A crítica do decrescimento ao desenvolvimentismo

Abstract

The degrowth ideias are a radical critics to the mainstream occidental growth discourse. The diversity of its origins offer rich arguments against the utilitarism and productivism, supposedly aiming at development, and it could be a fertile basis to elaborate alternatives to an adequate social and environmental way of life. This work aims at presenting such approaches – through the review of the literature and through the analysis of contemporary ideas of selected interviewed intellectuals, in France and in Brazil. Some concepts and references gain importance in this effort, such as: autonomy, environmental respect, conviviality, simplicity, social justice and ‘quality of life’. Empirical references are presented to support the discourse of validity and applicability of the degrowth proposals; a specific socioproductive system - the riverine community of the Ilha das Cinzas, in the state of Pará – is considered and evaluated with the selected criteria. The values promoted by degrowth could be pertinent guidelines towards an alternative development, local and autonomous, respectful of territorial identities, inclusively – and mainly – in the so-called ‘developing countries’. These changes may need to be pushed by strong and institutionalized vectors (such as politics or economy), but they might require a huge engagement of the civil society, a cultural shift and an approximation of the two worlds of sciences – the natural and the social ones – in order to attend the real one.