Against the promethean: Energy throughput and the far-right politics of degrowth

Abstract

While criticism of growth by a diverse but overall left-leaning degrowth spectrum has become increasingly prominent, less is known about degrowth stances by far-right actors. While the far right is regularly viewed as ‘productivist’ and tied to fossil fuels, we point to a more complex relationship, taking the German New Right eco-magazine Die Kehre as a case study. Drawing on Bakhtin's concept of chronotope (time–space configuration), we identify two chronotopes, the promethean and the idyllic, with their interaction giving rise to a far-right degrowth stance. The promethean (rejected) signifies environmental destruction and consumerist ways of living. The idyllic (affirmed) posits a reduction in energy throughput, small-scale production/exchange, limits and the building of ‘rooted’ communities. Our analysis provides original conceptualization and one of the first comprehensive accounts of the far-right politics of degrowth. Thus, we raise awareness of how particularistic and non-universal criticisms of growth and capitalism can partly overlap with better known degrowth positions.