Description
The productive centrality of the use of time under the capitalist order makes those spheres of time outside production be affected by its logic. Thus, the time used for social reproduction (rest, care, leisure) becomes as invisible as it is essential to preserve the productive dynamics of the system. In this context, various degrowth proposals have laid special attention on the reduction of the workday in order to promote health and work-life balance while seeking to reduce unemployment and the material footprint of capitalist production. Moreover, the reduction of the workday would not only generate a greater availability of free time, but would also allow a greater dedication to other dimensions of the political sphere for which the lack of time itself is a major impediment to its development.Thus, in this paper we question, on the one hand, how the reduction of the workday could affect the increase in education and democratic participation and, on the other hand, to what extent the availability and use of time outside of production is essential for the transition from homo oeconomicus to homo ecologicus. To address these questions, we explore the limitations of the electoral short-termism that dominates most formal democracies, whose institutions, as guarantors of the capitalist productive order, are incapable of transcending its dynamics of accumulation and growth. At the same time, we examine the dominant paradigms of what has been promoted as the "good life," based on chronic job dissatisfaction and wasteful overconsumption driven by immediacy.
In contrast, we offer a series of strategies that allow us to think about participative social development, ranging from assemblies to spaces of playful transformation. These strategies aim to realize the political potential of social time around three main axes: the legitimization of the decision-making processes necessary to address the ecosocial crises; the increase in the immunity of democratic processes from interference by de facto powers; and the reduction of political disaffection derived from distrust towards institutions due to their corruptibility and lack of transparency. These three aspects, in short, serve to expose the significance of degrowth for a satisfactory use of time, whose implementation, contrary to hegemonic discourses, instead of representing a sacrifice for social life, entails an enrichment of its dimensions and capacities.
| Period | 15 Mar 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Growth vs Climate Conference: Perspectives on growth in the fight against climate change |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Barcelona, SpainShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |