Less is More

Over the past decade, the world has awoken to the horrifying reality of climate breakdown and ecological collapse. There is only solution put forward that will lead to meaningful and immediate change- degrowth.

If we want to have a decent shot at surviving the Anthropocene, we will need to evolve beyond capitalism to a new economic system that is fit for the twenty-first-century - one that doesn't require endless growth just to stay afloat. But what does such an economy look like? How can rich nations scale down aggregate economic activity without causing the social and financial catastrophes that normally accompany a recession? What about jobs? What about poverty? What about pensions? What about human progress? This book tackles these questions and outlines a clear, concrete pathway to a post-capitalist economy. While ten years ago such a shift would have been unthinkable in mainstream circles, today people are ready for it. Recent surveys show that large majorities of people across the industrialized world say that they believe economic growth is destructive, and that ecological and human well-being should be prioritised above growth.

But it's not just our economics that needs to be changed. It's our way of thinking, too. The ecological revolution will require that we abandon our old assumptions about human-nature dualism and learn to recognise our intimate interconnectedness with the rest of the living planet. This new way of seeing the world - a world pulsing with life and mystery - opens exciting new possibilities for how we can imagine our place within it. Where might this lead us?

Jason Hickel is an anthropologist at the London School of Economics and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is originally from Swaziland and spent a number of years living with migrant workers in South Africa, studying patterns of exploitation and political resistance in the wake of apartheid. Alongside his ethnographic work, he writes about global inequality, post-development and ecological economics, contributing regularly to the Guardian, Al Jazeera and other outlets. He serves on the Labour Party task force on international development, works as Policy Director for /The Rules collective, and sits on the Executive Board of Academics Stand Against Poverty. His work has been funded by the Fulbright-Hays Program, the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Charlotte Newcombe Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. He lives in London.

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