What is it?
Whilst not a new theory, Degrowth is a series of interconnected movements growing in popularity, now being widely posited as a possible framework for sustainable, long-term recovery from the pandemic.
Simply put, degrowth is focused on confronting the social and ecological harm caused by the pursuit of exponential economic growth, abandoning GDP as a measurement of well-being, and forging an equitable steady-state economy. The argument for degrowth suggests that the endless pursuit of expansion, which forms the basis of capitalism, is not only irreconcilable with the limited resources we have, but also unsustainable for global wellbeing.
Instead, degrowth offers a system which prioritises social and ecological health over profits and excessive consumption. It proposes a radical alternative with open, localised economies and a more equitable distribution of resources delivered through newly configured democratic bodies. The idea is that, essentially, our economy would be underpinned by care, solidarity and autonomy; shifting our focus from efficiency to sufficiency.
“We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.
How dare you!”
Greta Thunberg
Degrowth as a philosophy is not without its detractors or controversy. Take Wired’s article - Why Degrowth is the Worst Idea on the Planet. Others interpret it as a desire to return to a version of The Good Life, a revolt against capitalism and prosperity.
We think it’s an opportunity for innovation. For change. We think it’s where the sector should be leading the way - guiding the move away from prioritising shareholder growth to a holistic view of growth and value.
In this article we unpack some of the movements operating under the degrowth banner and explore what these could mean for the third sector.
RE-ASSIGNING VALUE
The Care Revolution is a movement that advocates fundamental social change and the appreciation of care work. Its aim is to create a social framework under which all people can meet their needs, especially those relating to care for one another, forcing us to reconsider where we assign value in society.
“Care Revolution’s aim is a society based on solidarity, oriented towards human needs and, in particular, towards caring for one another. In a society based on solidarity, the needs of all people in their diversity are met, without people from other global regions being discriminated against. Correspondingly, Care Revolution means that it is no longer profit maximisation but human needs that are the focus of social, and thus also economic action."
So what?
So much of our economy relies on the invisible value provided by non-commodified activities like care. During the crisis millions of people volunteered their time and resources to help others, their communities and the NHS. Former governor of The Bank of England, Mark Carney’s new book Value(s) argues that in failing to see the value of our natural environment and societies – other than the price attached to the commodities we can extract from them – we have ignored our impact on them.
The emerging opportunity to reassess, re-assign and re-quantify value could be relevant for every cause. How can the sector lead this conversation? How can you position yourself within this space to take advantage of the opportunity? How can you re-articulate and reimagine the value of your services and use this as a new way to communicate with and engage supporters?
EQUITY THROUGH LOCALISATION
Another movement under the degrowth banner is food sovereignty. The food sovereignty movement is a global alliance of farmers, growers, consumers and activists who argue that food sovereignty would allow communities control over the way food is produced, traded and consumed. It could create a food system that is designed to help people and the environment rather than make profits for multinational corporations.
“Localisation means getting out of the highly unstable and exploitative bubbles of speculation and debt, and back to the real economy – our interface with other people and the natural world.”
Helena Norberg-Hodge Author of Local is our Future: Steps to an Economics of Happiness
So what?
Localisation seeks to connect consumers more directly with the production of the (in this case) food they’re consuming. Imagine this approach taken to its extreme; where big organisations are forced to become and act local. What would your service provision look like if you only spent funding in the areas it was raised? If you gave equity of influence and decision making to supporters to make choices about local impact?
SUFFICIENCY OVER EFFICIENCY
In Finland, the Kohtuusliike (or moderation) movement is devoted to sufficiency. By focusing on sufficiency they direct attention to consumption, calling for the reduction of absolute levels and addressing overconsumption in rich countries in order to stay within the limits of the earth’s capacity. Simply put, use less not just use better.
And it’s not about sacrifice. The message is ‘enough can be plenty’ if we all make the appropriate choices and lifestyle changes. 'The Sufficiency Perspective in Climate Policy: How to Recompose Consumption’ suggests approaches for creating this societal change through a combination of: regulation to limit, economic to add a financial levy, cooperation to share the responsibility, nudging to encourage new behaviours and information to educate.
So what?
How can we reframe giving in this space? Using sufficiency as a counter to the efficiency and effectiveness model propagated by the effective altruism movement. How can you challenge the current expectation of continuous income growth being the default? How can charities innovate to do more with less (particularly after the pandemic)?
NOT EVERYONE'S ON THE DEGROWTH BANDWAGON
It’s interesting to see which kinds of platforms are publishing articles renouncing the possible benefits of degrowth and what might be an incentive for them: Forbes, The Times etc. Bill Gates’ How to Avoid Climate Disaster is an interesting take on green growth as opposed to degrowth (using technology to avoid climate disaster), and acknowledges that the world has moved so far forward that it might be impossible to simply turn back.
Amsterdam’s doughnut model, invented by Kate Raworth (who incidentally used to work for Oxfam), is a middle ground of sorts between green growth and degrowth, in which centralised institutions still exist, but with a common aim to ensure that everyone sits within the so-called “doughnut”. This is the sweet spot: the balance between living within our environmental means whilst maintaining stable wellbeing for everyone.
Act Now:
Consider - Blueprints for change:
Learning from the Finnish approach, where and how can you combine multiple approaches to create systemic change?
Experiment - Innovate. Innovate. Innovate:
Underpinning all these movements is a mass of innovation. New technologies, new systems, new approaches. Radical thinking and radical experiments that seek to imagine new possible futures. But all these approaches start with small scale experiments. How can you de-risk radical change by taking an incremental and experimental approach? (See our article on Remote Care for inspiration). How can you increase your impact (and service delivery) without increasing your infrastructure, by investing in digital? If innovation sits in one silo or one team, how can you champion innovation across the org?
Challenge - Breaking the growth habit:
During the pandemic charities were confronted with the necessity to do more, with less. How can you challenge the continuous drive for year on year growth. Were you efficient rather than sufficient in the last year? And what would sufficient have looked like? What’s driving this need and could there be other models of collaboration that would enable the delivery of impact but reduce the need to double income every 10 years?
Imagine - Charities leading the way:
If the degrowth movement continues to grow it could be a massive opportunity for the sector to lead change. We don’t know yet where it will head, but we believe there’s a role for the sector in trying to lead the conversation and engage with these movements. How can you connect with these communities and these supporters?