International Newsletter on Sustainable Local
Development
Newsletter #92
1st October 2012
Summary
The Resilience Imperative : Cooperative
Transitions to a Steady-State Economy
Book review
Message from the editorial team
Ever since we began publishing our
newsletters in 2003, we have presented various examples of grassroots
organisations. They are mainly structured according to the principles of social
solidarity economy. Their activities are aimed at improving their own lives
through job-creation, food production, providing housing and ensuring all their
basic needs.
Most, if not all of the examples in this
book by Michael Lewis and Pat Conaty demonstrate solidarity between people and
various organisations in the same geographical area. In most cases, the
activities are developed to meet the needs of disadvantaged groups, as in the
case of access to housing for low-income families. Even if the book does not
include many examples from countries of the South, we know from various
examples in articles we have published in this newsletter that the approach is
the same. Our newsletter has illustrated many examples of this kind, such as
ASSEFA in India (#60), cooperatives in Mozambique (#19), forestry users in
Nepal (#17), and even solidarity economy in rural districts of China (#81). We
have also illustrated the way in which grassroots organisations in different
countries come together to share information, support one another and jointly
carry out advocacy.
We know the two authors of the book we are
reviewing in this issue, and they have used examples to systematically
illustrate these and other examples, in order to demonstrate that it is
possible to live differently without seeking to achieve growth at all costs, or
destroying the ecosystems of our planet. Not to mention the accelerated
depletion of the earth’s resources.
The book enables us to get a glimpse of a
different way of life, based on things that already exist, of what the authors
call “a steady-state economy” that would be more respectful of all human
beings, who take the future into their own hands and organise in all regions of
the world.
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
The Resilience Imperative: Cooperative Transitions to a Steady-State
Economy
Book review
by Yvon Poirier
The two authors of the book The Resilience Imperative: Cooperative
Transitions to a Steady-State Economy, Michael Lewis from Canada and Pat
Conaty from the UK have achieved the masterpiece of analysing the current
socio-economic situation and demonstrating from existing alternative practice
that we have all we need to switch to a more respectful community-based human
society, one that also respects the planet.
On the basis of existing case studies,
they clearly demonstrate that the current growth-based development model is not
so much the fruit of the capitalist model per se, but rather the result of the
use of almost-free energy based on oil. As they illustrate in an allegory, it
is as though we had found a hidden treasure buried in the basement of our house.
At least in the case of part of the world’s population, we help ourselves to it
and spend recklessly. We have therefore used up the planet’s resources at
breakneck speed; this is true for the natural resources, water, the oceans, as
well as land and all the ecosystems. In less than 2 or 3 generations the impact
has been greater than all human activity combined since the start of life as we
know it. The capitalist system as it exists today, particularly in its
neo-liberal form, accentuates this frenetic race of consumption and
dilapidation of resources and is taking us to the brink.
Yet scientific studies have undeniably
proven that not only is this not a viable model, but the very future of life
itself will be considerably disrupted by factors including climate change, -
something that is now almost inevitable – unless we make rapid major changes.
In this respect, we like a quotation by Kenneth Boulding, taken from the book.
Having explained that we are living in a world of finite and not infinite resources,
he declares “Anyone who believes that
economic growth can go on forever is either madman or an economist!”. We
apologise to the “real” economists who obviously know that this is dogmatic,
and based on ideology and that it has no scientific basis.
Alternatives exist
The authors explain that there is nothing
new about the awareness that we need to adopt a lifestyle that is more
respectful of humankind and life. In the 18th and 19th centuries many actors
proposed different visions, often qualified as Utopian or idealistic, but that
often led to genuine alternatives. Robert Owen, for example is said to have
inspired the first cooperative in Rochdale in 1844.
With the economic crises, the
ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the unemployment of the last
30 or 40 years, people have become aware that it was necessary to create
organisations that respect human values and sustainable development. The
authors present many success stories to illustrate this, such as:
- The Seikatsu Club Cooperative Union in Japan. Founded in 1968 by
women, it now brings together 32 cooperatives with 350,000 members who buy
basic food supplies direct from producers.
- Community Land Trusts in the United States and the United Kingdom
that remove land from property speculation, make housing accessible to
“ordinary folks”. The one in Champlain, Vermont, in the United States is a
pioneer in this regard. It has enabled the creation of 2,200 affordable
homes.
- Italian solidarity cooperatives provide social services to communities
including disadvantaged people in their salaried workforce.
- The Mondragon group of cooperatives in Spanish Basque country
belongs to its 70,000 workers. Over and above the industrial production
the group includes a credit union, schools as well as research and
development activities.
- Various financial cooperatives and credit unions that have not,
generally speaking been affected by the 2008 crisis, or at least not very
much. The authors mention the network of 220 community credit unions
savings banks in the United States that are active in the disadvantaged
communities around the country. Mortgages were healthy and they have lost
little in spite of the increase in unemployment within these communities.
The authors illustrate their ideas with
many other examples. Nevertheless the examples mentioned above allow us to
understand that by fighting against the forces that are perpetuating the
dominant model, how it is possible to live differently.
These activities, as the title indicates,
are more resilient, as they are based on the involvement of people and
communities. They are also more resilient for the planet, as they show how it
is possible to live in a more balanced world that does not depend on the
unreasonable exploitation of the planet’s resources.
Canadian Center for Community Renewal-Centre
canadien de renouveau communautaire (EN+FR)
http://communityrenewal.ca/resilience-imperative
New Economics Foundation
(EN)
http://www.neweconomics.org/
About the Newsletter
This Newsletter is
published in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese, It has been produced on a
totally voluntary basis since the first issue in 2003.
The Editorial team wishes
to thank the following volunteers for their support in translation and
revision:
Michel Colin (Brazil)
Paula Garuz Naval
(Ireland)
Évéline Poirier (Canada)
Brunilda Rafael (France)
We also wish to thank the
Civil Policy Research Institute (CPRI) of Seikatsu Club in Japan for the
Japanese translation.
Our Newsletters are
available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
To contact us (for
information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier
ypoirier@videotron.ca
