This is a demanding study—not easy reading. It is an economics text, or more precisely, a critique of economics. A collection of essays by different authors, all arguing that our current economic model, even when labeled "sustainable," is fundamentally broken. A few profit at the expense of the many.
We must change course, the authors insist, if future generations are to live decently. "Degrowth," they argue, does not mean returning to the medieval age—no electricity, computers, or cars. It means changing how we think. It means recognizing that humans are part of nature, not masters of it. Nature has its limits. Some of its resources, now being exploited at an accelerating rate, will soon run out. The book notes that these ideas have deeper roots than many realize: thinkers like Ivan Illich explored "degrowth" and conviviality in the 1970s, and Russian scientist Vernadsky wrote about ecosystems in the 1940s. The book reads as an invitation to pause and reflect: Where is consumerism taking us? What about advertising, fashion, the obsession with personal comfort at others' expense? What world are we building?
The final three chapters shift to practical examples—"degrowth workshops" and initiatives that are gradually spreading across Europe and Italy. They include "solidarity economy networks" (RES) and "local exchange systems" (SSL). The authors offer real models for change.
I hope our young readers will take time with this essay and sit with what these authors have to say. I am too old to see the better world we all wish for. But perhaps you will not be.
Sergio de Rino, 2006
