Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto
Kōhei Saitō
"[A] well-reasoned and eye-opening treatise . . . [Kohei Saito makes] a provocative and visionary proposal." —Publishers Weekly, (starred review)"Saito’s clarity of thought, plethora of evidence, and conversational, gentle, yet urgent tone . . . are sure to win over open-minded readers who understand the dire nature of our global. . . . A cogently structured anti-capitalist approach to the climate crisis." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Why, in our affluent society, do so many people live in poverty, without access to health care, working multiple jobs and are nevertheless unable to make ends meet, with no future prospects, while the planet is burning?In his international bestseller, Kohei Saito argues that while unfettered capitalism is often blamed for inequality and climate change, subsequent calls for “sustainable growth” and a “Green New Deal” are a dangerous compromise. Capitalism creates artificial scarcity by pursuing profit based on the value of products rather than their usefulness and by putting perpetual growth above all else. It is therefore impossible to reverse climate change in a capitalist society— the system that caused the problem in the first place cannot be an integral part of the solution. Instead, Saito advocates for degrowth and deceleration, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and production. In practical terms, he argues the end of mass production and mass consumptiondecarbonization through shorter working hours the prioritization of essential labor over corporate profitsBy returning to a system of social ownership, he argues, we can restore abundance and focus on those activities that are essential for human life, effectively reversing climate change and saving the planet.
Publication Year: 2024
while the wording and argument can be very technical and word-y, i think this book has a lot of potential in advocating for fighting over-consumption, green-washing, and actively fighting climate change
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i picked up this book due to a recommendation as a starting point for de-growth in consumption, capitalism, and fighting climate change. after finishing, i'm unsure if this is a great starting point, but it's a useful manifesto nonetheless. Kōhei Saitō condenses decades of work on climate change, marxism and capitalism, and the fight for mutual aid in a short, declarative argument on how global countries need to change our consumption and our relationship to the environment. most of this is digestible, though Kōhei relies majority of his argument on Karl Marx's ideology and a new perspective of his work. my very general, very surface level knowledge of marxism was enough to float by, but affected my agreement with this being a starting point to learn about degrowth. this was more focused on what's not working, what got us here, and where does that leave us? this is a call to action to save our planet, save our global neighbors, and to save our collect future.
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