Where does degrowth fit in?

Attending the recent Beyond Degrowth Aotearoa conference got me thinking about how we achieve social change on a scale that ensures we avoid hitting societal roadblocks

I’ve long wondered where progressive social movements should apply their finite time and energy to generate deep-seated change. Is it best to build up alternatives ready for the inevitable collapse of the status quo? Or do we focus on tearing down the broken system that people and the planet suffer under?

Returning home from the Beyond Degrowth Aotearoa conference this question resurfaced. I welcomed the chance to spend time with many thoughtful people working on a cross section of environmental, social and justice issues. It was energising to see many fellow travelers still active after 20, 30 or more years.

I joined day two which focused on creating more resilient communities. There was a strong emphasis within the programme on co-creating the world we want to live in. There were speakers on upcycling, zero waste, repair cafes and community resilience building. Food sovereignty and urban design got a look in too.

Emma Hogan-Heke, Sustaining Hawke’s Bay Trust CEO.

I can think of many other initiatives that would have easily fitted in. Even in my neighbourhood or nearby we have a community garden and orchard, a food coop, a bike library, men’s shed, and community owned energy generation. Then there are citizen-led democratic revitalisation projects such as the Our Vision for Raumati.

In the wider region there are larger scale mutual aid networks, such as the Hauora Kai Fruit & Vege Co-op which provides affordable, local, fresh, seasonal produce to hundreds of whānau every week. Up in Ōtaki the Māoriland Hub operates as a dynamic centre for Māori and indigenous film and creativity.

Having spent days on end assigned to a public info role on civil defence emergencies while working for MPI, the importance of community-led disaster responses was drilled into me. Through the efforts of small community groups, marae, hapū and iwi, people received the help they needed in an efficient and equitable way.

There are countless examples of the vitality of Māori leadership and agency, but the Covid-19 pandemic response really highlights how strong this is. The many local grassroots, community-level responses to Covid-19 lockdowns and vaccination imitative led by Māori delivered value-driven holistic approaches to health and well-being.

And lets not forget the burgeoning sector of for-purpose businesses which focus on socially useful production. The organisations listed in the ākina impact directory provide a snapshot of NZ businesses eshewing profiteering to put people and planet, first.

When I look at this hastily compiled list, which I could spend even more space enumerating, there is an incredibly rich and diverse alternative economic and social movement going full steam ahead here in Aotearoa. There truly are 1000 flowers blooming.

One of the challenges we face is to see all this activity as being more than the sum of its parts. How can we build up community-led solutions on a scale large enough to displace the dominant capitalist economic system? As long as the vested interests of profit maximising capital underpin how we allocate resources and set rules, it seems near impossible for a ground-up social movement to gain more than a toehold.

I'm not intending to sound defeatist when I say this. However, I'm very aware that degrowth is the latest attempt to bring alternatives to the fore. Similar ideas have been grouped under the headings of regenerative, thriving, democratic and living economy. Writing in 1991, John Pearce describes how the heart of the community economy are social business that regenerate the local community, deliver local services and tackle social problems. What is different this time?

Great Simplification advocate Nate Hagens.

The bleak picture painted by Nate Hagen, who beamed in from the USA, shows many obstacles lie ahead as we hit what he calls societal road blocks. The prescription for change he outlined is seriously ambitious. And as if this isn’t daunting enough, Hagen doesn’t think a majority of people are going to willingly embrace simplicity and less consumption. The glimmer of hope, yet again, comes from citizens.

In an interview by Vicki Robins for the What Could Possibly Go Right? podcast, Hagens said:

"So I don’t think communities are going to change ahead of time en masse, but what can change is the networks and the relationships in the communities. And so no matter what future happens, if there are networks and social capital built up, even with five to 10% of the citizens in a community, then you just have much, much more leverage to what’s coming."

Because of this predicament, I believe that it’s vital that we not only work on building alternatives, but continue to rage against the broken status quo. I was heartened when Manu Caddie in the final slot at the degrowth gathering acknowledged the importance of protest. Caddie shouted out to those putting their bodies on the line. Since the conference he has put it this way in a LinkedIn post

“We should all participate in or encourage and support disruptive civil disobedience, including damaging property – systems change when people get angry enough, that creates opportunities for the more ‘reasonable’ advocates of change to be taken seriously and invited to negotiate a way forward.”

To introduce systemic change on the level we need to avert the roadblocks ahead, we are going to have to build our shared power. This won’t happen by accident so we need to be deliberate in developing shared goals, alliances and mutual support across a spectrum of groups and interests.

The work of the new Tapatahi coalition for a people’s Aotearoa is the sort of movement building that could well help us get cross-sectoral momentum. The alliance is rallying people around a broad agenda.

At the online launch of Tapatahi, Sue Bradford spoke about the role of unions in securing jobs that support everybody’s welfare. She went on to say that:

“Beyond and alongside unions, there needs to be political formations that are coherent across intersectoral lines, economic, social, ecological and Te Tiriti grounded. This is about power and building power in real life organisations and in real time, not simply online. There are values around unity I think we on the left need to learn and re-learn.”

The need for open dialogue and the importance of respecting differences but still getting on with the mahi was something that Bradford also touched on. One of the best things about the Beyond Degrowth gathering was being together with such a broad church, all interested in social change. It was only after I left the conference that my questions sprang to mind. I suspect if I'd raised them at the time someone would have said don't spend too long musing and get on with it.