According to Japan's Nikkei Asia magazine on February 11, at weekend markets around Manila, shoppers can not only select ears of corn and rice directly from farmers, but also sit in on classes on fermentation, reducing waste and using local ingredients for traditional cooking.
Maureen Eltaño, a group of Filipino Agricultural, which helps organise the events, said the makeshift markets have given people the autonomy to buy goods directly from farmers. She said that the "corporate plundering" of agriculture has given many people disillusionment that it depletes natural resources and values profits over people.
Kohei Saito, author of the unexpected bestseller "Slowing Down: A Manifesto for Degrowth," sees such local initiatives as a cure for market failures. "De-growth" is a movement that sends the message that the pursuit of unlimited growth in gross domestic product (GDP) will collide with the limits of the planet.
From "donut economics" to "zero growth," there are various variations of this increasingly popular movement. Its proponents oppose the pursuit of growth for the sake of growth, and they favor more meaningful indicators such as education, health and the environment. For many, the biggest market failure – climate change – reflects the overuse of resources and the crisis of capitalism, at least in practice.
"This (the pursuit of GDP growth – editor's note) is primarily for profit, not for the well-being and real development of the Philippines," Eltanio said. ”
Across the Asia-Pacific region, new ways of life are thriving, from a group in Vietnam putting Buddhist dematerialism into practice to Malaysia piloting green cities.
Opponents say de-growth is not feasible and that raising GDP has lifted millions of people out of poverty. Proponents advocate prosperity without growth, based on a more judicious use of resources. They argue that the time is ripe for the concept of "de-growth" for the following reasons:
First, Northeast Asia's aging society and broader shrinking population mean that the region will struggle to scale its economy. Against the backdrop of slowing growth, this is just one of the factors that have led analysts to question Asia's growth model.
Second, the pandemic has demonstrated the feasibility of social reforms and exposed the vulnerabilities of the ** chain, the health system and the labour market. This has sparked calls for system resilience and work-life balance.
Third, climate anxiety is growing with record temperatures and environmental disasters every year. Saito said that the central contradiction of the industrial age was the attempt to impose unlimited growth on the planet's limits, and that nothing reveals this conflict more than the depletion of fossil fuels.
Donut economics "is a related economic model, more moderate and more adapted to the Global South." Economist Kate Reworths has drawn the doughnut diagram and argues that countries should grow within two rings. The inner ring represents basic development – countries need economic growth to meet a minimum quality of life, and not below this level of development.
The outer ring represents the boundaries and resources of the earth. In general, industrialized countries have developed to a point that, if left unchecked, risks exceeding the carrying capacity of the planet.
Jamila Mahmoud, director of the Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University Malaysia, said in an interview with Nikkei Asia: "It's amazing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and that's the wonder of the donut economic model. ”
She suggested that Ipoh, Malaysia, be built into a "donut city", where the local** should not focus on GDP, but on projects that promote people's health and well-being, sustainable waste management and ecotourism, such as adding bike lanes.
Data from the non-profit Donut Economy Action Lab shows that hundreds of projects like Ipoh have sprung up across Asia in recent years. Other signs of the movement's growing strength include books such as Slowing Down: A Declaration for De-Growth and the growing popularity of organizations such as the Malaysian Farm Movement. Malaysia's agricultural campaign said its membership has increased by 200 per cent since the start of the pandemic.
In the coastal city of Da Nang in central Vietnam, a community group is urging locals not to unwittingly fall into waste-leading consumerism just because others have been doing it for decades. The Vietnam Independent Learner Community teaches courses ranging from social entrepreneurship to the theory of an "adequate economy" (derived from the Thai concept of moderation).
Guo Tian, the agency's chief strategy officer, said in an interview: "People associate their happiness and self-worth with consumerism. "We need to rethink our economic system" to "create a happy society with a high quality of life," he said.
He said that people can consume for a comfortable life without over-consumption, while having meaningful pursuits that transcend materialism. The organization works with members to start social enterprises, including zero-waste businesses, renovated stores, and more.
The institution also runs "tourism schools" across Asia. In order to connect with the villagers, tourists will stay in the homes of the villagers and help them with farming, repairing their houses, or engaging in other activities.
However, Nicholas Stern, director of the Centre for Asian Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said economic growth remains a powerful anti-poverty tool. Like many who are dismissive of the zero-growth movement, he argues that technology offers a better way to raise living standards while reducing carbon emissions to almost zero, which is becoming more evident as the cost of solar panels and electric vehicles falls.
In a 2022 article, he wrote: "We must radically change, especially with significant investment and innovation, in order to achieve this." ”
But even clean energy won't be enough to solve the problem, Saito said, because it's also a resource and is in a cycle of meaningless consumption supported by same-day delivery and cheap airfare.
In Slowing Down: A Manifesto for Degrowth, Saito writes, "Every day people are looking for a new economic way to solve their suffering. ”
Modern pollution, inequality, and anxiety have led people like Eltaño to seek patterns that do less harm to the planet and people. The most well-known is Bhutan, which places "Gross National Happiness" above GDP and measures happiness indicators such as forest protection and community activities.
The United Nations has also created the Human Development Index to track progress from life expectancy to education. The index shows that while people's incomes have increased, insecurity is rising, which seems to acknowledge the limitations of GDP.
Eltaño criticized "jobless growth" and environmentally damaging industrial agriculture. Collective farming, she said, gave the locals control and the ability to live within the carrying capacity of the planet.
"We place a lot of emphasis on giving farms and food producers the ability to produce the products the Philippines needs," she said. We take the protection of the community environment very seriously. ”
Vendors wash mung bean sprouts at a market in Manila, Philippines, Feb. 5. (Associated Press).