I guess my main problem with it at a theory is how difficult it is to apply in the real world. It is a good academic discussion to have, and it can bring more creativity to the problem of addressing climate change. But applying degrowth on its own is virtually impossible.
If we look at Europe the past five years since the EU established its Green Deal, there has been a tremendous backlash to initiatives like gas stoves in Germany or EVs across the bloc. Obviously there have been other events that have effected the people since the Green Deal went into place that no one could have anticipated, but the recent electoral backlash against incumbents is a very real event.
People hate being told what to do, and they hate paying higher prices (like really hate it), and that is what degrowth would require to get traction. So in our democratic system, that makes it a virtual non-starter, politically speaking.
That being said, there are ideas coming from degrowth (like placing a value on unpaid labor, improving public services and shifting away from GDP as the end all, be all) that are interesting, and that we could definitely benefit from.
Timely post. Been thinking about this for a while, relying on Paul Mason's book "Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future," published in 2016. (ISBN 9780374536732) Must get serious and actually read beyond the dense Intro. The chapter titles captured my attention: Chpt 3: Was Marx Right? Chpt. 7: Beautiful Troublemakers and Chpt 10: Project Zero. Mason is a British economist, writes for The Guardian and other news sources as well as other books, so probably has other titles, some of which may be available in Japanese and other languages. I want to learn more.
Thanks for your reply. I haven't heard of that author or book (I'm a dilettante in the world of degrowth) but the chapter titles do sound interesting. I'd be curious to hear your review after you read it.
For the comments section, I'll go with #2, "Do you have a theory on why degrowth seems to be getting attention in Japan?"
After 13 years living in and 20+ studying Japan, my knee jerk reaction to the proposed popularity of degrowth is along the lines of your colleague, who said "It's probably people who are wary of the state of the Japanese economy over the last few decades, people who are tired of working all day for no particular outcome, who are disillusioned by the country's seeming lack of direction." However, I'd add to this that degrowth itself isn't actually popular in the sense that it is being pursued; rather, it's gaining in popularity because it helps to explain away Japan's decline, it let's people say, "this is alright," and blissfully continue sinking into lesser and lesser relevance.
Just to be clear, I don't have a positive read on degrowth or any similar pursuit (SDGs are a great example) simply because the evidence for meaningful action on it is so difficult to locate and because the common perception normalizes Japan's decline.
That's not to say that environmentally conscious or sustainable initiatives don't exist - they are certainly out there - but that they actually walk the walk also means that they necessarily go *against* what any major business or authority wants, and so they receive very little if any tangible support, thus having a particularly difficult time actually gaining traction in the public sphere.
I'm saying all this based on my work over the last 6 years with Japan's national stock of akiya. I've built a business on helping countless people access viable properties (fuck you to the real estate industry), furnish their homes using articles gotten from other vacant homes (fuck you, LIXIL et al), advised on telework setups (fuck you, trad office culture), helped them setup their own companies (fuck you salaryman lifestyle), and more. Degrowth isn't just antithetical to the powers that be, but dangerous, and so I don't see many ways for it to grow through that medium.
I *do* however see media, even major players like NHK, as a potential ally. Like it or not, the *appeal* of a prosperous lifestyle that shirks accepted or standard practices where possible for alternatives that produce a new, arguably better existence for practitioners is immensely attractive, sort of like the opposite of what they say about not being able to stop staring at car crashes.
Hey, thanks for bringing up one of my favorite topics. I'm always looking for more to read about degrowth and Japan specifically. Most western degrowth pundits barely if ever touch upon Japan, so that leaves me a Kohei Saito fan wishing for more debate on all that locally.
Before getting into my answers to your questions, I have no qualms with your definition of degrowth, but it maybe could use a bit more focus on the economic and social aspects. Saito and Hickel in particular are heavy on the environmental imperative aspect, but I'd argue the concept is also in equal parts about a social imperative: the growth paradigm has been and continues to be both the justification for and the means by which widening inequality, plutocracy, oppression, colonialism, etc have... grown, I guess. I would say degrowth is as much about social justice for all as it is about environmental sustainability.
I don't know that degrowth is really an idea that's taking hold that powerfully in the country; sure, we have a couple successful writers about it, but it's not really something that permeates into the mainstream discourse about economics and policy, is it? There's certainly an element of "economics and policy don't get airtime in Japan anyway" to it, regardless of topic. But I doubt it's just that. Comparatively, my native France has a significantly more vocal pro-degrowth crowd, with (small ish mostly) political parties actually putting it on their platform - though they usually get shouted off stage quickly by the neoliberal orthodoxy. You could also look at places like Ireland or New Zealand, at least in previous election cycles, going as far as having heads of government publicly repudiating GDP growth for its own sake, and building things like the Wellbeing Economy Alliance - which is very much about degrowth in anything but name (lots of people think "degrowth" is an instant turnoff to too many people and should be retired as a name for a movement; I mostly agree).
I do think there is a kind of unique, or at least very favorable, relationship between the idea (however you call it) and Japan. Japan has been the unwitting pioneer of hyper-aging advanced economies, and demographics is destiny. Combined with 30 years of economic stagnation, people are primed to... (cont)
...to the idea that growth is just not in the cards anymore for the country; many are also acutely aware of how growthist policies of the last decades have utterly failed to bring either growth itself, or any value whatsoever to citizens at large. So I would argue Japanese people, or the minority of Japanese with any interest in economics and policy anyway, are in a place that should make them a lot more receptive to heterodox takes about growth. I also have a pet theory that Japanese animism and even Hayao Miyazaki play a significant part here too (self-plug warning: https://tokyofrenchie.substack.com/p/hayao-miyazaki-new-animism-radical)
On a more quantitative front, the Japanese economy itself should pretty much be the ideal substrate for post-growth economics to take hold in: it's already a rich country. Continuing to pursue growth with a declining population could possibly make sense if the population overall needed to be lifted out of poverty still, but that's obviously not the case. The national wealth is there, and it would be plenty enough for every Japanese citizen to live comfortable and secure lives even if YoY GDP growth never went positive again - IF it were organized and distributed well, which it very pointedly isn't. Steady state economics is a credible, no nonsense rebuttal of the most absurd aspects of neoliberalism (like trickle down economics). But it also has the potential to be the purveyor of real, applicable solutions to Japan's most pressing problems including 少子化, where the reigning gerontocracy has nothing to offer besides increasingly out of touch, comically bad takes.
I guess that's enough words for one comment, but I could go on and on about all that as you see. Thanks for motivating me to research & write more on it, I hope you do so too :)
Hey Thomas, thank you SO MUCH for such a thoughtful reply. And sorry for my own late response.
You’re right that degrowth includes a strong strand of social justice together with environmental concerns. It’s a big body of literature and I’ve only begun biting off a small corner of it — mostly the economic arguments by Saito and Hickel, so that plus my background in political economy explains the economic skew in my definition.
About your point about degrowth not permeating in Japan’s mainstream discourse, again I agree. Political and corporate leaders and media talking heads are entirely about this and that measures to grow the Japanese economy and regain global competitiveness. At best, I see degrowth as an undercurrent among a (still) very limited segment of the population.
I think one thing that could help the idea of degrowth become more mainstream (aside from changing its name to something more politically acceptable :\ ) is if a respected Japanese scholar would spell out, step by step and in great detail, how successful degrowth can be achieved in the Japanese concept. How would corporations work in a degrowth society? How can the average worker ensure that they won’t lose their job, or that their transition into another, more degrowth-oriented career will be painless? How can politicians keep their jobs under degrowth? Will internationally competitive industries today gain or lose?
These are questions I think about, and in my view, people like Saito only speaks at the broad, theoretical level that has little contact with practical policies. If these questions could be answered in the Japanese context, I think degrowth can become a real political program.
Thank you for the post. I wrote about degrowth last year, which you can find below.
https://nuancematters.substack.com/p/the-degrowth-agenda?r=1cwd5h
I guess my main problem with it at a theory is how difficult it is to apply in the real world. It is a good academic discussion to have, and it can bring more creativity to the problem of addressing climate change. But applying degrowth on its own is virtually impossible.
If we look at Europe the past five years since the EU established its Green Deal, there has been a tremendous backlash to initiatives like gas stoves in Germany or EVs across the bloc. Obviously there have been other events that have effected the people since the Green Deal went into place that no one could have anticipated, but the recent electoral backlash against incumbents is a very real event.
People hate being told what to do, and they hate paying higher prices (like really hate it), and that is what degrowth would require to get traction. So in our democratic system, that makes it a virtual non-starter, politically speaking.
That being said, there are ideas coming from degrowth (like placing a value on unpaid labor, improving public services and shifting away from GDP as the end all, be all) that are interesting, and that we could definitely benefit from.
Timely post. Been thinking about this for a while, relying on Paul Mason's book "Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future," published in 2016. (ISBN 9780374536732) Must get serious and actually read beyond the dense Intro. The chapter titles captured my attention: Chpt 3: Was Marx Right? Chpt. 7: Beautiful Troublemakers and Chpt 10: Project Zero. Mason is a British economist, writes for The Guardian and other news sources as well as other books, so probably has other titles, some of which may be available in Japanese and other languages. I want to learn more.
Thanks for your reply. I haven't heard of that author or book (I'm a dilettante in the world of degrowth) but the chapter titles do sound interesting. I'd be curious to hear your review after you read it.
For the comments section, I'll go with #2, "Do you have a theory on why degrowth seems to be getting attention in Japan?"
After 13 years living in and 20+ studying Japan, my knee jerk reaction to the proposed popularity of degrowth is along the lines of your colleague, who said "It's probably people who are wary of the state of the Japanese economy over the last few decades, people who are tired of working all day for no particular outcome, who are disillusioned by the country's seeming lack of direction." However, I'd add to this that degrowth itself isn't actually popular in the sense that it is being pursued; rather, it's gaining in popularity because it helps to explain away Japan's decline, it let's people say, "this is alright," and blissfully continue sinking into lesser and lesser relevance.
Just to be clear, I don't have a positive read on degrowth or any similar pursuit (SDGs are a great example) simply because the evidence for meaningful action on it is so difficult to locate and because the common perception normalizes Japan's decline.
That's not to say that environmentally conscious or sustainable initiatives don't exist - they are certainly out there - but that they actually walk the walk also means that they necessarily go *against* what any major business or authority wants, and so they receive very little if any tangible support, thus having a particularly difficult time actually gaining traction in the public sphere.
I'm saying all this based on my work over the last 6 years with Japan's national stock of akiya. I've built a business on helping countless people access viable properties (fuck you to the real estate industry), furnish their homes using articles gotten from other vacant homes (fuck you, LIXIL et al), advised on telework setups (fuck you, trad office culture), helped them setup their own companies (fuck you salaryman lifestyle), and more. Degrowth isn't just antithetical to the powers that be, but dangerous, and so I don't see many ways for it to grow through that medium.
I *do* however see media, even major players like NHK, as a potential ally. Like it or not, the *appeal* of a prosperous lifestyle that shirks accepted or standard practices where possible for alternatives that produce a new, arguably better existence for practitioners is immensely attractive, sort of like the opposite of what they say about not being able to stop staring at car crashes.
Hey, thanks for bringing up one of my favorite topics. I'm always looking for more to read about degrowth and Japan specifically. Most western degrowth pundits barely if ever touch upon Japan, so that leaves me a Kohei Saito fan wishing for more debate on all that locally.
Before getting into my answers to your questions, I have no qualms with your definition of degrowth, but it maybe could use a bit more focus on the economic and social aspects. Saito and Hickel in particular are heavy on the environmental imperative aspect, but I'd argue the concept is also in equal parts about a social imperative: the growth paradigm has been and continues to be both the justification for and the means by which widening inequality, plutocracy, oppression, colonialism, etc have... grown, I guess. I would say degrowth is as much about social justice for all as it is about environmental sustainability.
I don't know that degrowth is really an idea that's taking hold that powerfully in the country; sure, we have a couple successful writers about it, but it's not really something that permeates into the mainstream discourse about economics and policy, is it? There's certainly an element of "economics and policy don't get airtime in Japan anyway" to it, regardless of topic. But I doubt it's just that. Comparatively, my native France has a significantly more vocal pro-degrowth crowd, with (small ish mostly) political parties actually putting it on their platform - though they usually get shouted off stage quickly by the neoliberal orthodoxy. You could also look at places like Ireland or New Zealand, at least in previous election cycles, going as far as having heads of government publicly repudiating GDP growth for its own sake, and building things like the Wellbeing Economy Alliance - which is very much about degrowth in anything but name (lots of people think "degrowth" is an instant turnoff to too many people and should be retired as a name for a movement; I mostly agree).
I do think there is a kind of unique, or at least very favorable, relationship between the idea (however you call it) and Japan. Japan has been the unwitting pioneer of hyper-aging advanced economies, and demographics is destiny. Combined with 30 years of economic stagnation, people are primed to... (cont)
...to the idea that growth is just not in the cards anymore for the country; many are also acutely aware of how growthist policies of the last decades have utterly failed to bring either growth itself, or any value whatsoever to citizens at large. So I would argue Japanese people, or the minority of Japanese with any interest in economics and policy anyway, are in a place that should make them a lot more receptive to heterodox takes about growth. I also have a pet theory that Japanese animism and even Hayao Miyazaki play a significant part here too (self-plug warning: https://tokyofrenchie.substack.com/p/hayao-miyazaki-new-animism-radical)
On a more quantitative front, the Japanese economy itself should pretty much be the ideal substrate for post-growth economics to take hold in: it's already a rich country. Continuing to pursue growth with a declining population could possibly make sense if the population overall needed to be lifted out of poverty still, but that's obviously not the case. The national wealth is there, and it would be plenty enough for every Japanese citizen to live comfortable and secure lives even if YoY GDP growth never went positive again - IF it were organized and distributed well, which it very pointedly isn't. Steady state economics is a credible, no nonsense rebuttal of the most absurd aspects of neoliberalism (like trickle down economics). But it also has the potential to be the purveyor of real, applicable solutions to Japan's most pressing problems including 少子化, where the reigning gerontocracy has nothing to offer besides increasingly out of touch, comically bad takes.
I guess that's enough words for one comment, but I could go on and on about all that as you see. Thanks for motivating me to research & write more on it, I hope you do so too :)
Hey Thomas, thank you SO MUCH for such a thoughtful reply. And sorry for my own late response.
You’re right that degrowth includes a strong strand of social justice together with environmental concerns. It’s a big body of literature and I’ve only begun biting off a small corner of it — mostly the economic arguments by Saito and Hickel, so that plus my background in political economy explains the economic skew in my definition.
About your point about degrowth not permeating in Japan’s mainstream discourse, again I agree. Political and corporate leaders and media talking heads are entirely about this and that measures to grow the Japanese economy and regain global competitiveness. At best, I see degrowth as an undercurrent among a (still) very limited segment of the population.
I think one thing that could help the idea of degrowth become more mainstream (aside from changing its name to something more politically acceptable :\ ) is if a respected Japanese scholar would spell out, step by step and in great detail, how successful degrowth can be achieved in the Japanese concept. How would corporations work in a degrowth society? How can the average worker ensure that they won’t lose their job, or that their transition into another, more degrowth-oriented career will be painless? How can politicians keep their jobs under degrowth? Will internationally competitive industries today gain or lose?
These are questions I think about, and in my view, people like Saito only speaks at the broad, theoretical level that has little contact with practical policies. If these questions could be answered in the Japanese context, I think degrowth can become a real political program.