Degrowth In Japan: Mending the "metabolic rift" of capitalism
In Japan, Kohei Saito promotes degrowth to address overconsumption and climate crisis, advocating for a shift from GDP to well-being indicators. He warns against relying on GDP-linked technological solutions for sustainability.
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In Japan, the concept of degrowth is gaining attention as the country faces minimal GDP growth and environmental challenges. Kohei Saito advocates for degrowth as a response to overconsumption and climate crisis, drawing on Japan's historical practices of forest conservation and architectural movements like the metabolism movement. Saito emphasizes the need to shift away from GDP as a measure of success and towards indicators that reflect well-being and sustainability. He challenges traditional views on economic modes of exchange, highlighting the clash between capitalist growth imperatives and the need to avert environmental catastrophe. Saito warns against relying solely on technological solutions tied to GDP growth, advocating instead for a focus on conserving the planet as a finite commons. His perspective offers a critical analysis of the intertwined social and natural histories in the Anthropocene era, emphasizing the importance of reevaluating human interactions with the environment for a sustainable future.
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1 comments> “We’re preoccupied with GDP ranking and growth, but GDP is a poor measure of a nation’s well-being and happiness,” Saito says. “Here in Japan, we have delicious food, the world’s longest lifespans, safe streets, and excellent public transportation, not to mention the considerable attractions of our culture and art. These assets aren’t reflected in GDP. The adoption of value indicators unrelated to GDP would be a positive step toward degrowth by itself.”
How is longer lives, more delicious food, safer streets, more/better public transport, more/better art and culture not "growth"?. They clearly don't want less of these things.
Why not call it the de-GDP movement? Presumably because it doesn't grab attention like someone saying they want less growth, getting eyeballs through the shock and then sheepishly admitting they do want growth just measure in a different, (better!), way.
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