"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

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10455752.2017.1373300?casa_token=IuvbfWvnOfwAAAAA:ZPULJcGLtMHr4hxHCmsF5U5hXe25CWYBIJG2KuI4izaa2vA8-d7mR3wWFPVI_D7htwtPgeIfFMDTyQ
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10455752.2017.1373300?casa_token=_d17OAl5YCoAAAAA:09dTfZCyDduPqCqZqV4PW1UlBlB27MNO2WS63SjzRIA8NpBn4_MW_-tf1-EJcHMWu-qlp44SmT9udw

Citation

Share

How to contribute.