Between the Limits of Creativity and the Creativity of Limits: A Degrowth Exploration of Consumer Creativity
摘要
This chapter explores consumer creativity through the lens of degrowth. It first introduces the notion of degrowth, highlighting its key features and articulating the three central logics underpinning the degrowth movement: the ecological boundaries logic, the welfare logic, and the postcolonial logic. Following this, we distill three key insights from these logics: the critique of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the growth paradigm, the myth of green growth, and the notion of frugal abundance. Drawing on Illich’s concept of conviviality, we then conceptualize convivial consumer creativity along five key dimensions: relatedness, accessibility, adaptability, bio-interaction, and appropriateness. Finally, we reflect on the relationship between limits and creativity from a degrowth perspective, showing that limits are not the opposite of creativity but are mutually constitutive.