The idea of negative growth dates back to the beginning of the 1970s, about 20 years before the emergence of the concept of "sustainable development." It is a radical critique of the principle of constant growth of global income, in other words GDP growth, on which the entire current economic order is founded.
The central argument of this critique: all the raw materials and the energy consumed today are lost for future generations. Rich countries must therefore consume a lot less in order to preserve well-being on Earth sustainably. At a time when there is more talk than ever on climate warming, hydrocarbon scarcity, and the destruction of biodiversity, advocates of the negative-growth thesis have reappeared after more than a quarter of a century of lethargy. Although it still has loopholes and is sometimes contradictory, some believe that the negative-growth thesis embodies the global economic theory that the alterglobalization movement is still lacking.
Brought together by members of the collective "Casseurs de pub" (advertisement busters) and the environmentalist magazine "Silence," some 200 "growth objectors" held a two-day symposium in Lyons (France). They discussed concepts such as "frugal innovation" in the rococo setting of a reception hall of the Lyons city hall decorated with gold leaves, a symbol of the wealth of the capital of Gaul.
Source: Transfert
_ www.transfert.net
