The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism, by Matthias Schmelzer, Aaron Vansintjan and Andrea Vetter

• Verso Books
• 320 pages
• June 2022
• 9781839765841

One of the biggest book releases on the topic of degrowth in the last few years, The Future is Degrowth is a comprehensive investigation of both economic growth (including a full chapter critiquing growth from eight different aspects) as well as a thorough exploration of degrowth. The four chapters on degrowth include ‘Degrowth visions,’ ‘Pathways to degrowth,’ ‘Making degrowth real’ and ‘The future of degrowth’.

This book is a fascinating look at what has been happening in the degrowth space to date, an analysis of whether those initiatives are enough (or indeed if they slow down the counter-hegemonic movement that we need) and what else we could be doing to make degrowth real. A must read for anyone interested in the topic of degrowth.

About the authors of The Future is Degrowth:

“Matthias Schmelzer is a Berlin-based economic historian, social theorist and climate activist. He works at Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena and is active in various social-ecological networks and movements. He has published The Hegemony of Growth and edited Degrowth in Movement(s).”

Follow Matthias on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.

“Aaron Vansintjan lives in Montreal and writes about food, cities, politics, and ecology. He is the co-founder of Uneven Earth, a website focusing on ecological politics. He has been published in The Guardian, Briarpatch Magazine, Red Pepper, Truthout, Open Democracy, and The Ecologist.”

Follow Aaron on X (formerly Twitter)

This piece by Aaron is one of my favourite short pieces on the topic of degrowth (note – it’s not for the faint-hearted!): ‘Degrowth Is Punk as F*ck‘

“Andrea Vetter is a transformation researcher, activist and journalist, using degrowth, commons and critical eco-feminism as tools. She teaches transformation design at Braunschweig University of Art. She is editor of the magazine Oya and lives in and is co-founder of the House of Change, a transregional rural space for art, learning and co-creation in Eastern Germany.”

About Erin Remblance, your host during #DegrowthLitMonth:

Erin Remblance established her early career in blue-chip fast-moving consumer goods companies in Sydney & London, but always sensed there was more important work to be done. Having children gave her the space to explore the environmental and cultural crises on the planet that need to be urgently addressed. She shifted her focus to dedicate her life towards educating people on climate change, degrowth, planetary boundaries, modern monetary theory and more. Erin is a writer, researcher, co-creator of (re)Biz, wife, and mother of three children. She lives north of Sydney, Australia with her family, on the occupied ancestral country of the Gayemagal people.

Follow Erin on Substack, LinkedIn, (re)Biz and X (formerly Twitter).

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