Serge Latouche

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Serge Latouche

Serge Latouche (born January 12, 1940 in Vannes ) is a French economist and philosopher and Professor a. D. of the University of Paris-XI (Sceaux) and is regarded as a representative of the concept of décroissance ( growth critique ) and one of the central figures of the movement critical of growth .

Décroissance

Latouche coined the concept of décroissance . Broadcasts of the term in German and English-speaking countries are often backed up with differently filled concepts.

"The term is directed against the mental blocks that the economist, development-fixated and progressive totalitarianism has triggered in our heads, and wants to create space for new ideas and creative designs. [...]
Strictly speaking, the establishment of autonomous, thrifty societies based on solidarity in both the north and the south means non-growth (acroissance) rather than a decline in growth (décroissance) . In the same way as one speaks of atheism, it is also about rejecting a religion, the religion of the economy. The fact that the empty and therefore constantly redefined fetish term 'development' is held irrationally despite the manifest failure of the orientation it refers to, only reveals the inability to break with economism - and ultimately with growth itself. "

As for the other members of postdevelopment , for Latouche the criticism of the development and the break with it is a step of downright world historical importance, for the north as for the south :

“A decline in growth in the south requires that we try to set a 'virtuoso circle' in motion. It can be identified with eight terms: reevaluate, rethink, restructure, localize, redistribute, reduce, reuse, recycle. Once this 'virtuous cycle' has been set in motion, it is possible to end the economic and cultural dependence of the South on the North and to tie in with a historical development interrupted by colonization, development and globalization. It is important to develop an independent cultural identity, to reintroduce forgotten country-specific products and to maintain the corresponding 'anti-economic' values ​​and to develop new traditional techniques and skills. [...] If, on the other hand, we decide, under the pretext of combating misery that is caused by the growth logic, to adhere to this growth logic in the south, this can only result in further westernization. "

Latouche is a founding member and president of the La ligne d'horizon association , which is dedicated to the work of the economist and development banker François Partant . Serge Latouche is also one of the first authors of La Revue du Mauss magazine .

Serge Latouche criticizes economic doctrines and is directed specifically against “economic orthodoxy”, “ economism ” and utilitarianism in the social sciences and development policy . He works in the field of anthropological economics and criticizes above all the theory of the rationality of economic action (alleged " Homo oeconomicus ") and the theory of economic efficiency.

Awards

  • In September 1992, the book L'Occidentialisation du monde (Eng .: The Westernization of the World ) was awarded the Prix ​​Capri San Michele .
  • In 1998 he received the Luigi Sturzo Special Prize of the Premio Amalfi .

See also

Fonts (selection)

  • Le procès de la science sociale. Introduction à une théorie critique de la connaissance. anthropos, Paris 1984.
  • L'Occidentalisation du monde. La Découverte, Paris 1989 and 1992. (Paperback 2005, ISBN 2-7071-4591-2 )
    • German: The westernization of the world. Essay on the meaning, progress and limits of civilization. translated by Ilse Utz. dipa, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-7638-0317-3 .
  • La planète des naufragés. La Découverte, Paris 1991.
  • L'Autre Afrique, entre don et marché. Albin Michel, Paris 1998.
  • Justice sans limites. Fayard, Paris 2003.
  • Survivre au développement. De la décolonisation de l'imaginaire économique à la construction d'une société alternative. Editions Mille et une nuits, Paris 2004.
  • Would the West actually be happier with less? The World Downscaled. In: Le Monde diplomatique . December 2003 For a growth stifling company. ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  • Why Less Should Be So Much More: Degrowth Economics. In: Le Monde Diplomatique. November 2004. ( Negative growth: The false criticism of alternative economists . Monde-diplomatique.de ( Memento from September 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ))
  • La déraison de la raison économique: you délire d'efficacité au principle de précaution. Michel, Paris 2001.
    • German: The unreason of economic reason. From obsession with efficiency to the principle of caution. translated by Heinz Jatho. diaphanes, Zurich / Berlin 2004.
  • L'invention de l'économie. Albin Michel, Paris 2005.
  • Petit traité de la décroissance sereine. Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris 2007.
    • It is enough! Settling with the growth mania. translated by Barbara Reitz and Thomas Wollermann. With a foreword by Niko Paech . Oekom, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86581-707-5 . (Political Science Review )

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ A b Serge Latouche: Negative growth: The false criticism of alternative economists. In: Le Monde Diplomatique. German edition. November 2004. ( monde-diplomatique.de ( Memento from September 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ))
  2. ^ Mouvement anti-utilitariste en sciences sociales = anti-utilarist movement in the social sciences. The abbreviation is based on the family name of Marcel Mauss . Latouche has been involved in the magazine Le Bulletin du Mauss , which was published for the first time in 1981 and then quarterly, since 1982. La Revue du Mauss also saw itself as a counter-movement to “encyclopaedism” (in the meaning of the German term “ doctrine ”) in the social sciences. Today the magazine is published every six months at La Découverte .