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Reimagine the Degrowth Theory in a Resilient Community: the Fragile Path Toward “Democracity”

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Reimagine the Degrowth Theory in a Resilient Community: the Fragile Path Toward “Democracity” Reimagine the Degrowth theory in a resilient community: the fragile path toward “DemocraCity” Marco Carcea This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Health, Arts and Design Swinburne University of Technology 2019 1 Abstract For the last ten years, the world economic system has been suffering from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the ineffectual regulation of the world’s financial systems. A second significant crisis occurring at the same time is the environmental crisis due to the increasing threat posed by climate change. These events have drawn more attention to the issues of sustainability and the impossibility of infinite economic growth in a finite world. A significant paradigm to emerge out of these crises is the idea known as “Degrowth Theory” introduced by Serge Latouche in 2007. This paradigm advocates the need for a transition to a more “sustainable” social, economic, and environmental system. Within the framework of Degrowth Theory and combining it with the application of the concept of resilience for communities (Kimhi & Shamai, 2004), this thesis investigates the existing literature on degrowth and resilience within urban centres. The aim of this research is to find possible and achievable approaches discussed in the literature in the broad area of degrowth and resilience that still require comparison and oversight to provide a better understanding of this theoretical framework. This study combines these two approaches to develop a new perspective and to lay the foundation for the difficult but necessary path for the creation of an inclusive democratic society and to safeguard the planet threatened by the dematerialization of consciousness brought about by the current economic system. One such multidisciplinary approach, synthesized by Latouche (2007) in the “8 Rs” and combined with the theoretical framework of the “3Rs” of Resilience (Norris, 2008), could create a circle of virtuosity, in stark contrast to the already mentioned carousel, characterised by the reintroduction of solidarity and trust. This approach could supplement a new horizontal reciprocity that could replace the hierarchies of the consumer society. The transition to this new way of thinking represents a major change in the collective imagination and it is, thus, a radical political challenge that offers a new narrative that I have identified in the rise of the homo resaliens: the one who has understood the sense of one’s limits, the one who is able to arise from an overturned boat (metaphor for our capitalist society). In order to prove the possibility of achieving such an inversion of our collective imagination, Transition Darebin (Melbourne, Victoria), a community project and part of the global Transition Network will be utilized as an example of this experience, an example of the possibility of achieving what we call “DemocraCity” 2 3 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….2 Table of contents………………………………………………………………………...........4 Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………….9 Declaration……………………………………………………………………………..........11 Glossary and definitions…………………………………………………………………….12 List of Tables and Figures……………………………………………………………..........13 CHAPTER 1…………………………………………………………………………………15 Introduction and Methods 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Purpose of the study 1.3 Aims and significance 1.4 Research questions and methodology 1.4.1 Selection of participants 1.4.2 Observation and online data 1.4.3 Data analysis and Thematic Analysis 1.4.5 Ethics approval 1.5 Contribution to knowledge 1.5.1 Outline of the thesis 1.6 Conclusion CHAPTER 2………………………………………………………………………………28 Literature review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The rise of a virtuous consciousness 2.3 The beginning of a new discipline 2.3.1 Cowboys and astronauts 2.4 The 1970’s and the idea of “growthmania” 2.4.1 The Club of Rome 2.5 Development and its side effects 2.5.1 The path of the Ecological Economy 4 2.5.2 The real Utopia and the Bioeconomics 2.6 Our common future: the political commitment to safeguarding the environment 2.6.1 Ecological rationalization. The urgency to change direction 2.6.2 The “Happy” Degrowth 2.6.3 Between emergency and urgency 2.6.4 The circle of the 8Rs 2.7 Conclusion CHAPTER 3…………………………………………………………………………………61 Background 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Peak Oil 3.3 Climate Change 3.4 The Degrowth theory: a theoretical background 3.5 The bet on the Degrowth 3.5.1 The diabolic carousel. The vicious circle of growth. 3.5.2 Modern heroes 3.5.3 The re-establishment of politics 3.5.4 The GDP of happiness 3.6 Providing a concrete alternative: the transition towards the Post-Development 3.6.1 A new humanism 3.6.2 Beyond the currency 3.6.3 An historical background of the Transition Town Movement 3.7 Conclusion CHAPTER 4…………………………………………………………………………………92 The application of resilience for human community: form theory to practise 4.1 Introduction 4.2 A modern myth 4.3 Resilience and Degrowth: two sides of the same coin 4.3.1 The detoxification of the imaginary 4.3.2 Ready and Resilient: resilience, degrowth and a new concept of sustainability 4.3.3 Other ways and other worlds 4.3.4 A different globalization 4.3.5 Another global space 5 4.4 Permaculture: the basis of a resilient community 4.5 The importance of communities in a resilient society 4.6 What is the Transition? Utopia is real 4.7 Conclusion CHAPTER 5………………………………………………………………………………119 Ethics, Degrowth and Resilience: the complexity of the transition path towards DemocraCity 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The new alliances 5.2 The construction of a new imaginary 5.2.1 The Gift: an introduction 5.3 The Gift of active citizenship: between politics and responsibility 5.4 Ethics within DemocraCity: the lesson of Edgar Morin 5.4.1 From one crisis to another: recurring cycles in the history of civilization 5.5 Long term unpredictability: from Pascal’s lesson to a desirable strategy 5.5.1 Teaching and the value of understanding 5.6 Ethics for future generations 5.6.1 A laboratory of ideas for democracy 5.6.2 From Morin to Illich: school renovation within DemocraCity 5.7 Conclusion CHAPTER 6………………………………………………………………………………..146 Data analysis and discussion. The “virtuous” example of Transition Darebin 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Transition Darebin: sic parvis magna. From humble beginnings 6.3 Cooperation, resilience and local trade within Transition Darebin 6.4 The meaning of the results 6.5 Rethinking degrowth: disappointment or need? 6.5.1 Whose future is it? 6.5.2 Planetary understanding, ethics and culture within DemocraCity 6.6 Leaving competitiveness 6.6.1 Smart Technology and the regrowth of an economic system 6.6.2 Another global space 6.6.3 Limits of the study and future outcome of the research 6 6.7 Conclusion CHAPTER 7………………………………………………………………………………..166 Conclusion 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The best of all possible worlds 7.3 Between present and future 7.4 The convenient lie 7.5 Contribution to knowledge and “possible” ways out Reference List……………………………………………………………………………...174 Appendix 1………………………………………………………………………………….187 Appendix 2………………………………………………………………………………….188 7 8 Acknowledgments I would like to thank Swinburne University of Technology for believing in me and in my project and for providing the opportunity to conduct such research. I would like to thank my supervisors, Associate Professor Arran Gare and Professor Bruno Mascitelli, for their support during such a privileged journey. Their advice was a fundamental part of the completion of the thesis. Thank you, Professors, for your faith, support, and patience during this long PhD adventure. I would like to thank the participants of this study. Transition Darebin took a keen interest and demonstrated constant curiosity in this project. Their contribution has been the cornerstone of the entire research in the field. I would like to thank my family who has always believed in me and provided great support in spite of the distance. Last but not least, my infinite gratitude goes to my partner Chiara who is the reason I left Italy and have been able to share this Australian adventure. She still is my greatest supporter, the person to look up to. She has pushed, encouraged and supported me throughout this journey, even when I had doubts. Without her none of the amazing events of the last six years would have happened. 9 10 Declaration I, Marco Carcea, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy from the Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia: • Contains no material which has been accepted for the award to myself of any other degree or diploma, except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; • To the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis; • Has been approved by Swinburne University Human Research Ethics Committee (SUHREC), SHR Project 2016/263 and I certify that all conditions pertaining to this ethics clearance have been properly met and that annual reports and a final report have been submitted. Signed, Marco Carcea 11 Glossary and definitions Degrowth: a cultural process of political and social transformation favourable to the controlled, selective and voluntary reduction of economic production and consumption. Resilience: word that derives from the Latin “resalio”, iterative of “salio” (go up, rise again). Homo resaliens: the one who has understood the sense of one’s limits, the one who is able to arise from an overturned boat (metaphor of our capitalist society). Transition Town: movement designed to prepare communities to deal with scenarios such as global warming and peak oil. The Transition Town movement was founded in Kinsale, Ireland and in Totnes, England by environmentalist Rob Hopkins in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
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