News Degrowth: a plea for new way of life

[thomas]

Saitō Kōhei (斎藤幸平, b. 1987), a Japanese philosopher and historian of economic thought, published a book entitled "Capital in the Anthropocene" that's become an unlikely hit among young Japanese. The Guardian explains why his theories, based on Marxism and environmentalism, have become so successful--to the great astonishment of even its author.

The message from Kohei Saito, an associate professor at Tokyo University, is simple: capitalism's demand for unlimited profits is destroying the planet and only "degrowth" can repair the damage by slowing down social production and sharing wealth. In practical terms, that means an end to mass production and the mass consumption of wasteful goods such as fast fashion. In Capital in the Anthropocene, Saito also advocates decarbonisation through shorter working hours and prioritising essential "labour-intensive" work such as caregiving. Few would have expected Saito's Japanese-language solution to the climate crisis to have much appeal outside leftwing academia and politics. Instead, the book – which was inspired by Karl Marx's writings on the environment – has become an unlikely hit, selling more than half a million copies since it was published in September 2020.

‘A new way of life’: the Marxist, post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan

Kohei Saito’s book Capital in the Anthropocene has become an unlikely hit among young people and is about to be translated into English

www.theguardian.com

His book will be published in English next year by Cambridge University Press.

Links:

https://twitter.com/koheisaito0131

斎藤幸平 - Wikipedia

ja.wikipedia.org

Japanese scholar looks to Marx's theory to explain pandemic, climate change | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

A Japanese academic has penned a surprise bestseller that is prompting a new generation of readers to consider the ideas of German philosopher Karl Marx. Saito Kohei says Marx's ideas in his late years tell us about the kind of society we should forge in a post-coronavirus era.

www3.nhk.or.jp

 

[mdchachi]

Sounds interesting. I've often thought that economies based on consumption for the sake of consumption (basically the whole "first" world) have something inherently wrong with them and kind of wondered what the end state would be.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

It seems to me that until China , Russia , and India do a lot of work in their countries to fight pollution , anything we do is just pissing into the wind and "feel good" measures.

 

[thomas]

It seems to me that until China , Russia , and India do a lot of work in their countries to fight pollution , anything we do is just pissing into the wind and "feel good" measures.

Aren't they just following the so-called First World's example?

 

[mdchachi]

It seems to me that until China , Russia , and India do a lot of work in their countries to fight pollution , anything we do is just pissing into the wind and "feel good" measures.

For one thing, we could stop exporting the effects of our consumption to other places. That picture I posted I found by Googling "fast fashion" -- we generate incredible amounts of discarded textiles and then we pat ourselves on the back for "donating" them but much of them end up like this in improper "landfills" in India or Africa. The volume is far too much to reuse or recycle.