Paech Liberation from excess

The road to a post-growth economy
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-3-86581-527-9
Verlag: oekom
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 160 Seiten

"Self-determination depends not in having much but on needing little." Niko Paech

After a stressful week at work, we all feel we sometimes deserve a treat too: perhaps the latest smartphone, an iPad, or a flatscreen television. Before we know it, we are stuck in the vicious circle of consumer desire and time poverty. And that is not all: the constant demand for "more" ist causing raw materials to dessapear and driving environmental destruction forward.

The world is still not ready to abandon the drug of "growth". However, the debate about the end of excessiveness is gathering momentum.
Sustainability researcher Niko Paech provides a timely polemic that unmasks the "green" growth as a myth. Yet "green" growth and "sustainable" consumption are seen as the new and best way forward. Despite this, the suptle distinction - here "good", there "bad" growth - is held by Paech to be nothing than a sham.

In his counter model of a post-growth economy, he calls for restrictions upon industrial value added processes and for patterns of self-suficiency to be strengthened. This form of economic activity would not only be more frugal but also more stable and environmentally friendly. And it would also provide a release for the many people who already find life in the rat race of material self-realisation very uncomfortable.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Paech, Niko

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Liberation from Excess;1
2;Summary;6
3;Introduction The twilight of affluence – A chance for greater happiness?;8
4;Chapter I Living beyond one’s means – A perceived human right;14
4.1;The great mobilisation;15
4.2;Have now, pay later;18
5;Chapter II The illusion of progress – Affluence through plundering;24
5.1;Efficiency myth I: Industrial division of labour and the market economy;25
5.2;Efficiency myth II: Innovation and productivity advancement;30
5.3;Labour as the source of prosperity?;34
5.4;Surrounded by energy slaves;37
5.5;Simulating one’s own performance;41
5.6;The extended reach of our prosperity model;45
5.7;Knowledge as the source of wealth?;50
5.8;Preliminary conclusion: The return to a settled lifestyle and a human scale;52
6;Chapter III The illusion of freedom – New dependencies;58
6.1;The higher you fly, the farther you fall;59
6.2;"Peak Everything": Consumer societies lose their material basis;62
7;Chapter IV The myth of decoupling – The fairy tale of "green growth";66
7.1;Material rebound effects;70
7.2;Financial rebound effects;78
7.3;Psychological and political rebound effects;83
7.4;Absolute decoupling;86
7.5;Shifting orientation from the object to the subject;90
8;Chapter V Enough is never enough – Growth pressures and growth drivers;96
8.1;Structural growth pressures;96
8.2;Cultural growth drivers;102
9;Chapter VI Less is more – Outline of a post-growth economy;106
9.1;Economy of proximity: Relieving structural growth compulsion;107
9.2;Creative subsistence as a replacement for industrial output;112
9.3;Sufficiency and time;117
9.4;The role of businesses;122
9.5;What would post-growth politics look like?;125
10;Conclusion We (still) have a choice!;132
11;An overview of the post-growth economy;139
12;Quoted and further literature;141
13;Acknowledgements;144
14;About the Author;145