Beyond optimum economic growth
Post-growth is a stance on economic growth concerning the limits-to-growth dilemma[1] — recognition that, on a planet of finite material resources, extractive economies and populations cannot grow infinitely.[2][3][4][5][6][7] The term "post-growth" acknowledges that economic growth can generate beneficial effects up to a point, but beyond that point (cited as $25,000 GDP/capita by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in their book The Spirit Level) it is necessary to look for other indicators and techniques to increase human wellbeing.[4][5][8]
Post-growth can be distinguished from similar concepts and movements (such as degrowth and steady-state economy) in that it seeks to identify and build on what is already working, rather than focusing on what is not.[9] Post-growth advocates try to encourage, connect and further develop already existing ideas, concepts, technologies, systems, initiatives, and actions. In this way, "post-growth" does not specify the answer to the limits-to-growth challenge, as "steady state economics" and "degrowth" attempt to do, but rather, seeks to understand and address this challenge from an evolving complex systems perspective. With this perspective, post-growth deals with all aspects of self and society (such as psychology, human nature, human evolution, cultures, social systems and economies) and the interrelation of all of these aspects. Accordingly, the post-growth concept also advocates solutions that are appropriate with regards to place, time, resource and cultural factors. Therefore, post-growth initiatives take shape in very different ways under different circumstances.[10]
Post-growth can be considered an asset-based approach to community development — applied not only to community development but across a wide range of categories — in response to limits-to-growth challenges, as it seeks to identify and build on cultural and technological assets to facilitate the emergence of post-growth futures.[10] In his landmark work Prosperity Without Growth (Routledge, 2017), the economist Tim Jackson demonstrates that building a ‘post-growth’ economy is indeed a "precise, definable and meaningful task". Starting from clear first principles, he sets out the dimensions of that task: the nature of enterprise; the quality of our working lives; the structure of investment; and the role of the money supply.[11][12][13]
Foundational points
The foundational points[1] that connect "post-growth" perspectives are:
- Acknowledging limits to economic and population growth.
- Recognising that, due to these limits, it is necessary to embrace shifting beyond economic growth as a goal.
- Shifting focus from current metrics of success such as GDP to new ones such as Gross national happiness (GNH), the Happy Planet Index, and/or other well-being indices.
- Using wisdom gained in the growth-based economic era (and before it) in order to transcend to sustainable futures.
- Thinking and acting according to values of cooperation, sharing, social justice and ecological stewardship, on local as well as global levels.
Post-growth initiatives
A main concept present in the post-growth movement is that there is not one post-growth future, but a diverse range of post-growth futures that can unfold simultaneously.
Just as there are many ways of living now in a growth-oriented society, a multitude of post growth futures are possible and many ways of living post growth already exist today. What these futures hold in common is a desire to separate good growth from bad, and to develop human potential and happiness within, and in relation to, a physically finite earth. A post growth economy puts life and everything needed to maintain it at the center of economic and social activity as opposed to the never-ending accumulation of money, and the pursuit of growth of all kinds without regard for its consequences.
—
Post Growth Institute, their website[1]
There is an increasing number of post-growth-oriented initiatives that are emerging in order to create prosperity in locally resilient, self-sufficient ways. Often these initiatives have come about as a response to sustainability issues. One example of a post-growth initiative is the Transition Movement, which seeks to create local resiliency in the context of peak oil and climate change (Transition Network). Voluntary simplicity (also known as simple living) and downshifting are also growing trends that can be considered post-growth. Tiny homes, ecovillages, and Quakers are good examples of how voluntary simplicity can be put into practice (see the Testimony of Simplicity). Post-growth ideas and actions are gaining international attention in the mainstream media, as The Guardian and Treehugger both featured articles about the post-growth movement in 2012.[10][14]
Free Money Day is an annual, global post-growth event, in which people give away money to strangers as a way of sparking dialogues and critical thinking about money, peoples' relationships with money, and the value of economics based on sharing.[15]
In 2012, the Post Growth Institute released the (En)Rich List, a parody of the Forbes List of Billionaires that aimed to highlight influential post-growth thinkers “whose collective contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures”.[16]
Cosmopolitan localism or cosmolocalism has been proposed as a structural framework for post-growth technology. It organises production by prioritising socio-ecological well-being over corporate profits, over-production and excess consumption.[17]
German post-growth theory
The German economist Niko Paech analysed current problems and possible solutions in his publications since 2005.[18]
Paech sketches four reasons for and five steps to implement his theory.
Reasons:
- there is no empirical or theoretical reason to disconnect economical growth via markets and money from mankind exterminating risks caused by ecological destruction such as the climate crisis[19]
- after achieving a certain level of income there is no further improvement of happiness achieving more monetary income [20]
- the "imperative logic of growth", decreasing hunger, poverty(trend of global improvement interrupted in 2020[21]) and economical inequality[22][23] by further economical growth is ambivalent[24]
- economical growth has economical limits like "peak oil". High demand for certain resources limits production capabilities. Highest demands in nations like China or India increases costs for resources that have been essential for growth so far[25]
Implementation :
- decluttering and deceleration: it is pure economical logic to get rid of unnecessary goods and gadgets, claiming time, money, space and ecological resources providing little use. Individuals and society shall be liberated from unnecessary "goods"
- balance out self and external supply. Dependence on external growth based economy supplies is at risk since interdependencies cause fragility (e.g.European dependence on Russian petrol/gas[26] till the war in Ukraine, global dependence on Ukrainian grain[27][28]). The longer the supply chains are the more fragile and less resilient they are in crisis. Stability is given by short distances between Production and consumption. There is a need for reactivation of basic skills such as gardening and repair satisfying basic needs without using monetary based, international dependent markets. Restructuring self- and foreign provided support should reduce money and growth dependency. Subsistence, community gardening, exchange rings, common use of land and tools are practical approaches for de-globalisation.
- regional economics would decrease risks such as climate change(or the impact of global events like the Ukraine war on energy prices) since there is less need for individual mobility and transportation of goods.[29] It should be supported by regional currencies keeping purchasing power in the region while using the advantages of monetary based economies, avoiding the risks of monetary integration in global markets. Concepts like Community supported agriculture allow the consumers participation in the production and distribution of supplies while sharing the risks of farming while creating more biological awareness, making consumers prosumers.
- Goods that can not be avoided, such as high-technology like medical equipment, computers and agricultural tools and vehicles shall be limited in production, shared, repaired and used as long and intensive as possible making overproduction and scrapping unnecessary.
- Institutional innovations: soil and monetary reforms, implementing local currencies equipped with interest free circulation safety. Environmental exposure limited by universal usage rights for each prosumer oriented on the planets capabilities to deal with pollution and carbon dioxide (Paech estimates 2-3 tonnes of CO2/capita).[30]
