Book(electronic)2012

Liberation from excess: The road to a post-growth economy

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Abstract

Liberation from Excess -- Summary -- Introduction The twilight of affluence - A chance for greater happiness? -- Chapter I Living beyond one's means - A perceived human right -- The great mobilisation -- Have now, pay later -- Chapter II The illusion of progress - Affluence through plundering -- Efficiency myth I: Industrial division of labour and the market economy -- Efficiency myth II: Innovation and productivity advancement -- Labour as the source of prosperity? -- Surrounded by energy slaves -- Simulating one's own performance -- The extended reach of our prosperity model -- Knowledge as the source of wealth? -- Preliminary conclusion: The return to a settled lifestyle and a human scale -- Chapter III The illusion of freedom - New dependencies -- The higher you fly, the farther you fall -- Peak Everything": Consumer societies lose their material basis -- Chapter IV The myth of decoupling - The fairy tale of "green growth -- Material rebound effects -- Financial rebound effects -- Psychological and political rebound effects -- Absolute decoupling -- Shifting orientation from the object to the subject -- Chapter V Enough is never enough - Growth pressures and growth drivers -- Structural growth pressures -- Cultural growth drivers -- Chapter VI Less is more - Outline of a post-growth economy -- Economy of proximity: Relieving structural growth compulsion -- Creative subsistence as a replacement for industrial output -- Sufficiency and time -- The role of businesses -- What would post-growth politics look like? -- Conclusion We (still) have a choice! -- An overview of the post-growth economy -- Quoted and further literature -- Acknowledgements -- About the Author.