Abundance

The climate change crisis is a serious issue that veers into many political spheres. Even to maintain the climate the world already has, damaged though it is, requires more than inaction. One option for trying to preserve the climate, popular in some corners of the left, is a concept called “degrowth,” which Klein and Thompson describe as

an anti-materialist philosophy that holds that humanity made its fundamental errors hundreds of years ago, trading the animism of our ancestors for Christianity’s promise of dominion over nature. The problem is not simply greenhouse gas emissions or microplastics. It is Cartesian dualism and American-style capitalism and everything these systems of thought and practice have taught us to value and prize and want (57).

Degrowth seeks to recenter a holistic view of the world that does not place growth on a higher level of value than life. When it comes to climate change, degrowth seeks to shut off or scale down destructive areas of production, including military investment, fast fashion, meat and dairy production, and advertising. There is an appeal in this view, Klein and Thompson assert, but the issue stems from the struggle to collectively identify the destructive aspects of the global production system. For example, many people would oppose shutting down the production of dairy and meat, even though it is terrible for the environment, and humans thrive on a vegetarian diet.