Produce Less – Exploring Degrowth

The growing degrowth movement challenges the assumption that economic growth must remain the central measure of social well-being. In a world facing ecological collapse, widening inequality and persistent poverty, it argues for shifting priorities from material expansion to social welfare. Two major reports, the “Global Justice Report” and the UN’s “Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth”, propose shorter working hours, fair wages, stronger public services, reduced overconsumption and sustainable agriculture. These measures aim to reduce poverty, redistribute wealth and power, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Grassroots initiatives and international research are advancing alternatives to endless growth on a finite planet.

The Xukuru do Ororubá people in Brazil are restoring degraded forests, reviving springs and protecting biodiversity through ancestral knowledge and traditional agriculture. Their work highlights the connection between ecological restoration, Indigenous rights and community governance. As governments meet for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Armenia, concerns are growing that existing protections for Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant peoples and local communities could be weakened. Negotiations will shape recognition of community-managed territories, free, prior and informed consent, and equitable access to biodiversity finance. Effective conservation requires strengthening the rights and leadership of communities that have protected ecosystems forgenerations.

Urban life is about more than walkable streets. Andrew Burleson argues that its defining quality is connectedness: the social fabric linking homes, shops, schools, public spaces and everyday activities. In car-dependent suburbs, journeys often pass through spaces that discourage interaction, leaving destinations isolated from one another. In connected neighbourhoods, streets become shared social spaces where residents encounter neighbours, discover local events and build relationships. Children gain greater independence, while communities become stronger. Walkability, Burleson suggests, is not the cause of vibrant urban life but an outcome of connected places where people can participate in the life around them.

Artificial intelligence and hyperscale data center buildout constitute a new front of environmental racism and a project to optimize white supremacy, with Black communities targeted as sacrifice zones.

Jeffrey Isaac Jarquin was deported from the U.S. by ICE and upon arrival in Managua was sent to prison by Nicaraguan authorities. Corporate media has decried the detention of a “torture victim” and “political prisoner,” but failed to do a cursory background investigation into Jarquin, who was himself convicted of torture, arson and robbery in Nicaragua in 2018.

Cities once at the forefront of climate action are witnessing growing resistance to environmental policies. The rise of right-wing populism, socioeconomic insecurity, public distrust and the financial costs of climate transitions are weakening support for climate goals. From efforts to dilute climate targets in Dresden to opposition against bike lanes and 15-minute cities, climate policies have become political battlegrounds. Neelakshi Joshi examines the forces driving this urban greenlash and argues that climate action must confront social injustices, counter misinformation and address citizens’ concerns to build support for a fair and lastingtransition.

“The point of the book is to get people to think beyond capitalism. We need a criticism of fossil fuel capitalism and how that has dominated this problem. Replacing fossil fuel capitalism with critical mineral capitalism isn’t going to solve the problem.”

The article examines how the revolutionary left should approach resistance by non-left forces against imperialism. It distinguishes the material anti-imperialist effects of struggles by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran from the political and class character of those forces. It argues that defending resistance does not require endorsing the movements or states leading it. The article applies this distinction to Palestine, Iran and Venezuela, while warning against both campism and the denial of imperialism. It calls for an independent politics that opposes imperialist domination while maintaining criticism of domestic repression, exploitation and class power. For the author, resistance can weaken imperialism without itself constituting liberation.

“Earthy governance” offers a different understanding of democracy, one in which human communities recognize their place within the wider web of life. Drawing on Indigenous and local communities across the world, Shrishtee Bajpai and Ashish Kothari examine forms of self-governance rooted in ecological relationships, collective decision-making, commons and custodianship. These systems seek to distribute power, strengthen the voice of marginalized groups and recognize rivers, mountains, forests and other more-than-human communities as integral to governance. From Lachung in Sikkim to the Tharaka community in Kenya and the Dongria Kondh of Odisha, the article explores practices that challenge human-centered and centralized models ofdemocracy.