Do theme parks, malls, or crowds leave you dreading overpopulation? Do you love nature but despair of our place in it? Does the widespread existence and usage of washing machines, tourism, “fast fashion,” and livestock (especially cows) bother you as these things are contributing to climate change? Don’t you wish you could do something about it? Well, now you can! Introducing the Master’s Degree in Degrowth at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain. Launched in 2018, UAB offers a “Master Propio” degree in degrowth. This type of Master’s degree is recognized and designed by the school, which happens to be Spain’s top university but is not accredited by the ANECA (Spain’s accrediting agency).
While this term may not be familiar to some readers, the ideas that Degrowther’s espouse have taken hold in environmentalist and leftist circles, especially in Europe. According to degrowth.info, “degrowth is an idea that critiques the global capitalist system which pursues growth at all costs, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction.” Some of the main goals of degrowth include reducing resource use (both in type and quality), income redistribution, sustainability, and eliminating “harmful” industries. Of course, what “harmful” almost always means are industries like natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear, which sustain life and promote human flourishing. These policies make humans worldwide live in objectively worse conditions with lower living standards. From their perspective, the needs of “nature” or “the environment” are firmly placed above the needs of humans (even though humans are both part of nature and the environment). Simply put, degrowth is anti-human.
The arguments for degrowth simply fall flat. While not a core tenant of degrowth, the issue of so-called “overpopulation” is often tied into its discourse. However, those who talk about population issues fail to view humans as the “ultimate resource” and ignore empirical data about population as it relates to the environment and general societal well-being. The degrowth movement also views the necessity of government intervention to solve climate change. Yet these proposals fail to consider epistemic barriers and incentives political actors face when attempting to solve climate issues. Or, as one paper concludes, “societies do not need to engage in militarized planning…to address climate change problems effectively.” Degrowthers also ignore that rich countries are the only ones able to afford to protect the environment and the idea of the environmental Kuznets curve. Overall, the degrowth movement simply does not meet the argumentative standard required to follow through on the claim that modern capitalism, growth, and population must be overturned.
While the program does not fully explain job opportunities from the degree, it does appear that it is designed to train environmentalists in the rhetoric of degrowth. The university’s website states they are “encouraging and welcoming activists…” and that “our program does not teach someone to be an activist, but we give them the tools and knowledge to think critically and make strategies more effectively.” One of the specific skills learned in the program is to “know how to identify needs and plan steps to establish a demand or campaign against a polluting agency or company.” These elements seem strange when the traditional purpose of a university is to educate students and conduct research. In other words, pursue and promote the truth, not train activists to promote a political agenda.
Given that underdeveloped nations desperately need economic growth to lift millions from poverty, disease, and starvation, one particularly insidious part of this program is the scholarship requirements. They state that “People from low-middle income countries will be prioritized.” Coupling this with the focus on activism within the program implies a desire to attempt to change minds and institutions within these poor countries. Whether or not this is actually achievable is a separate issue. What seems to be in poor taste is the desire to degrow parts of the world where the population is living hand to mouth. These nations simply cannot afford to degrow. If they do, millions of lives are at risk.
One does not have to look too far back into history to see the real consequences people face when growth is taken for granted. In 2021, the Sri Lankan government placed a ban on agrochemical fertilizers. Naturally, crop yields plummeted, and the consequences were drastic for a country that heavily relied on its agricultural sector. Despite, at one point, being partially self-sufficient in rice production, because of the bans on fertilizers, the country had to import rice and other foodstuffs to feed the population. Food shortages became all too common for the Sri Lankan population. Add on top of this a financial crisis and numerous hits to Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and you have on your hands a disaster. So much so that the situation got its own Wikipedia article. This experiment in “going green” did not save Sri Lanka’s environment or its citizens. Instead, millions were thrust into poverty and needless suffering.
It is worth pointing out the unique cultural context of this Master’s program. Given that Barcelonians are pushing back against tourism, it is not surprising that these programs are taking hold at Catalan universities. While this could just be a coincidence, maybe these programs are taking hold in this part of Spain not out of their altruistic nature but out of a desire for one interest group to push back against another “undesirable” group. Another point to consider is that Catalonia has a tradition of leftist politics and that ecological Marxism is naturally persuasive to leftists.
On the bright side, this program is not a “real” Master’s degree. This program is designated as a UAB-specific Master’s degree, meaning that one cannot even enter into a Spanish Ph.D. program with this degree, let alone a non-Spanish doctoral program. However, with this program in place, it would not be shocking to see a fully accredited degree in degrowth in the future. After all, degrees in sustainability were once rare; now, one can earn a Ph.D. in it. Given the beliefs of the degrowth movement, when the Ph.D. in degrowth is announced it would not be shocking to see a final thesis requirement to be “self-decarbonization.”
Since ideas move the wheels of history, or as Richard Weaver once wrote, “ideas have consequences,” degrowth must be attacked head-on with unwavering fortitude and no compromise. All ideas have to start somewhere and all change is made on some margin. If the ideas of degrowth continue on, most importantly if they become the predominant paradigm within structures of power, the fate of humanity is on uneasy ground.
