Saving Our Civilization Depends on Choosing Degrowth

“Saving our civilization depends on choosing degrowth. According to Saito, degrowth does not necessarily mean recession, decline, or the shrinking of the economy. In fact, the paradigm that prioritizes economic growth alone, growth accompanied by boundless production of luxury and wasteful goods, must be fundamentally changed. Marx believes the solution lies in repairing the metabolic rift between humans and nature, namely in ‘labor.’”

Religion and thought service of Sefir Arjan Iran (Sefir Arjan) - Reza Dastjardi: "Capital in the Anthropocene Era: A Manifesto against Economic Growth" written by Kohi Saito and translated by Ruhollah Ghasemi is one of the new releases of Phoenix Publications. The work of the Japanese philosopher and economist tries to show that it is not possible to solve the problems caused by the climate crisis only through the use of new technologies, clean energy or surface reforms, but the main problem lies in economic logic, which considers endless growth as its ultimate goal. According to Saito, the current environmental crisis is not simply the result of managerial errors or lack of technology, but rather the result of a system structure based on continuous production, increasing consumption, and accumulation of profits. He argues that capitalism needs continuous growth to survive and this insatiable desire to expand has turned nature into an endless source for extraction, consumption and destruction.

In this book, which is arranged in eight chapters, Saito tries to find the cause of this situation, especially climate change, and behind it, the solution to deal with climate crises. According to him, the main cause of this situation is the capitalist system itself. Saving the planet and liberating human beings can only be achieved through capitalism. By returning to Marx, especially Marx after the publication of the first volume of "Capital" until his death and his unpublished notes, Saito tries to show the link between Marx's theory and nature. Salvation of Marxist approaches that were opposed to environmental movements in these 150 years due to the support of production and economic growth is another consequence of this revision.

What the book suggests behind this transition is "de-growth communism". According to Saito, the situation of climate change and environmental crises is such that there are only two choices in front of us: barbarism or communism. From the author's point of view, the real solution lies in communism, and that is its degrowth type. The author thinks that since the root of all these crises lies in the effort for continuous economic growth, the demand for growth which is the basic nature of capitalism, therefore the salvation of our civilization depends on the choice of degrowth. According to Saito, degrowth does not necessarily mean stagnation, decline and shrinking of the economy. In fact, the paradigm in which only economic growth is a priority, the growth that is accompanied by the unlimited production of luxury and useless goods, must be fundamentally changed. Marx thinks that the solution lies in repairing the metabolic gap between man and nature, that is, in "work".

The Japanese philosopher and economist then, referring to Marx's late thoughts, especially his unpublished manuscripts, transferred the main pillars of anti-growth communism to an economy based on consumption value; reduction of working hours; elimination of uniform division of labor; democratization of the production process; And prioritizing work is essential. According to him, it is with this new perspective that one can stop continuous economic growth and achieve degrowth in a sense. From the author's point of view, the two basic concepts of "common affairs" and "abundance" are at the center of the nature of communism. By explaining the position of common affairs in Marx's view and also the ways of producing artificial scarcity in capitalism, he comes to the conclusion that the way out of this situation is to restore radical abundance by institutionalizing the democratic management of common affairs.

In the left field of discourse, Saito takes a radical position against reform-oriented leftists by choosing anti-growth communism. Also, what he tries to define his exact demarcation with them in this way is "accelerism". According to him, what puts accelerationism exactly at the opposite point of degrowth is the solution or path that this paradigm offers to deal with the climate crisis. Accelerationists believe that natural limitations can be overcome through the use of technological progress and eventually achieve a sustainable and continuous growth in which everyone will achieve a prosperous lifestyle. Technology is their main key to deal with current crises.

On the other hand, Saito's approach is on the left spectrum against "left ecomodernists" who seek to restore the environment and save the planet. From the perspective of left ecomodernists, degrowth would be both unnecessary and politically ineffective. According to them, only the capitalist system should be abolished and the workers should take control of the means of production. Therefore, Saito's fundamental difference with ecomodernists is the need to adopt degrowth.

In his preface, the translator makes a connection between the book and its teachings with the current conditions of Iran. According to him, the most important reason for translating this work is Iran's sharing with the world situation in terms of the dire conditions of the three main axes of the book. The intertwining analysis of economy, politics and environment is one of the distinguished features of the book, which can inspire new insights in understanding Iran's situation and solutions for change. Of course, besides these three axes, Saito's macroscopic view of issues, especially the effects of the capitalist system on the global south and the role of the north in this situation, is another point of connection of the book with the situation of Iran as one of the countries of the south - the place of extraction of natural resources and cheap labor.

According to the translator, this book's attention to capitalist growth as the final and main cause of these crises can be a way to solve Iran's internal crises, not only in the field of environment, but simultaneously in the fields of economy and politics. What he emphasizes is that the problem of economic inequality and environmental crisis cannot be solved by more equal distribution - the same Keynesian solution. In fact, what is important is to change the economic paradigm of production and not to prioritize an indicator - GDP as an indicator of economic growth - which is extremely ineffective. He thinks that it is necessary to support the production method that simultaneously seeks to heal the environment and the prosperity and growth of the quality of life of the people, especially the majority, the workers. Ghasemi believes that now that many urban and rural movements in the countries of the global south are looking for a real change in the way of economic production and increasing the quality of life due to their crises, the time has come to address these issues in Iran, especially since both the sufferings of the capitalist world system and the internal indiscretions in the management of the country have become more evident in the field of Iran's environment.

"Capital in the Age of Anthropocene: A Manifesto Against Economic Growth" is published in 320 pages by Phoenix Publications.

"The salvation of our civilization depends on the choice of degrowth. According to Saito, degrowth does not necessarily mean stagnation, decline and shrinking of the economy. In fact, the paradigm in which only economic growth is a priority, the growth that is accompanied by the unlimited production of luxury and useless goods, must be fundamentally changed. Marx thinks that the solution lies in repairing the metabolic gap between man and nature, that is, in "work".

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