18

 More on the necessity to practise deep transformation, not only study it

In my previous autoethnographic entry, I quoted from Max-Neef (1991). There is another quote from him that I would like to offer:

"At this stage of my life, I have reached the conclusion that I lack the power to change the world or any significant part of it. I only have the power to change myself. And the fascinating thing is that if I decide to change myself, there is no police force in the world that can prevent me from doing so. It is just my decision and if I want to do it, I can do it. Now, the point is that if I change myself, something may happen as a consequence that may lead to a change in the world. But we are afraid of changing ourselves. It is always easier to try to change others. The dictum of Socrates was "Know thyself," for he knew how afraid human beings are to know themselves. We know a lot about our neighbors, but we know little about ourselves. So, if we simply manage to change ourselves, something fascinating may happen to the world." (Max-Neef, 1991, p. 113). 

This orientation toward the self and self-transformation (and self-awareness), in my view, is close to Bhaskar's spiritual turn (e.g., Bhaskar, 2000). This is the least popular part of critical realism. Likewise, considering agency (and especially one's own agency, i.e., that of a person in academia) as a source of change is perhaps the least popular strand of post-growth. It is likely that no one who advocates self-transformation would argue against change in systems. This is what all critical scholars want: a change in our systems. However, for those who advocate agency, direct actions, active and personal participation, anarchism etc., change in systems is closely related to (and even arises from) actions and practices. In my view, these actions and practices arise from a change in oneself, one's psyche. Apart from participating in change, it is essential to reveal the constraints one faces and various imperfections of one's own practice: where it works and where it fails. Otherwise, it is challenging to talk about something we have no experience of. In the social sciences we often can have experiences of the situations, policies, structures, practices, worldviews etc. that we talk and write about. 

The imperfect practice of food consumption

At this time of the year (late July), European blueberries (bilberries) can be picked. Here in Northern Sweden they grow everywhere. At a recent conference someone asked me if picking wild berries interferes with food supply of wild animals. Here in Sweden one often hears that only 5% of blueberries are picked (by both humans and animals). I observe that not all blueberries and lingonberries are picked, one can often find lingonberries even in winters under the snow. 

In contrast to consuming fresh, local and free food, here are apples in a supermarket:

These apples may be labelled "zero waste" since they come without any packaging. However, these are industrially grown apples. They are not organic and not local. Note that the size is uniform, the shapes are almost exactly the same. There exist thousands of apple varieties. The German farmer I spoke to recently told me that in his orchards he grows hundreds of apple varieties. In Swedish supermarkets, according to him, there are "yellow apples, red apples, green apples". This is true, see the picture above. At times, supermarkets stock Swedish apples, but they are not diverse, their supply is not regular. To engage in sourcing better produce, as a consumer, I need a lot more time than I currently have. Perhaps supermarkets need to source better produce. This is what the German farmer referred to as "the chicken or the egg" dilemma. Is it the consumer or is it the producer who is responsible?  

References:

Bhaskar, R. (2000) From East to West: Odyssey of a Soul. London: Routledge.

Max-Neef, M. (1991) Human scale development: Conception, application and further reflections. London: The Apex Press. 

17

 Living simply, owning very few items

Max-Neef (1991, p. 112) wrote:

"You can never understand love, unless you fall in love. This is valid for every living system. You can not attempt to understand something of which you are not a part. Hence, how can we understand a society, a world, a planet, a biosphere, detaching ourselves from it?

How many of us actually understand the problems we are trying to solve? Problem solving belongs to the realm of knowledge and requires fragmented thinking. In the realm of understanding problem posing and problem solving do not make sense, because we must deal with transformations that start with, and within, ourselves."

I believe that the same applies to (over)consumption and practising simple living as academics trying to contribute to bringing about a genuinely sustainable society. Yesterday I had a wonderful interview with a German farmer who mentioned that we do not need more people studying sustainable food production, we need more people participating in it. This made me once again reflect on the practice of sustainability in which we should actively participate. I hope that an opportunity will arise for me to participate in sustainable food production, but in the meantime my personal practice is focused on transforming my own consumption, practising simple living and even "extreme" minimalism. 

Within the sustainability discourse, it is too easy to propose some "universal" solutions, such as travelling by train. Train travel has been an important practice for me since approximately 2012 (since then, I travelled by plane only once). It is only via engaging with this practice closely, I began to notice the multiple nuances thereof, such as how unaffordable train journeys can be, how limited one's geographical scope is. Same goes for veganism, slow work, alternative organising and other post-growth solutions and proposals. It could be helpful if each post-growth scholar would engage closely (and publicly) in one or several post-growth practices. 

Below are some of the images from my recent journey to Paris. 

Travelling very lightly:

Difficulty with finding zero-waste food while travelling over several days

Hotel prices are high, travelling over several days requires overnight stays

Difficulty with making better choices while changing trains quickly:

Reference:

Max-Neef, M. (1991) Human scale development: Conception, application and further reflections. London: The Apex Press.

16

 "Shopping" in Paris

When I look around me here in central Paris, I notice that shopping is a (large?) part of tourist experience for many. I maintain a sufficiency list and try to avoid consuming things that are not part of it. Perhaps try is a wrong word though, because it does not require any effort. Consuming minimally has become part of my being in the world which I enjoy. Soon I am leaving Paris, and a 2-day journey across Germany, Denmark and Sweden is upcoming. Travelling with very few things gives me a sense of freedom.

Here in Paris I got a canvas bag (at the conference reception), tea, a bar of soap and a water spray for very hot days. 

When I am away, I mostly avoid eating out. It feels stressful. I get most of my food at supermarkets. Usually it's just fruits, vegetables, bread, nuts. 

Something that I bought which was rather expensive, wasteful and unnecessary, but interesting in terms of its packaging, was lavender flavoured water. It is evident that the company tries to avoid single use plastic. In France (as well as in Germany) it is safe to drink tap water, so I will not buy this kind of flavoured water again and simply use my reusable water bottle. 

15

Travelling to a conference

I have travelled to Paris from Northern Sweden by train. It took two days. Neither travelling itself nor my presence here is being of deep transformations. I can join most conference online, perhaps with few exceptions. 

Train journeys make me appreciate the distance and the effort required to reach a far-away destination. However, these trains (such as ICE) are still very fast.

Here in Paris it is discouraging to experience extremely high temperatures and see extreme consumption at the same time. Here I refer to consumption in a very broad sense: shopping, consumption of places, mass consumption of 'culture' and landmarks, consumption of nature, of energy (air conditioning, data centres which store all the endless media people are producing while in Paris), etc. 

I always travel lightly and bring very few items with me when I travel. When I looked around my room and saw a reusable water bottle, canvas bags, bread wrapped in paper, I thought that such attempts of a more ecological being in the world are rather insignificant. At the same time, if more people practised this mode of being, we would see less consumerism and more reflection.

Insect hotel in Paris. Similarly to the way I feel about my reusable water bottle in the sea of consumerism, the efforts to accommodate insects and other non-human beings are negligible. Though one can meet many rats and mice at night, especially near rubbish bins. These animals dwell in the same spaces where homeless people sleep. Homelessness and luxury co-exist, and people simply walk past. 

I wonder, can Paris ever become post-growth? Is post-growth life possible here? 

14

 Walking

Walking, for me, is one of the key transformative, deeply ecological practices. Reading and writing about harmonious co-existence with nature feels meaningless without experiencing nature and her rhythms, observing growth and death. 

Not owning a car means that some parts of nature are hard to reach. On several occasions I went on field trips with my colleagues by car. We went through industrial estates: forests where all the trees are of the same age. Driving through nature is akin to watching a film, it is a lot less immersive and engaging than walking. We stopped on a few occasions, and those were beautiful.