I slowly make my way up the dirt slope at the entrance of Collserola Park. It’s just a short hike from the metro exit, but I can already feel sweat forming on my back. Late September in Barcelona still feels like summer in a year of record high temperatures. Soon, I see my destination: a former masia (Catalan for country house) majestically standing above layers of walls and gardens. This is Can Masdeu, an occupied “social centre” perched on the hills just outside the city. A building has stood here since Roman times, but its current form is the result of 19th-century renovations, when it was likely still the home of the Masdeu family. I arrived a few days ago to start a master’s programme in Political Ecology, Environmental Justice and Degrowth at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and am here at Can Masdeu to attend a queer ecology and degrowth festival organised by some former students.

As a school of thought, degrowth argues that the multiple social and environmental crises we see today are, at their root, a result of the endless chase for economic growth. Building solar power plants and electric cars won’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions if cryptocurrencies and AI chatbots keep increasing energy use, not to mention the still substantial material footprint of most “green” infrastructure. We need to transition to a post-growth world, where global consumption of materials and energy is capped within ecological limits and equitably distributed, so everyone has access to a decent standard of living. This is feasible with current technology, and will not force a regression to cave-like conditions as critics like to claim. Degrowth calls for a radical abundance of shared commons and public goods, as opposed to the artificial scarcity created and enforced by capitalism. I did wonder though: how can this transition be achieved politically, when rich countries have already gotten used to excessive consumption?