Depowering Growth: What can degrowth learn from insurgent energy movements?
 

Nishikant Sheorey

There exists in the current degrowth literature a fairly widespread understanding that the core mechanism of capitalism entails extractivist, productivist, and accumulatory drives, and is thus incompatible with degrowth. It is important now to build on that understanding and develop a deeper and more nuanced analysis of the specificities of that mechanism and, critically, to interrogate the underlying social relationships so that we can effectively evaluate and critique proposed degrowth pathways, particularly with regard to their interaction with the dynamics of social power. Only once we understand these relationships and the systemic incentives they create can we begin to develop grounded strategies for achieving a societal trajectory of just and equitable degrowth. To that end, this paper has three components. First, I present an anarchist analysis of the growth imperative and its connections to capitalism, the state, and hierarchical forms of social organisation. Building on this analysis, I then argue for the necessity of non-state and anarchic approaches to degrowth. Secondly, in order to begin to concretise this analysis, I draw on existing research, as well as my own experience as an energy justice and energy democracy organiser, to put forward a hypothesis of how and why a transition to anarchic energy formations could serve as an effective impetus for broader systemic degrowth. Finally, using this hypothesis as a jumping-off point, I highlight several critical research questions and attempt to tie them into a more cohesive research agenda.


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