Version 3.2
Interweaving degrowth, postwork, and postdevelopment: Visions of post-productivist futures
How is challenging the hegemony of growth tied to challenging the hegemony of work and of development? Within capitalism, not only growth but also development and productivism are hegemonic, all-encompassing paradigms. In this session, we explore the intersections between degrowth, postwork, and postdevelopment scholarship as possible routes to post-productivist futures. Firstly, we discuss early contributions by degrowth pioneers such as Gorz, Illich, and Latouche, who are also postwork and postdevelopment scholars. While critiques of growth, work and development have thus clearly coevolved in early degrowth thought, the session will trace the ways more recent degrowth debates have often departed from this radical tradition. Secondly, we argue that this should change: all three strands of scholarship are natural allies with substantial views and positions in common, in particular around critiques of productivism. They add a much-needed critical corrective in sustainability debates, and point us towards alternative visions of the future.
In two conceptual papers (‘Connecting postwork, postdevelopment and postgrowth’ and ‘Critiques of work: The radical roots of degrowth’), authors will reflect the theoretical space opened up by a dialogue between postwork, degrowth and postdevelopment. A third empirical paper (‘The jobs-environment dilemma in Repparfjorden: How nature is sacrificed for the sake of jobs’) illustrates how these issues play out concretely in a jobs-environment conflict in the Arctic, where a copper mine has been permitted to operate on indigenous land and to use the fjord as dumpsite for toxic tailings in the name of ‘green jobs’. Modern understandings of work, green jobs and development are contrasted with the traditional Sámi understanding of work.
The paper presentations will be followed by a discussion between the paper authors (six female early-career researchers) as well as input and questions from the audience.
Info
Day:
2023-08-30
Start time:
16:30
Duration:
01:30
Room:
ZV-8-8
Type:
Special Session
Theme:
Hegemonic worldviews and degrowth horizon
