SS04. FaDa Track: Feminism and Degrowth Alliance meets socialisation and commonisation in theory and practice.

In our collaborative statement in the context of Covid-19, the Feminism and Degrowth Alliance (FaDA) called for” the socialization of all universal health care, the socialization of utilities, the decommodification of food, housing, medicines, education, and other basic services”. Several Feminist Degrowth scholar/activists stress the need to commonize care for a care-full and radical social and ecological transformation that goes beyond the mere redistribution of care work between the genders and grasp patriarchal capitalism at its root: The division of production and reproduction. In this track we aim to both set a common ground of what the socialization of the (re)production life means for feminist degrowth in theory and put the practice of activists and social movements in the center by creating a fruitful strategic dialogue.

  • Expected proposals format: conventional panel contributions
  • Keywords: Feminism and degrowth, Feminism and Degrowth Alliance, commoning, care
  • Related track(s): None (new track)
  • Organizers: Gerner, Nadine (Universität Münster, Germany; FaDA - Feminism and Degrowth Alliance); Hansen, Lina (Universität Münster, Germany; FaDA - Feminism and Degrowth Alliance); Barca, Stefania (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain); Martinez, Bibiana (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain)

Full description

In our collaborative statement in the context of Covid-19, the Feminism and Degrowth Alliance (FaDA) called for” the socialization of all universal health care, the socialization of utilities, the decommodification of food, housing, medicines, education, and other basic services” (FaDA 2020; 2023). Several Feminist Degrowth scholar_activists stress the need to commonize care (Dengler & Lang 2022) for a care-full and radical social and ecological transformation that goes beyond the mere redistribution of care work between the genders and grasp patriarchal capitalism at its root: The division of production and reproduction. Feminist Degrowth scholars stand in a tradition of ecofeminist, marxist feminist and subsistence feminist thinking that offer fruitful insights into how racial patriarchal capitalism steadily exploits those who produce and maintain life: the forces of reproduction (Barca 2020). Here, we also encounter a wide array of feminist responses to how to reorganize the commons, ecological and social reproduction. In this track we aim to both set a common ground of what the socialization of the (re)production life means for feminist degrowth in theory and put the practice of activists and social movements in the center by creating a fruitful strategic dialogue. Hence, we join degrowth debates with experiences of caring municipalism, agroecology, theory and practice of commons and commoning. 

Literature: 

  • Barca, S. (2020). Forces of Reproduction: Notes for a Counter-Hegemonic Anthropocene (Elements in Environmental Humanities). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108878371
  • Dengler, C., & Lang, M. (2022). Commoning care: feminist degrowth visions for a socio-ecological transformation. Feminist Economics, 28(1), 1-28.
  • FaDA (2020). Collaborative Feminist Degrowth: Pandemic as an opening for a care-full radical transformation. https://degrowth.info/en/collaborative-feminist-degrowth-pandemic-as-an-opening-for-a-care-full-radical-transformation
  • FaDA Collective. Why are feminist perspectives, analyses, and actions vital to degrowth? (2023). In Degrowth journal (Vol. 1). https://www.degrowthjournal.org/publications/2023-05-03-why-are-feminist-perspectives-analyses-and-actions-vital-to-degrowth/