Portuguese alternative local initiatives in the light of degrowth and the feminist perspective

Portuguese alternative local initiatives in the light of degrowth and the feminist perspective

Graça Rojão (COOLABORA)

December 9, 2022, 3:00 pm

Anfitheater 4.1 Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra

Comments: Pedro Hespanha and Luciane Lucas dos Santos (CES-ECOSOL))

Presentation

In this seminar, we will discuss Portuguese alternative local initiatives based on degrowth and the feminist perspective of care as emancipatory matrices that share the concern with maintaining the sustainability of life on the planet in conditions of social justice. Degrowth criticizes economic growth assumed as a priority social objective, stimulates the re-politicization of the debate and the re-encrustation of the economic in the social and the political. The feminist vision of care, in turn, expands the notions of economy, work and social reproduction, in a sense that starts from the recognition of the interdependence between human beings and their eco-dependence on the rest of nature. In this context, we understand that alternative local initiatives, by creating new forms of collective organization, constitute a field of experimentation that roots these movements and establishes bridges between utopia and practice.

Based on a mapping carried out in mainland Portugal, we characterize this field, identify the concepts of degrowth and care present in local initiatives, identify the references of social transformation that mobilize them, based on their positioning in relation to capitalism and, finally, we discuss the emancipatory potential of the processes of social transformation that integrate the notions of degrowth and care, thus focusing on the creation of conditions for the sustainability of life. Although they may have an uncertain or limited potential, we argue that these initiatives open up hope in the face of very likely scenarios of collapse, which overshadow our horizon.

biographical note

Graça Rojão is an activist for a better world, feminist and decreasingist. She has participated in civic and solidarity initiatives for over 25 years, namely in local development associations and solidarity economy organizations. She has a degree and a PhD in Sociology, with a thesis on degrowth and care in alternative local initiatives. She is the director and co-founder of COOLABORA, a social intervention cooperative based in Covilhã and participates in some national networks such as Animar and Rede para o Decrescimento.