For Work / Against Work
Debates on the centrality of work

Barca, Stefania The labor (s) of degrowth 2019 Article Degrowth, Feminism, Feminist Theory, Ecology, Alienation, Democratic Theory, Class, Socialism
Citation Barca, Stefania 2019 Article Capitalism Nature Socialism Degrowth Feminism Feminist Theory Ecology Alienation Democratic Theory Class Socialism

"The labor (s) of degrowth"

by Barca, Stefania (2019)

Abstract

The degrowth debate so far has lacked a clear vision of what social subjects, and which processes of political subjectivation, can turn its vision into a political strategy. In this contribution to the debate on degrowth and eco-socialism, I point to the place of labor in the politics of socio-ecological revolution, arguing that degrowth should aim for a truly democratic, workers’ controlled production system, where alienation is actively countered by a collective reappropriation of the products of labor and by a truly democratic decision-making process over the use of the surplus. Such strategy must be based on an extended concept of class relations that goes beyond the wage labor relation, and toward a broader conception of work as a (gendered and racialized) mediator of social metabolism. I conclude that ecosocialist degrowth should take the form of a struggle for dealienating both industrial and meta-industrial labor.

Keywords

Degrowth, Feminism, Feminist Theory, Ecology, Alienation, Democratic Theory, Class, Socialism

Themes

Links to Reference

Citation

Share


How to contribute.