Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto

by KOHEI SAITO, Brian Bergstrom (Translator)

Overview

"[A] well-reasoned and eye-opening treatise . . . [Kohei Saito makes] a provocative and visionary proposal."
—Publishers Weekly, (starred review)

"Saito’s clarity of thought, plethora of evidence, and conversational, gentle, yet urgent tone . . . are sure to win over open-minded readers who understand the dire nature of our global. . . . A cogently structured anti-capitalist approach to the climate crisis."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Why, in our affluent society, do so many people live in poverty, without access to health care, working multiple jobs and are nevertheless unable to make ends meet, with no future prospects, while the planet is burning?

In his international bestseller, Kohei Saito argues that while unfettered capitalism is often blamed for inequality and climate change, subsequent calls for “sustainable growth” and a “Green New Deal” are a dangerous compromise. Capitalism creates artificial scarcity by pursuing profit based on the value of products rather than their usefulness and by putting perpetual growth above all else. It is therefore impossible to reverse climate change in a capitalist society—more: the system that caused the problem in the first place cannot be an integral part of the solution.

Instead, Saito advocates for degrowth and deceleration, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and production. In practical terms, he argues for:

• the end of mass production and mass consumption
• decarbonization through shorter working hours
• the prioritization of essential labor over corporate profits

By returning to a system of social ownership, he argues, we can restore abundance and focus on those activities that are essential for human life, effectively reversing climate change and saving the planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662602368
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	01/09/2024
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	65,338
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Kohei Saito is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo. He received his PhD in philosophy from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in 2016. He was awarded the 2018 Isaac Deutscher Memorial Prize, the most prestigious academic award for Marxian studies, making Saito its youngest recipient. In 2020 the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science awarded him the highly prestigious JSPS prize, awarded to the top 25 scholars in the entire country under the age of 45. In 2021, Slow Down received the "Best Asian Books of the Year" prize from the Asia Book Awards.

Table of Contents

Slow Down: The Deceleration Manifesto

by Kohei Saito, translated by Brian Bergstrom


Table of Contents


Introduction: SDGs are the Opiate of the Masses!

Chapter One
 
Climate Change and the Imperial Mode of Living
 
Chapter Two
 
The Limits of Green Keynesianism

Chapter Three
 
Shooting for Degrowth within a Capitalist System

Chapter Four

Marx in the Anthropocene

Chapter Five
 
The Escapism Known as Accelerationism

Chapter Six
 
Capitalism’s Scarcity, Communism’s Abundance

Chapter Seven
 
Degrowth Communism Will Save the World

Chapter Eight
 
The Lever of Climate Justice

Conclusion: How to Prevent History’s End

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/16/2023

Saito (Marx in the Anthropocene), a philosopher at the University of Tokyo, warns in this well-reasoned and eye-opening treatise that capitalism is pushing the planet past its breaking point, and calls for drastic action. In addition to imminent climate change, Saito points to the inequalities that undergird the global economy, detailing how the industrialized Global North (which is also the driver of capitalism and the biggest contributor to carbon emissions) plunders the natural resources and exploits the labor power of the Global South. Saito argues that these extractive systems are intensifying, and that nation-states’ attempts to foster sustainability while maintaining economic growth, including the “Green Keynesian” of plans proposed by social democracies (such as the Green New Deal) and even traditional Marxism (which assumes production is not intrinsically destructive), are insufficient. Drawing on Marx’s later works and unpublished writings, Saito proposes a system of “degrowth communism,” which he describes as “a transition from quantity... to quality.” This degrowth society would be characterized by “an economy focused on local production for local consumption” and decarbonization through shorter working hours, in an echo of the shorter workday called for by the original labor movement at the turn of the 20th century. Saito concludes with a call for local, city-led initiatives (pointing to Barcelona as a model) to do what they can to pull their municipalities back from the emissions-spewing global economy. It’s a provocative and visionary proposal. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2023-09-09
A Japanese author argues that combatting climate change requires an alternative to capitalism.

In this English translation of a popular Japanese title, Saito, a professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo, warns that capitalist strategies for addressing the ever-escalating climate crisis are fundamentally flawed. Whether it’s the Paris Agreement, the Green New Deal (which the author calls “Green Keynesianism,” or Nobel laureate William Nordhaus’ economic models, our approaches to climate change make the dire mistake of prioritizing economic growth over ecological repair. “To determine which direction is right, we must trace the current climate crisis to its root cause,” writes Saito. “The root cause is capitalism, and understanding this is key. The enormous increase in carbon dioxide emissions began…with the Industrial Revolution…when capitalism first began to truly operate in the world.” The author advocates for “degrowth,” the benefits of which were evident during the pandemic: When the global economy slowed down, worldwide ecological indicators improved. To achieve degrowth, Saito argues for a new economic system based on Marx’s approach to communism, which avoids authoritarianism while democratizing the means of production. Indeed, the author begins the book with a clear rejection of what he calls “Soviet” communism. In contrast, writes Saito, we must turn to a Marxist model. “We must all manage the earth together,” he writes, “as the ultimate commons.” While many readers may find the idea of communism off-putting—something the author acknowledges in the book’s introduction—his alternative to capitalist consumption is surprisingly practical. Saito’s clarity of thought, plethora of evidence, and conversational, gentle, yet urgent tone—even when describing the most alarming aspects of the climate crisis—are sure to win over open-minded readers who understand the dire nature of our global situation and that “green capitalism is a myth.”

A cogently structured anti-capitalist approach to the climate crisis.

Kirkus Reviews

"According to Saito, the Earth is completely doomed unless we give up our obsession with G.D.P. and other forms of capitalist insanity. I find myself pretty well convinced."
—Tammy Kim, contributing writer at the New Yorker

"[Slow Down] offers more than a diagnosis of the systemic problems that brought us to this moment; it lays out, in clear and well-researched language, how those problems can be thoroughly addressed . . . Slow Down is that rare hybrid among ideological manifestos: It opens new insights into an existing ideology while uplifting something distinct of its own."
—Matthew Rosza, Salon

"If you want to get a jump on the book everyone will be talking about this winter, you should preorder Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto now."
—Jeva Lange, Heatmap News

"Saitō’s proposal is simple, salient, and adapts Marx for the modern day."
—The Millions

"Looking to start out the year with some big ideas? Look no further."
—Tobias Carroll, InsideHook

"[A] well-reasoned and eye-opening treatise . . . [Kohei Saito makes] a provocative and visionary proposal."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Saito’s clarity of thought, plethora of evidence, and conversational, gentle, yet urgent tone—even when describing the most alarming aspects of the climate crisis—are sure to win over open-minded readers who understand the dire nature of our global situation and that 'green capitalism is a myth.' A cogently structured anti-capitalist approach to the climate crisis."
—Kirkus (starred review)

"Achieving degrowth communism, [Saito] believes, is less about personal choices and more about changing overarching political and economic structures. Marxism, he argues, offers a viable model for reorienting society around the maximization of public goods as opposed to the endless pursuit and concentration of wealth."
—Ben Dooley & Hisako Ueno, The New York Times

"This necessary and energizing 21st Century manifesto is a truth mirror inviting us to see ourselves and our place in the metastatic growth engine that is our current economic system. Saito is a well-read soothsayer — one who loves this world, who has done his homework, and who is eager to share a viable way forward." 
—John Vaillant, bestselling author of Fire Weather, The Tiger and The Golden Spruce

"Kohei Saito is one of the most important scholars in the world. In Slow Down, he delivers a Karl Marx for the climate crisis and a vision of communism for the 21st century. No work could be more vital today." 
—Malcolm Harris, bestselling author of Palo Alto

"Slow Down has an almost magic ability to formulate complex thoughts in clear language, as well as to combine strict conceptual thinking with passionate personal engagement. Saito's book is not just for anyone interested in ecology or in the problems of today's global capitalism, it is simply indispensable for those of us who want to SURVIVE—in short, to all of us."
—Slavoj Žižek, author of Violence and The Sublime Object of Ideology

"Saitō unites Marxism with ecology and lights a path out of our present crisis. A powerful book from one of the most compelling young thinkers of our time."
—Jason Hickel, author of Less is More

From the Publisher