Schedule 9th International Degrowth Conference

The era of fossil-fuel based growth is ending. What we perceive as a multiple crisis is developing into a ‘new normal’ which requires learning to live in a new, post-growth reality. This profound structural change is not yet fully understood by the majority of the population, and less so by political and business leaders. This turning point necessitates greater emphasis on non-market solutions managed for the public good, i.e. to the commons, as a key element of the emerging post-growth economy, and to commoning as vital to a strategy for transformation. Instead of a ‘Just Transition’, an influential political concept deeply rooted in the current economic structures, we argue for more radical approaches to transforming our societies and economies. One of these is a commons-based approach. The concept of the commons outlines shared, cooperative ownership of resources,including natural (air, land or water) as well as collectively generated artefacts (technologies given to humanity). Such commons stand in stark contrast to the capital-centric market logic of production and consumption. In our paper, we first present commoning as a set of alternative practices of organising just and decent living for all, presenting varied examples from Finland, Germany and South Africa. We then link such commons-based solutions to the wider thinking around just transformations. In this vein, we identify how a just transformation could be supported by the commons, but also how institutions are hindering commons-based solutions. We conclude by delineating the potential of commons-based solutions for a just transformation.

Info

Day: 2023-08-30
Start time: 12:15
Duration: 00:15
Room: ZV-8-8
Type: Paper Presentation
Theme: Alternative economies

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