Green growth : ideology, political economy, and the alternatives

Bringing together leading scholars of environmental policy and political economy, the book assess the impact and viability of green growth and outlines the alternatives.;Acknowledgements -- Contributors -- Introduction / Gareth Dale, Manu V. Mathai and Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira -- Part I. Contradictions of green growth: 1. Can green growth really work? A reality check that elaborate on the true (socio- )economics of climate change / Ulrich Hoffmann; 2. What is the "green" in "green growth"? / Larry Lohmann; 3. The how and for who of green governmentality / Adrian Parr; 4. Degrowth and the roots of neoclassical economics / James Meadway -- Part II. Case studies: 5. Giving green teeth to the Tiger? A critique of "green growth" in South Korea / Bettian Bluemling and Sun-Jin Yun; 6. Lessons from the EU : why capitalism cannot be rescued from its own contradictions / Birgit Mahnkopf; 7. The green growth trap in Brazil / Ricardo Abramovay; 8. Green jobs to promote sustainable development : creating a value chain of solid waste recycling in Brazil / Anne Posthuma and Paulo Sergio Muçouçah; 9. Trends of social metabolism and environmental conflicts : a comparison between India and Latin America / Joan Martinez-Alier, Federico Demaria, Leah Temper and Mariana Walter Cover 1 Dedication 2 About the Editors 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contributors 10 Introduction 14 Part I: Contradictions of Green Growth 34 Chapter 1: Can Green Growth Really Work? A Reality Check That Elaborates on the True (Socio-)Economics of Climate Change 35 Introduction 35 Limits Set by the Arithmetic of Economic and Population Growth 36 Governance and Market Constraints 46 Changing Consumption Patterns: A Very Hard Nut to Crack 48 Systemic Limits: Economic Growth Fetishism 48 The Mammoth Challenge: How Can We Extricate Ourselves from the Economic Growth Predicament? 50 Chapter 2: What is the ‘Green’ in ‘Green Growth’? 55 Some Prehistory 56 ‘Externalizing’ Nature 61 The New Natures of Green Growth 68 The New Natures and Capitalist Crisis 75 Endless Resistance 80 Chapter 3: The how and for whom of Green Governmentality 85 Whom Does Government Speak For? 87 How Does Government Speak? 96 Chapter 4: Degrowth and the Roots of Neoclassical Economics 103 The Steady-State Vision 106 Productivity and Labour 107 Wealth vs Capital 109 The Problems with GDP 110 Production and Consumption 112 The Circular ‘Underground’ 115 The Labour Theory of Value 117 Labour, Nature and Wealth 118 Mill and the Problem of Accumulation 122 Conclusion 123 Part II: Case Studies 126 Chapter 5: Giving Green Teeth to the Tiger? A Critique of ‘Green Growth’ in South Korea 127 Introduction 127 Green Growth: An Autocratic Environmental Discourse 129 Green Growth Is Built on Outdated Premises 136 The Promise of Decoupling 138 Green Growth Focuses on Performance and Indicators 139 Conclusion 140 Chapter 6: Lessons from the EU: Why Capitalism Cannot Be Rescued from Its Own Contradictions 144 The EU as an Advocate of Green Growth 146 Behind the Green Discourse: A Structural Crisis of the World-Ecological System of Capitalism 156 Moving Beyond Green Capitalism? 160 Chapter 7: The Green Growth Trap in Brazil 163 The Gap Between Income and Well-Being 164 Hydroelectricity: Extent and Limitations 169 Green Fuel and Mobility 172 The Amazon and the Ecosystems 175 Conclusions 177 Chapter 8: Green Jobs to Promote Sustainable Development: Creating a Value Chain of Solid Waste Recycling in Brazil 179 Introduction 179 Origin and Definition of the Green Jobs Approach 182 The Brazilian Experience in Promoting Green Jobs Within the Recycling Value Chain 188 Conclusions 197 Chapter 9: Trends of Social Metabolism and Environmental Conflict: A Comparison Between India and Latin America 200 From Ecological Economics to Environmental Justice and Political Ecology 202 Methods for the Study of Social Metabolism 203 Materials Flows Accounting (MFA) 204 Energy Flows Accounting (EFA) 205 Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) 206 Social Metabolism of Latin America 206 Social Metabolism of India 209 Conclusions 222 Part III: Emerging Alternatives? 224 Chapter 10: Beyond ‘Development’ and ‘Growth’: the Search for Alternatives in India Towards a Sustainable and Equitable World 225 Introduction: Crisis and Response 225 Stories of the Future: Towards a Radical Ecological Democracy 226 Meaningful Globalization 238 Principles and Values 239 Challenges and Opportunities for the Transformation 241 Who Will Be the Primary Agents of Transformation? 242 Conclusion: India and the Rest of the World 244 Chapter 11: Reconsidering Growth in the Greenhouse: The Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) as a Practical Strategy for the Twenty-First Century 246 Introduction 246 The Green Growth Rescue? 248 Evaluating the ‘Greenshift’ as a Means to Alleviate Energy Poverty 249 Questioning Equality as a Construct of Growth 251 Moving Beyond Green Growth Rhetoric 254 The Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) 256 Green Growth and the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) 260 Practical SEU Application 262 Pursuing ‘Social Change 2.0’ in the Twenty-First Century 263 Chapter 12: Alternatives to Green Growth? Possibilities and Contradictions of Self-Managed Food Production 266 Introduction 266 Green (Food) Growth as Capitalism’s World-Ecology 268 Calling for Agroecological Alternatives, and Their Limits 271 India 272 United Kingdom 274 Brazil 276 Limits of Alternatives to Green Growth Capitalism 278 Notes 284 Index 328 Collection Of Essays Bringing Together Various Critical Voices In Assessing The Ideology Behind, And Viability Of, Green Growth Policies, Including Case Studies Of The West, Asia And Latin America. --from Publisher Description. Introduction / Gareth Dale, Manu V. Mathai And Jose A. Puppim De Oliveira -- Part. I. Contradictions Of Green Growth. Can Green Growth Really Work? : A Reality Check That Elaborates On The True (socio-)economics Of Climate Change / Ulrich Hoffmann -- What Is The 'green' In 'green Growth'? / Larry Lohmann -- The How And For Whom Of Green Governmentality / Adrian Parr -- Degrowth And The Roots Of Neoclassical Economics / James Meadway -- Part Ii. Case Studies. Giving Green Teeth To The Tiger? : A Critique Of 'green Growth' In South Korea / Bettina Bluemling And Sun-jin Yun -- Lessons From The Eu : Why Capitalism Cannot Be Rescued From Its Own Contradictions / Birgit Mahnkopf -- The Green Growth Trap In Brazil / Ricardo Abramovay -- Green Jobs To Promote Sustainable Development : Creating A Value Chain Of Solid Waste Recycling In Brazil / Anne Posthuma And Paulo Sergio Muçouçah -- Trends Of Social Metabolism And Environmental Conflict : A Comparison Between India And Latin America / Joan Martinez-alier, Federico Demaria, Leah Temper And Mariana Walter -- Part Iii. Emerging Alternatives? Beyond 'development' And 'growth' : The Search For Alternatives In India Towards A Sustainable And Equitable World / Ashish Kothari -- Reconsidering Growth In The Greenhouse : The Sustainable Energy Utility (seu) As A Practical Strategy For The Twenty-first Century / Job Taminiau And John Byrne -- Alternatives To Green Growth? : Possibilities And Contradictions Of Self-managed Food Production / Steffen Böhm, Maria Ceci Araujo Misoczky, David Watson And Sanjay Lanka. Edited By Gareth Dale, Manu V. Mathai And José A. Puppim De Oliveira. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Acknowledgements -- Contributors -- Introduction / Gareth Dale, Manu V. Mathai and Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira -- Part I. Contradictions of green growth: 1. Can green growth really work? A reality check that elaborate on the true (socio- )economics of climate change / Ulrich Hoffmann 2. What is the "green" in "green growth"? / Larry Lohmann 3. The how and for who of green governmentality / Adrian Parr 4. Degrowth and the roots of neoclassical economics / James Meadway -- Part II. Case studies: 5. Giving green teeth to the Tiger? A critique of "green growth" in South Korea / Bettian Bluemling and Sun-Jin Yun 6. Lessons from the EU : why capitalism cannot be rescued from its own contradictions / Birgit Mahnkopf 7. The green growth trap in Brazil / Ricardo Abramovay 8. Green jobs to promote sustainable development : creating a value chain of solid waste recycling in Brazil / Anne Posthuma and Paulo Sergio Muçouçah 9. Trends of social metabolism and environmental conflicts : a comparison between India and Latin America / Joan Martinez-Alier, Federico Demaria, Leah Temper and Mariana Walter Part III. Emerging alternatives? 10. Beyond 'development' and 'growth': the search for alternatives in India towards a sustainable and equitable world / Ashish Kothari 11. Reconsidering growth in the greenhouse : the sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) as a practical strategy for the twenty-first century / Job Taminiau and John Byrne 12. Alternatives to green growth? Possibilities and contradictions of self-managed food production / Steffen Böhm, Maria Ceci Araujo Misoczky, David Watson and Sanjay Lanka.

The discourse of 'green growth' has recently gained ground in environmental governance deliberations and policy proposals. It is presented as a fresh and innovative agenda centred on the deployment of engineering sophistication, managerial acumen and market mechanisms to redress the environmental and social derelictions of the existing development model.

But the green growth project is deeply inadequate, whether assessed against criteria of social justice or the achievement of sustainable economic life upon a materially finite planet. This volume outlines three main lines of critique. First, it traces the development of the green growth discourse qua ideology. It asks: what explains modern society's investment in it, why has it emerged as a master concept in the contemporary conjuncture, and what social forces does it serve? Second, it unpicks and explains the contradictions within a series of prominent green growth projects. Finally, it weighs up the merits and demerits of alternative strategies and policies, asking the vital question: 'if not green growth, then what?'

The discourse of "green growth" has recently gained ground in environmental governance deliberations and policy proposals. It is presented as a fresh and innovative agenda centered on the deployment of engineering sophistication, managerial acumen, and market mechanisms to redress the environmental and social derelictions of the existing development model. But the green growth project is deeply inadequate, whether assessed against criteria of social justice or the achievement of sustainable economic life upon a materially finite planet. This volume outlines three main lines of critique. First, it traces the development of the green growth discourse qua ideology. It asks: what explains modern society?s investment in it, why has it emerged as a master concept in the contemporary conjuncture, and what social forces does it serve? Second, it unpicks and explains the contradictions within a series of prominent green growth projects. Finally, it weighs up the merits and demerits of alternative strategies and policies, asking the vital question: "If not green growth, then what"?