Il capitalismo manageriale e la nuova centralità del potere sociale

Capitalism, in order to reproduce itself, must allocate more and more resources to the enhancement of the wealth already produced, rather than to increasing productive investments. The strategies for absorbing the surplus range from the reduction of supply to the creation of waste, from public spending to financialization. With the prevalence of these strategies, capitalism renounces to the maximum possible economic expansion in favour of its maximum expansion on society. It is a change that has consequences for environmental issues. The model of pure capitalism, in which the entire surplus is directed towards growth, is ecologically unsustainable. In today's historical capitalism, the goal of economic growth remains important, but it falls within that of increasing social power. Whether this is good or bad news for our biosphere will be discussed in other Chapters. Here we analyze the novelty.

Ritirata sostenibile! I tanti modi con cui possiamo adattarci al cambiamento

This Chapter examines the paths along which we humans could create an economy within planetary boundaries. To prevent the contraction of human activities from translating into a traumatic collapse, we should accept that contraction and indeed accelerate it. The negative impact on us would be greater, in fact, if we tried to stave off the decline, or slow it down. Given this paradox, the Chapter discusses how to support the return of socio-economic metabolism to the borders. In particular, it examines interventions at the individual, national and supranational level; mercantile policies; forms of collective and mutual action; measures that leverage systemic turning points. Finally, it thinks about how the relationship between humans and the environment is changing in terms of mutual "resonance".

Per la critica della crescita illimitata e della crescita verde

We focus on two great narratives: unlimited growth and green growth. The problem of the compatibility between the increase of human economic activities and the ecosystem seems to be solved by each of the two narratives. After recalling the thermodynamic unfoundedness of the first paradigm, we ask ourselves why it remains central in orienting political choices. Our answer explores the nature of "public religion" that economics has been taking on: by shaping our mental models and our actions, today's dominant economic theory is capable of converting us, contributing to the affirmation of even indefensible beliefs. With regard to the green growth paradigm, it is based on the idea of an absolute decoupling between the trend of growth and the negative impact on the environment, as well as on the related idea that forms of full circularity of economic processes are practicable. Against this conception theoretical arguments and empirical evidence have been advanced, none of which is in itself negatively conclusive, but whose complex makes it highly implausible.

Qualche riflessione finale

We introduce the concept of "tragic choices": those that concern our vital and identity experiences. As in the tragedies of classical Greek theater, there are circumstances in which there is no right and wrong, since theses capable of exhibiting arguments of almost equal strength are opposed. This is what happens today due to the contrast between economic and ecological predicaments: there is no optimal choice in this regard, valid always and in any case, that allows us to neglect and forget the other option. This is why, in pragmatic terms, the concept of “a-growth” is useful: we check on a case-by-case basis when economic growth can still be useful, when it should be slowed down and when it needs to be reduced. This approach is part of the research, itself pragmatic, of the "boundaries of the biosphere". These are not rigid limits, but constraints that must be interpreted and adapted, based on the idea of "being happy", where being satisfied means making the biosphere feel good with us inside.

Per una teoria del declino delle società complesse

To explain social decline, a first mechanism notes that elites, understood as small and relatively homogeneous groups, have a superiority to act in concert, compared to the masses. When the capitalist dynamics offers great opportunities to take advantage, and when such opportunities distribute costs over large groups, while concentrating the benefits in a few hands, then the elites have an incentive to intervene. To maintain privileged access to opportunities, elites seek alliances and resort to all forms of social power. Society decays when this path transforms it into a network of particularistic groups, committed to dividing given resources, instead of innovating and improving. A second mechanism is based on the responses of complex societies to challenges. The answers try to bridge the gap between the complexity of the control system and the increased complexity of the controlled system. They may consist either in constructing hierarchical modules, so that many subjects obey a few, or in multiplying the connections through reticular structures. The more the answer stratifies the hierarchy, the more the management costs of the apparatus increase. On the other hand, the more it insists on links, the more coordination costs increase between the many players in the network. The society tends to swing from one to the other, depending on which becomes more onerous. But both modes lead in the long run to decreasing energy returns, pushing the system on a path of decline. Even without the claim of composing an exhaustive investigation, the two mechanisms arise from some of the most relevant and recurrent characteristics of complex human societies: respectively, the difficulties of cooperation and the difficulties of responding to the arising of new systemic problems. In this sense, the two mechanisms may be able to help us understand what happens and what could happen.

Gli scenari

Chapter seven analyzes some of the most relevant future scenarios, regarding population, energy resources, public health, inequality, democracy on a national scale and forms of social power. On the population, evidences are advanced which cast doubt on the comforting idea that its trend will first become stationary and then decrease. On public health, the connotations of the Covid-19 pandemic are compared with those of the major ecological problems. On inequality, the emphasis is placed on that resulting from competition for the goods of status and power. On democracy, the tension between the national context, in which this political regime has expressed itself in our era, and global processes is discussed. Finally, the coexistence of various forms of social power and the ways in which they combine with each other is examined.

Limiti alla crescita, universalismo e progresso sociale

The paradigm of limits to growth has been legitimized by important contributions, both scientific and philosophical. Although it has oriented the political program of the major ecological movements, its weakness is to be "negative" (placing constraints) and paternalistic (preaching to others what it would be right to do). We evaluate the weight of these criticisms by examining Ingrid Robeyns' recent refined version of it, according to which it would be efficient and right to put an upper limit on income and wealth. We then move on to criticize the universalist ideology that has always permeated the ecological paradigm, arguing that, ultimately, Humanity will be able to awaken and jointly face the ongoing crises. Evolutionary biology helps to account for the weakness of this approach: the human species reproduces by mixing conflict and cooperation on an individual and group level. Humans have always been divided into many tribes, which can collaborate, but which sometimes exist as they defend and affirm borders and identities. It is rather empty to imagine the ecumenical convergence of all humans on the same order of priorities. Finally, we distinguish between growth and social progress. We try to formulate a definition of progress that constitutes the premise for a more adequate narration of the story of our biosphere.

Il degrado della biosfera

The position of man in the biosphere and the interaction of its activities with the different sectors of the earth's ecosphere are bringing the Earth system into a drastically different state from that in which the development of advanced civilizations was possible.

Risorse e popolazione umana

The history of the genus Homo, and of the sapiens species in particular, is different from that of other species due to the extreme importance of cultural evolution compared to biological evolution. But from the discovery of how to use fire and generate it, up to the invention of the steam engine, man essentially lives, like the other organisms of the biosphere, on the energy flow guaranteed by solar radiation. With the encounter between machines and fossil fuels and the entry into the era of engines, the rules of the game change radically, and the activities of Homo sapiens change in extent and intensity, in such a way as to progressively reduce the living space of all other animal and plant species, except for the allied and commensal ones. The global industrialized society arising from the meeting between machines and fossil sources is presently facing two fundamental difficulties: the gradual saturation of terrestrial ecosystems with the waste of social and economic metabolism, and the finiteness of fossil energy sources, which are not easy replacement due to their special chemical-physical properties.