[Anand Pandian]

A great discussion about the book: the concept of an imperial mode of living, Saito’s critique of Marx and his critique of contemporary constructions of the future, as well as the strategies of collective organizing he suggests as pathways toward a viable degrowth communism. We talked about the stagnation of capitalist economies around the world, slowing down as a phenomenon already underway, about the limits of both productivism and a kind of Promethean modernism, and about tensions and impasses between individual and collective self-understanding. Lastly, we talked about failures in contemporary imagination and the need to shift the parameters of reality to think beyond capitalism, which is related directly to our hopes with the EDC of working together to recuperate other futures, lean into practices of materially remaking the world, and working with cities and localities as arenas of engagement. I may continue to share more thoughts here; please feel free to join in…

[Michael Degani]

https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/growth-degrowth-kohei-saito-susskind/

thenation.com

The Intractable Puzzle of Growth

For more than a century, the key measure of a healthy economy has been its capacity to grow and yet if production and consumption continues to expand at their current rate we might risk the very health of the planet.