The Indian sub-continent has long been involved in global capitalism. While some parts of India are like the Global North in terms of lifestyle and wealth, the majority is clearly part of the poor and exploited Global South.
As the state and the market became key actors in the economy, GDP growth has emerged as the central policy goal. Presently, as a rapidly growing economy with widening inequality and huge environmental problems, India needs to rethink its social–ecological transitions. Post-Growth Thinking in India discusses the relevance of ‘prosperity without growth’, or ‘post-growth’ for India, at a time when grassroots alternatives confront and question the consequences of growth.
‘Post-growth’ calls for a resizing and reorganisation of the social metabolism that would allow societies to live within their ecological means, and within democratic, equitable, and localised economies. This book presents diverse alternatives to the current growth-driven model of development.
The chapters in this book, some of which are Indian contributions to knowledge and policy, seek diverse alternatives to the current growth-driven model of development.
Julien-François Gerber is Assistant Professor of Environment and Development at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands, and is currently visiting faculty at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Rajeswari S. Raina is Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh, India.
List of Tables, Figures and Images List of Abbreviations Foreword Stephen A. Marglin Publishers’ Acknowledgements
Introduction Julien-François Gerber and Rajeswari S. Raina
Part I Why Growth is not the Answer 1. Growth Creates Poverty Vandana Shiva 2. Beyond Productivism Socialism, Waste, Obsolescence Aditya Nigam 3. Energetics The Energy Principles that Define Growth Mansoor Khan 4. Energy and Sustainability Why Green Capitalism is an Oxymoron Sagar Dhara
Part II Conceptual Concerns and Contexts 5. Degrowth and All That Insights from Economic Analysis Vinod Vyasulu 6. Technology, Growth, and Environmental Justice Sukumar Muralidharan 7. Developmental Context People, State, and Contested Arenas Ajay Dandekar 8. On Consumption and Violence An Idea of India Shiv Visvanathan
Part III Elements of a Post-Growth Programme 9. GDP and its Discontents A Note on Ideas of Economic Progress and their Relevance for India Jayati Ghosh 10. Articulating Green Growth and Degrowth Approaches, Practice, and Enabling Institutions Kanchan Chopra 11. Radical Ecological Democracy An Orchestration of Alternatives for a Post-Growth India Ashish Kothari 12. Degrowth as Economy of Permanence Rajni Bakshi 13. Universal Human Values for a Post-Industrial Economy Ganesh Prasad Bagaria and Rajul Asthana 14. Localisation The Post-Growth Path to Genuine Prosperity Helena Norberg-Hodge Epilogue Joan Martínez-Alier
Notes on the Editors and Contributors Index