Can the Global North learn from the Global South? : exploring possibilities for overcoming the psychological barriers to degrowth
(2018) In Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science MESM02 20181LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
- Abstract
- The benefits of economic growth (e.g. capital accumulation) are mainly being enjoyed by people in the Global North, while its negative byproducts (e.g. pollution) are mainly being endured by people in the Global South. Our focus on economic growth has led to the erosion of social wellbeing. And continuing economic growth on this planet with finite natural resources could have even more severe consequences for society. Driven by these issues, the social movement degrowth has emerged as a critique of growth and development. It envisions a society based on care, commons, conviviality, sharing, and simplicity. However, achieving such a society is inhibited by psychological barriers, such as the fear that a decrease in consumption comes with a... (More)
- The benefits of economic growth (e.g. capital accumulation) are mainly being enjoyed by people in the Global North, while its negative byproducts (e.g. pollution) are mainly being endured by people in the Global South. Our focus on economic growth has led to the erosion of social wellbeing. And continuing economic growth on this planet with finite natural resources could have even more severe consequences for society. Driven by these issues, the social movement degrowth has emerged as a critique of growth and development. It envisions a society based on care, commons, conviviality, sharing, and simplicity. However, achieving such a society is inhibited by psychological barriers, such as the fear that a decrease in consumption comes with a decrease in wellbeing, but research has so far only paid little attention to how these psychological barriers can be overcome.
Therefore, this thesis explores possibilities for how the support of degrowth ideas can be facilitated. Hypothesizing that temporarily living in the Global South can constitute a learning experience towards degrowth for people from the Global North, I explore the research questions of how this experience can (1) enable them to critically reflect the growth and development paradigms and (2) motivate them to envision degrowth futures. Based on emancipatory education and transformative learning theory, I conducted action research with young German adults who participated in an 11-months volunteer service programme in the Global South. To collect data, I facilitated a reflection workshop and a visioning workshop at two five-day seminars with 17 participants each which they were required to attend shortly after their return from their host countries in the Global South.
Findings show that temporarily living in the Global South can facilitate support of degrowth ideas in people from the Global North by enabling them to experience consequences of consumerist behavior (largescale waste and pollution) and other ways of living together (stronger focus on family and community life), and to interact with people who have vastly different interests and beliefs. These experiences enable both a critical reflection of the growth and development paradigms and an envisioning of a future based on care and simplicity. One important implication of the thesis findings is that degrowth can be advanced without directly criticizing the growth and development paradigms: by emphasizing the positive consequences of practicing degrowth (with emphasis on care and simplicity), people can start pursuing a degrowth lifestyle without having critically reflected growth and development. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8949698
- author
- Bendisch, Fabian Simon LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MESM02 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- growth, development, Weltwärts, degrowth education, psychological barriers, transformative learning, sustainability science
- publication/series
- Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science
- report number
- 2018:028
- language
- English
- id
- 8949698
- date added to LUP
- 2018-06-16 11:53:27
- date last changed
- 2018-06-16 11:53:27
@misc{8949698,
abstract = {{The benefits of economic growth (e.g. capital accumulation) are mainly being enjoyed by people in the Global North, while its negative byproducts (e.g. pollution) are mainly being endured by people in the Global South. Our focus on economic growth has led to the erosion of social wellbeing. And continuing economic growth on this planet with finite natural resources could have even more severe consequences for society. Driven by these issues, the social movement degrowth has emerged as a critique of growth and development. It envisions a society based on care, commons, conviviality, sharing, and simplicity. However, achieving such a society is inhibited by psychological barriers, such as the fear that a decrease in consumption comes with a decrease in wellbeing, but research has so far only paid little attention to how these psychological barriers can be overcome.
Therefore, this thesis explores possibilities for how the support of degrowth ideas can be facilitated. Hypothesizing that temporarily living in the Global South can constitute a learning experience towards degrowth for people from the Global North, I explore the research questions of how this experience can (1) enable them to critically reflect the growth and development paradigms and (2) motivate them to envision degrowth futures. Based on emancipatory education and transformative learning theory, I conducted action research with young German adults who participated in an 11-months volunteer service programme in the Global South. To collect data, I facilitated a reflection workshop and a visioning workshop at two five-day seminars with 17 participants each which they were required to attend shortly after their return from their host countries in the Global South.
Findings show that temporarily living in the Global South can facilitate support of degrowth ideas in people from the Global North by enabling them to experience consequences of consumerist behavior (largescale waste and pollution) and other ways of living together (stronger focus on family and community life), and to interact with people who have vastly different interests and beliefs. These experiences enable both a critical reflection of the growth and development paradigms and an envisioning of a future based on care and simplicity. One important implication of the thesis findings is that degrowth can be advanced without directly criticizing the growth and development paradigms: by emphasizing the positive consequences of practicing degrowth (with emphasis on care and simplicity), people can start pursuing a degrowth lifestyle without having critically reflected growth and development.}},
author = {{Bendisch, Fabian Simon}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science}},
title = {{Can the Global North learn from the Global South? : exploring possibilities for overcoming the psychological barriers to degrowth}},
year = {{2018}},
}