{"id":22511,"date":"2017-01-13T18:41:34","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T23:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=22511"},"modified":"2017-01-13T18:41:34","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T23:41:34","slug":"de-constructing-growth-decoupling-profits-from-unsustainable-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=22511","title":{"rendered":"De-[Constructing] Growth: Decoupling Profits from Unsustainable Production*"},"content":{"rendered":"
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De-[Constructing] Growth: Decoupling Profits from Unsustainable Production*<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Degrowth has been described as a \u201cmovement\u201d rather than an ideology1<\/a>, and as such it presents several variations. For some of its proponents, degrowth is a proxy for sustainable consumption, and to a lesser extent production2<\/a>. A second group of degrowth advocates are those for whom an emerging discussion of \u201csufficiency\u201d as a societal norm is taking shape, as a result of activism3<\/a>. Finally, a third group of advocates views anti-capitalism as central to the degrowth agenda. They see growth as the principal influence and root cause of sustainability challenges.<\/div>\n
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Most importantly, amidst these diverging perceptions within the degrowth movement, a continual dissatisfaction with the term degrowth has been voiced, acknowledging its unfortunate connotations and difficulty in influencing mainstream policy discussions.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While not offering a critique of the degrowth discourse, I throw some light on the debate by offering a deeper and more useful conceptualization that avoids the negative connotations of, and resistance to, \u201cdegrowth\u201d4<\/a>. Conceptually, rather than simply describing the degrowth discourse by the descriptor \u201cdegrowth\u201d, I recommend a more nuanced approach that gets rid of the jargon and negative aspects of the evolving concept of degrowth and makes a distinction between growth in production and growth in private-sector profit. My proposed formulation,\u00a0De-[Constructing] Growth<\/em>, achieves this by decoupling profit from unsustainable consumption and production.<\/p>\n

Meanings and implications of growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to this formulation, growth widely understood has different meanings and implications:<\/p>\n