— June – July 2013
politics
Degrow – emphasise the collective, the simple
and the environmental!
The solution
T
HE crisis in Ireland is just the latest,
though the worst, of a series of boom
and bust cycles since independence that
have marked the history of the first Irish
Republic, such as it is. The crisis is an outcome of
global neoliberalism, but also of the dysfunctional
nature of our jaded political system. Economic
decisions have always reflected the power of
vested interests and elites, created clear winners
and losers, from gombeens to tigers. We have spe-
cialised in unsustainable patterns of development,
both socially and environmentally. The pattern of
boom and bust is likely to recur unless we funda-
mentally redesign the system. We need to build a
distribution of power and a style of politics that
can lead to a more sustainable and equitable eco-
nomic model, working in the long-term interest
of people and the environment. One that makes
us happy, too.
We have options and alternatives as we seek
to build a second Irish republic. We can resur-
rect the unsustainable ‘neoliberal model’ that has
led us into the present deep recession. Or, we can
break with the past and create ‘a developmental
social-democratic model’ with a more sustain-
able economy. This would be less deferential to
foreign multinationals. It would have more effec-
tive mechanisms of redistribution that reverse
the deeply entrenched inequalities that blight our
society. By suspending pessimism, mediocrity
and deluded compromise we can also imagine
a very different future and establish an ‘ecologi-
cal or ethical socialist model’, with less focus on
(quantitative) growth and consumption, and
more focus on (qualitative) living well.
Our choices will necessarily be made in the
context of globalisation and our membership
of the European Union. Neoliberal discourse
still thrives and prevails in Ireland and abroad.
However, lessons from other countries show
that, even in crisis, it is possible to shape more
equitable and sustainable futures. It is essential,
therefore, that those who believe in the necessity
of such change work to make credible the viabil-
ity of an alternative model.
The first step is to expose the fallacy of the
growth model on which neoliberalism depends.
But successful exposure would also challenge
the developmental social-democratic model
espoused by many progressives, social demo-
crats and socialists. While a shift from a neoliberal
to a developmental model would be a change
for the better, it would still be a relatively thin
change. It would essentially leave intact the con-
tours of the present model: reliance on economic
growth, failure to deal with the decline of labour
as a share of national income; and consequent
deepening of inequality in power and distribution.
This model would only involve cosmetic changes
environmentally, without significant reductions
in carbon footprints or the obliteration of fos-
sil-fuel dependence. It would flout the scientific
consensus that climate change will have lethal
implications for global equity, development and
survival.
The ecological or ethical socialist model offers
thick change, which fundamentally shifts the
focus of growth away from ‘economic’ growth.
Economic degrowth strategies are based on rec-
ognising ecological limits and challenging the
traditional spendthrift growth economy. They
may promote social and ecological growth.
Addressing the limits of the ecosystem will
require a radically new configuration of social,
state and economic power. Degrowth will relo-
calise economies and embrace renewables. The
move to a de-carbonised economy will require the
strengthening of state power. Social power will be
bolstered and the power of the market, so beloved
of neoliberals, relegated. It will evolve into new
forms of state, and especially social, power.
The ecological or ethical socialist model
requires direct engagement with power. No
longer would economic growth take priority
over environmental protection when the two
collide; economic power must be forced to live
within the limits of sustainability. Regulation, in
this sense, will be regarded as a liberation, not
a subversion.
Fournier () argues that this requires a
reimagining of our collective economic sense
through more robust forms of democracy and cit-
izenship to challenge taken-for-granted economic
rules. This in turn requires a thick democracy and
an active society, an ongoing ‘high-energy democ-
racy’ (Ungar ).
An obvious starting point is to make people
more aware of the fundamental damage capital-
ism is doing to society. Polanyi () originally
saw capitalism destroying society by placing a
market value on land, labour, and capital – the
original fictitious commodities, as he called them.
Today, care, love, knowledge and nature itself are
all commodified. The very essence of humanity
is monetised and marketised. The next step is to
mary p murphy and peadar kirby
“
We need to afrm and
promote values grounded
in humanism and the
republican ideals of
democracy, equality,
solidarity, participation,
activism, transparency,
mutual interdependence
and care, ecology and
sustainability
And how is contemporary life for YOU?
