Abstract: Despite the fact that degrowth theorists offer different analyses of the concept of nature, they share the belief that it is necessary to overcome the idea of a strict divide between subject (the human being) and object (the environment). They challenge the belief in technological progress as providing solutions to any problem, promote a social, fair and ecological perspective and typically take a critical stance towards modern ideas of control and power over nature. Despite this promising ontology of nature, the degrowth movement has largely failed to consider entanglements of exploitation which link injustices towards humans with injustices towards nonhuman animals. The aim of this presentation is to critically examine the concepts of nature developed in the degrowth literature and to argue for the necessity of taking nonhuman animals into account in order to convincingly overcome anthropocentrism.
keywords: nature, animals, degrowth, exploitation, antispeciesism contribution to session: Degrowth and Animal Liberation