TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards a Cultural Politics of Degrowth
T2 - Prefiguration, Popularization, Pressure
AU - Meissner, Miriam
N1 - Funding Information:
Cet article traite du rôle de la culture dans le «poltiical ecology», en mettant l'accent sur la décroissance. Les écologistes considèrent de plus en plus les changements sociétaux systémiques tels que la décroissance comme indispensables pour lutter efficacement contre les crises climatiques et écologiques, tandis que les gouvernements et la société civile restent sceptiques à leur égard. Pour relever ce défi, cet article plaide en faveur de l'emploi stratégique des pratiques, valeurs, récits et identités culturels au sein des politiques de décroissance. La majorité des études existantes sur la décroissance considère la politique culturelle en termes de préfiguration - l'acte de réaliser des futurs de décroissance dans le présent. S'appuyant sur le concept de la politique comme production de Stuart Hall, le plaidoyer de Chantal Mouffe pour un populisme de gauche, la pratique de l'artivisme de John Jordan et la notion de formalisme stratégique de Caroline Levine, cet article prône une compréhension élargie de la politique culturelle. Il propose un cadre conceptuel et un programme de recherche qui considère trois dimensions de la politique culturelle: la préfiguration, la vulgarisation et la pression. Pour illustrer ces dimensions, il donne des exemples de l'activisme contemporain et de la culture populaire. L'objectif scientifique de l'article est de conceptualiser le rôle fonctionnel et stratégique que la culture peut jouer comme instrument de campagne et d'activisme pour la décroissance. Son objectif pratique est d'offrir aux défenseurs et aux militants de la décroissance des idées sur la manière de mobiliser diverses formes culturelles existantes et émergentes vers leur fin. Mots clés: Décroissance, politique culturelle, préfiguration, culture populaire, activisme, Stuart Hall, Chantal Mouffe, John Jordan, Caroline Levine 1Dr. Miriam Meissner is Assistant Professor at the Faculty for Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Email: m.meissner "at" maastrichtuniversity.nl. Acknowledgements: I would like to thank the editors of JPE, two anonymous reviewers, and Federico Savini for their time, insight and constructive comments. This research was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research [grant number 016.Veni.195.126].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - This article discusses the role of culture in political ecology, with a focus on degrowth. Environmental scientists increasingly consider systemic societal changes such as degrowth as indispensable for the effective tackling of current climate and ecological crises, while governments and civil society remain skeptical of it. To tackle this challenge, this article argues for the strategic employment of cultural practices, values, narratives and identities within degrowth politics. The majority of existing degrowth scholarship considers cultural politics in terms of prefiguration – the act of performing degrowth futures in the present. Drawing on Stuart Hall's concept of politics as production, Chantal Mouffe's plea for a left populism, John Jordan's practice of artivism and Caroline Levine's notion of strategic formalism, this article advocates an extended understanding of cultural politics. It proposes a conceptual framework and research agenda that considers three dimensions of cultural politics: prefiguration, popularization and pressure. To illustrate these dimensions, it gives examples from contemporary activism and popular culture. The article's scientific goal is to conceptualize the functional and strategic role culture can play as instrument in the campaigning and activist uprising for degrowth. Its practical goal is to offer degrowth advocates and activists insights on how to mobilize various existing and emerging cultural forms towards their end.
AB - This article discusses the role of culture in political ecology, with a focus on degrowth. Environmental scientists increasingly consider systemic societal changes such as degrowth as indispensable for the effective tackling of current climate and ecological crises, while governments and civil society remain skeptical of it. To tackle this challenge, this article argues for the strategic employment of cultural practices, values, narratives and identities within degrowth politics. The majority of existing degrowth scholarship considers cultural politics in terms of prefiguration – the act of performing degrowth futures in the present. Drawing on Stuart Hall's concept of politics as production, Chantal Mouffe's plea for a left populism, John Jordan's practice of artivism and Caroline Levine's notion of strategic formalism, this article advocates an extended understanding of cultural politics. It proposes a conceptual framework and research agenda that considers three dimensions of cultural politics: prefiguration, popularization and pressure. To illustrate these dimensions, it gives examples from contemporary activism and popular culture. The article's scientific goal is to conceptualize the functional and strategic role culture can play as instrument in the campaigning and activist uprising for degrowth. Its practical goal is to offer degrowth advocates and activists insights on how to mobilize various existing and emerging cultural forms towards their end.
U2 - 10.2458/jpe.2972
DO - 10.2458/jpe.2972
M3 - Article
SN - 1073-0451
VL - 28
SP - 511
EP - 532
JO - Journal of Political Ecology
JF - Journal of Political Ecology
IS - 1
ER -