Struggling for Another Life: The Ontology of Degrowth

Abstract

This article presents a sympathetic critique of degrowth scholarship, which reproduces anthropocentric, Cartesian views of nature. I suggest overcoming these by drawing on the modernity/coloniality discourse, as well as engaging with indigenous scholarship and decolonial practices such as Buen Vivir. I make the argument for extending agency and rights to non-human nature, beginning with a shift from the language of “materials” to that of “the living world.” A focus on ecological, multi-species justice centred on the rights of nature would not only allow for a decolonisation of the degrowth debate, but also highlight issues around ecological debt and environmental justice.