From September 28-30 2018, advocates of a US-based Degrowth movement gathered in Chicago to share ideas and advance activism and scholarship for Degrowth. Over 60 individuals from a great variety of organizations and geographies attended.

Spiral Economy Workshop

Jonathan Pereira, Executive Director of Plant Chicago, presented criteria for local circular economies.

Erik Assadourian, Senior Fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, introduced the Spiral Economy - a merger of degrowth and circular economy concepts.

Workshop participants were asked:

How do these concepts work together?

How/when are they opposed?

What does a merger of the Circular Economy and Degrowth look like?

film screening & workshop

Lindsay Coulter of Yumuko Workshop presented the film River Blue about environmental impacts associated with the modern textiles and fast fashion industries.

She led us in an indigo dying workshop and taught us a bit about the indigo plant and history of textile dyes. We even got to dye our own fabric pieces!

To energize our thinking on degrowth, we heard from a series of speakers on related environmental and social concepts:

Anne Nicklin, Reuse Studio - Building materials reuses and engaging the existing circular economy.

Nathan Proctor, U.S. PIRG - The national Right to Repair campaign

Reed Miller, Yale University - Industrial ecology & degrowth

Aaron Karp - Addressing climate change by establishing a democratic steady state economy and developing popular autonomy

Mike Strode, Kola Nut Collaborative - Time banking and the solidarity economy

Barry Feldman - Embodiment activism, horizontalism, and catalyzing a transformational degrowth movement

Values, Degrowth and alternative measures of progress

a lecture by tim kasser, knox college professor of psychology

Professor Kasser presented his research on how alternative metrics can influence public decision making that favors degrowth and environmental conservation. Metrics regarding community health and the environment tend to activate and encourage intrinsic or self-transcendence values within people. This is in contrast to metrics such as the GDP, which rewards financial transactions and thus activates extrinsic or self-enhancement values. From this value activation perspective, Dr. Kasser has developed the concept of an “Alternative Indicator Cycle” in which the success of government and society is measured by community values and ecological health. The use of these alternative metrics strengthens self-transendence and conservation values among voters and decision-makers, leading to a virtuous cycle, improving governance and potentially ushering in the democratic and sustainable degrowth we seek.

SUNDAY at UIC & IIT

communicating degrowth

Filmmaker and thought-leader John de Graaf gave a talk and led a workshop in communicating Degrowth.

John has spent decades covering topics related to the economy and societal well-being. His film AFFLUENZA (1997) popularized an important criticism of consumer culture: that it wasn’t delivering the well-being benefits it promised. He has made over thirty documentaries covering environmental and economic issues. John has also launched campaigns promoting alternative economic metrics, shorter working hours and most recently And Beauty for All.

He talked about his initial reluctance to use the term “degrowth” in describing his vision of a healthy and sustainable future. It can sound negative to an audience primed to believe a healthy economy must grow in material wealth. However, as the Degrowth movement has evolved it has shown many overlaps with John’s goals of promoting widespread, equitable and low-material well-being. He now discusses degrowth in his lectures and writings.

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