In 2019, La Fabrique de la Cité launched a long-term research project on opposition to large infrastructure and urban planning projects. Among the many motives invoked by opponents to these major projects, one, in particular, deserves further exploration: the idea that we should now prioritize de-growth, based on the observation that natural resources are depleting fast, and that this development makes the economic growth objective inherent to capitalist systems entirely unsustainable. In France, an increasing proportion of the public opinion shares this view: in September 2019, a poll conducted for Ademe revealed that 57% of French citizens consider that the country needs a complete overhaul of its economic system and to abandon the “myth of infinite growth”.
What does de-growth entail, and what would a society that has chosen de-growth look like? What lessons can be drawn from the observation of shrinking cities and the strategies implemented by some of them in the face of unwanted degrowth?
Finally, behind the debate around economic growth lies a more fundamental question: how can we build a “desirable, attractive, credible” future, in the words of French philosopher Étienne Klein? And, more importantly, is it still possible to believe in the idea of progress? These questions, which are crucial to the future of major projects and more broadly to the future of our society, will be explored by La Fabrique de la Cité during a debate to be held on 17 March 2020, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, at Leonard:Paris.
More information and registration link to come.
