Ecosocialism and Degrowth

John Bellamy Foster and Arman Spéth

The Degrowth Approach

Arman Spéth: Degrowth is on the rise. In recent years, several internationally recognised publications have appeared that speak out in favour of the ecosocialist degrowth approach. The journal Monthly Review, of which you are editor, has adopted this approach recently in your “Planned Degrowth: Ecosocialism and Sustainable Human Development.” What are the motives behind this and how do you explain the popularity of left-wing degrowth approaches?

John Bellamy Foster: Although “degrowth” as a term has caught on only recently, the idea is not new. Since at least May 1974, Monthly Review, beginning with Harry Magdoff and Paul M. Sweezy, has explicitly insisted on the reality of the limits of growth, the need to rein in exponential accumulation, and the necessity of establishing a steady-state economy overall (which does not obviate the need for growth in the poorer economies). As Magdoff and Sweezy stated at that time, “instead of a universalpanacea, it turns out that growth is itself a cause of disease.” To“stop growth,” they argued, what was necessary was the“restructuring [of] existing production” through “social planning.” This was associated with a systematic critique of the economic and ecological waste under monopoly capitalism and the squandering of the social surplus.


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