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword 1. The Sociology of Growth 2. Degrowth: The Rise of a Radical Alternative 3. Rethinking Degrowth though Dépense 4. Beyond the Servile: The Society of Degrowth

Über Autor(innen)

Onofrio Romano is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Bari, Italy.