Post-Capitalist Compatibility: Degrowth, Indigenous Wisdom, and Prout

As the climate crisis intensifies and global inequality deepens, thinkers and activists are increasingly calling for alternatives to capitalism. Three perspectives offering compelling visions for a post-capitalist world are the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout), Jason Hickel’s degrowth eco-socialism, and Nick Estes’ Indigenous resistance framework. While coming from different traditions, these approaches share striking similarities in their critiques of capitalism while proposing a more just and sustainable future.

Prout: A Vison for Economic Democracy and Spiritual Values

Developed by Indian philosopher P.R. Sarkar, The Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout) offers a comprehensive model for a post-capitalist society rooted in spiritual values. Key elements of Prout include:

• Economic democracy through localization and cooperatives
• Guaranteeing basic necessities for all through full employment
• Balancing individual and collective interests
• Limits on wealth accumulation
• Sustainable resource management
• Progress is about fostering cultural and spiritual values  

Prout envisions a cooperative economic system that transcends both capitalism and communism. It aims to provide meaningful work, meet everyone’s basic needs, and foster both material and spiritual development.

Prout offers a restructuring of the economy into three structures—government control of key industries such as infrastructure for roads and energy, certain aspects of healthcare and education, corporations turned into worker-owned coops, while private enterprises will be kept small-scale and serving local needs.

This elegant reorganization of the economy offers a postcapitalist vison beyond the extreme wealth accumulation and environmental destruction by corporate capitalism and the economic ineffectiveness and rigidity of collectivist state control as under communism. 

Degrowth: Reimagining Prosperity Without Growth

Economic anthropologist Jason Hickel is a leading proponent of degrowth – intentionally scaling down resource and energy use in wealthy nations while improving human wellbeing. Hickel contends that his de-growth policies can lift the world out of poverty while staying within planetary boundaries. Several key degrowth policies align closely with Prout’s vision:

• Shortening the work week
• Providing universal basic services
• Redistributing income and wealth
• Limiting energy demands of elites and corporations

Like Prout, degrowth seeks to create an economy focused on human flourishing rather than endless GDP growth. Hickel argues this approach can unite both the environmental and labor movement in creating sweeping global change.

Indigenous Resistance: Defending Land and Life

Indigenous scholar and activist Nick Estes situates environmental struggles within a long history of resistance to colonialism and capitalism. He emphasizes Indigenous values and practices as alternatives to capitalist exploitation of nature and people.

Estes highlights concepts like Mni Wiconi (“water is life”) that reflect a fundamentally different relationship to land and resources than capitalism allows. This resonates with Prout’s spiritual foundation and degrowth’s critique of “extractivism”.

Converging Visions for a Post-Capitalist World

While coming from different traditions and having different priorities, Prout, degrowth, and Indigenous resistance frameworks share key themes in their visions for transcending capitalism:

1. Prioritizing human and ecological wellbeing over profit and growth

2. Decentralizing economic power and fostering local self-reliance

3. Guaranteeing basic needs and services for all

4. Limiting wealth concentration and inequality

5. Reimagining work, leisure, and the meaning of prosperity

6. Cultivating spiritual and ethical values beyond materialism

7. Harmonizing human activity with ecological limits

All three approaches see capitalism as fundamentally unsustainable and call for systemic change. They reject the notion that markets, and technology alone can solve our economic, ecological, and social crises.

Building Bridges Between Traditions

A unique synthesis could bring these different anti-capitalist currents together:

• Like degrowth, Prout provides concrete economic policies and structures for a post-capitalist society.
• Like Indigenous frameworks, Prout is grounded in spiritual values and a holistic worldview.
• Prout’s cooperative model could help actualize the kind of democratic, community-controlled economies both degrowth and Indigenous activists envision.

Prout’s concept of “cosmic inheritance” – that the earth’s resources belong to all – aligns closely with Indigenous views and degrowth’s critique of extractivism. Its emphasis on economic democracy resonates with calls for local control and self-determination.

A Path Forward: Unity in Diversity

Realizing these post-capitalist visions will require bridging divides between different groups and movements. As Estes writes, “we are challenged not just to imagine, but to demand the emancipation of earth from capital. For the earth to live, capitalism must die.”

This provocative statement encapsulates the shared conviction that incremental reforms are insufficient. We need a fundamental reimagining of our economic system and relationship to nature. By combining Prout’s cooperative model, degrowth economics, and Indigenous wisdom, we may yet forge a path to a more just, sustainable, and fulfilling post-capitalist world.

The task ahead is immense, but these converging visions offer hope and direction for the vital work of building a life-affirming alternative to capitalism’s inhumane and nature-destructive logic. As climate chaos accelerates, the need for such radical transformation has never been more urgent.

Roar Bjonnes is the cofounder of Systems Change Alliance and the author of Growing a New Economy.

Resources:

For more on Jason Hickel and degrowth:

jasonhickel.org 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04412-x

For more on Nick Estes and indigenous activism:

https://rights.culturalsurvival.org

For more on the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout):

prout.info