Jakob Otto Wilhelm Sparn (Re)Imagining sustainable futures - A discussion between Degrowth and Buen Vivir Belo Horizonte, MG UFMG/Cedeplar 2019 ii Jakob Otto Wilhelm Sparn (Re)Imagining sustainable futures - A discussion between Degrowth and Buen Vivir Tese apresentada ao curso de Doutorado em Economia do Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional da Faculdade de Ciências Econômicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, como requisito parcial à obtenção do Título de Doutor em Economia. Orientador: Prof. Roberto Luís de Melo Monte-Mór Belo Horizonte, MG Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional Faculdade de Ciências Econômicas - UFMG 2019 iii Ficha Catalográfica Sparn, Jakob Otto Wilhelm. S736r (Re)imagining sustainable futures [manuscrito] : a discussion 2019 between degrowth and buen vivir / Jakob Otto Wilhelm Sparn. – 2019. 368 f. , il., tabs. Orientador: Roberto Luís de Melo Monte-Mór. Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional. Inclui bibliografia ( f. 278-323 ), anexos e apêndices. 1. Desenvolvimento sustentável -Teses. 2. Desenvolvimento econômico – Aspectos sociais - Teses. 3. Economia – Teses. I. Monte- Mór, Roberto Luís de Melo. II. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional. III. Título. CDD: 331.4 Elaborada pela Biblioteca da FACE/UFMG – AKR 090/2019 iv I dedicate this work to my grandfather Willi (1922-2017) whose unconditional love and generosity will always be my inspiration v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has been a long process, starting over a decade ago when I decided to write my master’s dissertation on sustainability. It has been an incredible opportunity of discovery and I am grateful beyond words for all the people that accompanied me on this voyage. It has been, in the amplest sense of the word, a collaborative work, guided by great thinkers and inspirations from the past and present – my thanks to all of them. First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisor, Roberto Luís de Melo Monte-Mór, for the guidance, the patience, the encouragements, and the countless advices, academic and beyond, over the years. There are really no words for my gratitude and the pleasure of being your student and friend. I want to thank my family for all the love and support, without you nothing of this would be possible. I feel deeply blessed. To my parents, Karin and Walter, my siblings, Luisa and Max, and especially to my nephews, Joni and Leo. This work is motivated by your existence and the future I hope you will see. Living on the other side of the ocean only increased my love, respect and appreciation for you and for my roots. Then there is my Brazilian family, who made Belo Horizonte my home from the very beginning. I am grateful beyond measures for all your support and caring. To Rosvita and Américo, on whom I could always count during this journey and, especially to Nadja, without whom I would not be where I am today. You have my profound gratitude and love. I am very fortunate to be part of an incredible institute, the Center for Regional Development and Planning (CEDEPLAR), and my appreciation goes to all the people that make this place into what it is. Thanks to Marco Flávio and Ana Hermeto, to Eduardo Albuqerque, to Sibelle Diniz and Gustavo Brito, to Anderson Cavalcante, João Tonucci, and André Golgher. To all the staff that is the foundation of our work at the institute. But particularly, to my friends and colleagues Renan and Igor, Renata, Marco Paulo, Harley, Rodrigo, Ian, Bel, Rods, Ana Tereza, Lucão e Camila. You are amazing and the time with you has been a great gift. vi I am very grateful for the support by CAPES that enabled me to write this thesis. In these difficult times for education this support feels even more precious. I also thank the Young Scholar Initiative for their support and for the amazing community that it is. May our efforts to change our discipline continue. I feel blessed and I am deeply grateful for all the friends that accompanied and supported me on this long process here and abroad. To Bruna, Pedrinho and Theo, to Ronja, to Aninha and Gui, to Lauri and Jojo, to Natália and Alex, to Phili and Matze, to Nina and Ivan, to Lis and César, to Felipe, Bola, Theo, and Ludmila – you all were an integral part of this work and I love you. There are so many more that deserve to be mentioned and who have my profound gratitude and appreciation. But I want to finish here by thanking all the people that I met during my field work and some of whose stories ended up in this thesis. To Eva, Gordon, Lukas, and Anke. To Olivia Nathan, Andreas Simoneit, Antonio Ribeiro and David Caicedo – thank you for being part of this. You are literally the heroes of this story. vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACB – Alianza para el Cafe Justo y el Buen Vivir BRIC – Brazil Russia India and China BV – Buen Vivir C2C – “Customer to customer” CCB – Castle Community Bank CS – Couchsurfing DG – Degrowth ECLAC/CEPAL – UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Eng. – English FDI – foreign direct investments FW – Förderverein Wachstumswende GBL – British pound GDP – gross domestic product Ger. – German GNP – gross national product GPI – Genuine Progress Indicator IMF – International Monetary Fund IPCC – Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change ISEE – International Society of Ecological Economics ISEW – Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare MDGs – Millennium Development Goals MST – Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra NEWW – Netzwerk Wachstumswende (Post-growth Network) NGO – non-governmental organizations ODA – official development assistance viii OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development P2P – “peer to peer” PEDAL – Portobello Energy Descent Action Plan Port. – Portuguese RSA – Regional Studies Association SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals Spa. – Spanish TDs – Transition discourses TNC – transnational corporations UK – United Kingdom UN – United Nations UNDP – United Nations Development Program US – United States (of America) US/USA – United States of America USD – US Dollar VÖÖ – Vereinigung für Ökologische Ökonomie (German Association of Ecological Economics) WCED – World Commission on Environment and Development WTO – World Trade Organizations WWF – World Wildlife Fundamental YSI – Young Scholar Initiatitve ix TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 15 1.1 A crisis of civilization – some context and assumptions ................................. 15 1.2 Objectives and methodology .......................................................................... 23 2 DEVELOPMENT, ECOLOGY AND TRANSITIONS .......................................... 30 2.1 The development of unsustainability .............................................................. 30 2.1.1 Development theory and its paradigms ................................................ 32 2.1.2 Modernity and its unfulfilled promises .................................................. 37 2.1.3 North & South – different spaces, same logic ...................................... 39 2.1.4 Coloniality ............................................................................................. 41 2.1.5 Institutions and agents of development ................................................ 45 2.1.6 Science ................................................................................................ 45 2.1.6 Technology ........................................................................................... 48 2.1.7 The state as development agent .......................................................... 51 2.1.8 Corporations and NGOs ....................................................................... 53 2.1.9 Inequality .............................................................................................. 59 2.1.10 Development as GDP growth ............................................................. 61 2.1.11 Basic Human Needs ........................................................................... 74 2.1.12 Post-development? ............................................................................ 76 2.2 A science for sustainability – ecological economics ....................................... 80 2.2.1 History and ideas of Ecological Economics .......................................... 82 2.2.2 Talking about scale and energy ........................................................... 87 2.2.3 On Transitions ...................................................................................... 92 2.2.4 Design for transformations ................................................................... 97 3 MAPPING DEGROWTH.................................................................................. 107 x 3.1 A brief history of degrowth ............................................................................ 107 3.2 Theoretical influences and general lines of thought ..................................... 116 3.3 Principles and Concepts around degrowth ................................................... 126 3.4 Degrowth and autonomy .............................................................................. 131 3.5 Degrowth as repoliticization .......................................................................... 136 3.6 The economics of Degrowth ......................................................................... 139 3.6.1 Money and the financial system: in service of society? .....................