We live immersed in the conflict between capital and life. We are condemned to a profound and permanent contradiction that manifests itself in situations of extreme violence, of polarization exacerbated by bewilderment, uncertainty, and fear. And we have the feeling that everything is happening at an ever-increasing pace, and therefore, in a more alienating way. We see a multitude of emergencies erupt, becoming chronic and intensifying, while politics and states are either incapable of confronting them or, directly, operate by intensifying the dynamics of the logic of capitalist accumulation, as if the future were a secondary and even negligible variable.
The Beyond Growth Social Forum, held in Madrid on Friday, February 13th and Saturday, February 14th, to which we were invited to participate, provided an opportunity to address this tension without euphemisms, embracing the challenge of taking the eco-social conflicts that define our time as our starting point. It also emphasized the practical approach to imaginaries, policies, alliances, and social articulation necessary to invent and implement the economic, political, and cultural transformation that will allow societies to emancipate themselves from the inevitability of the monstrous reality that capitalism forces us to live. This must be done with responsibility, but also with the reclaiming of our own sovereignties, which have been usurped from us and which we not only want to reclaim but also recover, going far beyond mere rhetoric.
Focusing on degrowth—or, if you prefer, post-growth—is not a theoretical exercise: it means embracing and promoting forms of social and economic reorganization that aim to guarantee dignified living conditions within biophysical limits, and doing so with criteria of social and intergenerational justice, through an integrated practice that is necessarily feminist, necessarily decolonial, and, evidently, necessarily anti-capitalist. Each of these perspectives offers its own unique lessons that must be integrated for the common good and for life itself.
And not only for today, which sustains a reality that is all too often indigestible and fraught with conflict, but also with tomorrow in mind, now that the loss of biodiversity, the climate crisis, and the overstepping of planetary boundaries and global frameworks for respecting human rights are endangering the very species and, therefore, negating even the possibility of survival. We must focus this light on institutional demands, on strengthening the grassroots structures that sustain us outside the logic of capital, and also, and above all, on the offensive to contest what guarantees and will guarantee these sovereignties against capitalism, within the framework of the aforementioned capital-life conflict. For this reason, we need a broad alliance among movements, most of which have been present and represented in the spaces for debate, discussion, workshops, and reflections of the Beyond Growth Social Forum.
The ecosocial transition will only be viable if it is just, and it will only be just if it incorporates demands that may initially seem contradictory. We must focus especially on the world of work, because it is in the production model—what we produce, who produces it, under what conditions, and for what purpose—and in the need to move beyond the productivist logic—which implies redistributing time and wealth, guaranteeing security in sectors undergoing transformation, and democratizing economic planning—where we face the greatest social challenges with far-reaching ecological implications. It also implies that environmentalism must recognize that the social dimension is not an add-on, but rather the very heart of any viable alternative.
This is what we at GOB Mallorca, also linked to the issues addressed at the Forum, have tried to do: focus on this effort to imagine alternatives not only from a discursive point of view, but also to integrate it into the world of work, from a perspective of ecosocial transformation of the Balearic economy within a degrowth framework. Last November, we took advantage of the institutional space to bring the debate on economy, tourism, and work to the forefront and to confront the singular narrative that equates "progress" with tourism specialization. The social and territorial consequences of this specialization, exacerbated by the ecological crisis, are used to justify neoliberal policies that widen inequalities and territorial devastation. In response, we have put forward a concrete proposal for the ecosocial transformation of the Balearic economy: a rigorous analysis that proposes diversifying the production model, reducing the weight of tourism and construction, strengthening sectors essential for sustaining life, such as food and ecological regeneration, and rethinking work beyond wages—including redistribution. It's not just about what we would experience, but how we would experience it, acknowledging biophysical limitations and the inevitability of a context of material degrowth. Discussing this proposal with unions, academia, and social movements is part of the necessary debate surrounding potential visions.
It is no easy task. It involves conflict, debate, and compromises. But it is also an opportunity to rethink the very meaning of progress in a world hurtling toward the abyss. The question must shift from "how to grow" to "how to live and live better"—for everyone, across the entire planet.
