Agriculture in a degrowth society: helpful indicator for the transition : Transitory indicator for paradigm shift

Lievens, Laurent
(2010) 2nd international conference on economic degrowth for ecological sustainability and social equity — Location: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) (26.March.2010)

Files

LIEVENS_Paper.pdf
  • Open Access
  • Adobe PDF
  • 224.91 KB
Download

Details

Authors
  • Lievens, LaurentFUCaM
    Author
Abstract
Current environmental degradation and resource depletion challenge our societies in their fundaments. Scientific evidence show that the negative impacts of our economies are growing, while wellbeing doesn’t seem to follow this trend. Degrowth theories - i.e. a transitional period to reach global sustainability - tries to solve the ecological and social crisis through a shift in our socio-economic paradigm. To support political and societal decision-making processes, some indicators could be helpful. In all societies, the agricultural world can be seen as the most important sector of production. We are not completely reinstituting Physiocrats’ view, but agriculture is well presented as the foundation of the activities, due to many implications in others sectors. Our way to be farmer can determine the quality of soils, water and food. Health is strongly related to what we eat. More, here we can find precious indications about our relation with Nature and the way we consider it: fight or collaboration. The global crisis occurring in the farmer world - plenty of farms disappear every year around the world - is not a detail. Optimistically, many considerations are dedicated on tomorrow agriculture: it should be free from petrol use (as inputs and energy), extensive, local and environmentally sound. Farmers have to live directly from what they produce but this sector should be away from global profit focus. We can see it as a public service, providing many implications in other sectors and pushing them into the transitional period. Another application of the precautionary principle is the upholding of GMO on laboratories. This kind of seeds is directly linked with an intensive, centralized and profit-oriented agriculture. In this article, we propose a set of indicators focused on the agricultural world in a degrowth transition period. These indicators could next be aggregated in one index, able to launch the debate and its appropriation by the Civil Society. We propose to construct such an index with a kind of pyramidal approach, highlighting a gradation inside the different levels. The current paper represents the beginning of a work in progress. The indicators are submitted to the debate, in a way to underline his abilities to engage the paradigm shift.
Affiliations
  • FUCaMSciences Politiques, Sociales et de Communication

Citations

  • APA
  • Chicago
  • FWB

Lievens, L. (2010). Agriculture in a degrowth society: helpful indicator for the transition : Transitory indicator for paradigm shift. 2nd international conference on economic degrowth for ecological sustainability and social equity, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/231204