Against accumulation: lifestyle minimalism, de-growth and the present post-ecological condition
Against accumulation: lifestyle minimalism, de-growth and the present post-ecological condition
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反对积累：生活方式极简主义、去增长和当前的后生态状况
DOI：
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发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Miriam Meissner
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Miriam Meissner
摘要2008年金融危机后，流行文化叙事激增，通过哀叹所谓的“太多的世界”，倡导极简主义道德，放弃日常忙碌，含蓄地挑战经济生产力，消费和增长的原则。叙述范围从简单的生活方式建议和整理私人住宅，以减少个人劳动，沟通，社会接触和分心的追求。本文从生态政治的角度对这些叙述提出质疑。使用凯特·索珀的“另类享乐主义”的概念，本文分析了五本自助书籍和一个博客，促进生活方式的极简主义，以询问他们的潜力，通过流行文化刺激去增长的生态政治。借鉴后生态理论，它认为，生活方式极简主义的叙事是矛盾的，因为他们抵制，但同时促进资本主义文化的增长。为了克服这一局限性，理解和转变生活方式极简主义的叙事前提至关重要，其方式是将“过剩”、“混乱”和“太多的世界”等问题置于当前资本积累体系的内在背景中。文章最后通过反思生态运动的潜力，将极简主义享乐主义的替代文化与去增长的生态政治议程结合起来。
ABSTRACT The post-2008 financial crisis era has seen an upsurge in popular cultural narratives that implicitly challenge principles of economic productivity, consumption and growth by lamenting a so-called ‘world of too much,’ advocating ethics of minimalism, and renouncing everyday busyness. Narratives range from lifestyle advice on simplicity and de-cluttering private homes, to quests for the reduction of individual labor, communication, social contacts and distraction. This article questions these narratives in terms of eco-politics. Using Kate Soper’s concept of ‘alternative hedonism,’ the article analyzes a selection of five self-help books and one blog that promote lifestyle minimalism in order to interrogate their potential in stimulating de-growth eco-politics through popular culture. Drawing on post-ecological theory, it argues that narratives of lifestyle minimalism are paradoxical in that they resist yet at the same time promote capitalist cultures of growth. To overcome this limitation, it is crucial to understand and transform the narrative premises of lifestyle minimalism in ways that contextualize problems of ‘excess,’ ‘clutter’ and ‘a world of too much’ as intrinsic to the current system of capital accumulation. The article concludes by reflecting on the potential of an eco-movement that joins the alternative culture of minimalist hedonism with the eco-political agenda of de-growth.