Global Dialogues

Five years ago, when my book Slow Down (2023) was first published in Japan, Karl Marx experienced an unexpected resurgence amid the dual crises of the pandemic and climate breakdown. The concept of "degrowth communism" gained surprising popularity, and the book sold over half a million copies. There was hope that we could transform the world in a progressive manner.

However, the initial momentum for an ecological revolution quickly faded. The world was soon engulfed by a surge of right-wing populism, war, and genocide—developments that culminated in the catastrophic overshooting of the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement. In effect, the Paris Agreement has failed entirely. Current projections suggest that global temperatures can rise by more than 3.0°C by the end of the century. This signals the irreversible loss of the Holocene climate stability that underpinned human flourishing, ushering in a new era defined by chronic emergencies. Rather than a future of abundance, progress, and emancipation, we now face one marked by persistent scarcity, instability, and disaster. Climate and societal collapse thus signifies the end of the modern ideal of progress. We now feel completely powerless. 

This collapse of progressivism necessitates a critical reassessment of Enlightenment thought, particularly its faith in unilinear progress. Progressive social and environmental movements—echoing slogans such as “now or never,” Ende oder Wende (end or transformation), and “system change or climate change”—have also embraced this Enlightenment framework, seeking to leverage the climate crisis as a transformative moment for building a better future. Yet this orientation has been rendered obsolete by the irreversible crossing of critical planetary boundaries and tipping points.

Crisis is no longer an opportunity. Even if CO2 emissions could somehow be brought to zero immediately—which, of course, is impossible—the existing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would still be too high, and temperatures would continue to rise, making severe damage inevitable. The Earth has already been irreparably harmed. If so, the future society must be constructed in the ruins left by capitalism. This is no longer a project of full emancipation but adaptation to ecological collapse for the sake of survival.

Barbarism is unavoidable. Rights and freedoms, as we know them, may become increasingly constrained. Where is hope? We need it in order to overcome the sense of powerlessness. Despite the dark future to come, one thing remains valid: we need not surrender our ability to collectively shape the future. While we may have to abandon the dream of modern progress and emancipation, we do not have to give up our creative, collective agency. It is still possible to abolish capitalist exploitation, patriarchy, extractivism as well as racism. 

The new society will rise from the ruins of barbarism, envisioning a radical shift in values—from forces of production to forces of reproduction, from exploitation and extraction to care and mutual aid. But this transformation cannot be dictated from above by philosophers, technocrats, or politicians. Rather, it must grow from below. If we can wake from the dream of the past, we may yet find a new future in the ruin of capitalism—one we must build together. That is the only form of radical hope still available to us.

Kohei Saito is a philosopher and activist who sees degrowth as the way out of the global climate crisis.