From the text: We can observe today a strong resistance to the idea of degrowth among emergent or developing countries. This proposal is often considered, among them, as a typical ideology of industrialized and rich countries. At national level, the idea of degrowth is denounced as a reactionary and upper class ideology. It is a well-known argument used by productivists, either from the right or the left-wing. In fact, it is a reality that the supporters of degrowth are in the majority from middle and upper class and have a university degree. But the real problem is that this argument impedes a real debate with many social movements and is used by mainstream politicians (left and right) to bring discredit on the degrowth movement as a whole. I think that the success of this voluntary misinterpretation or disinformation reveals a specific weakness of the movement. I want to speak about the lack of a consensual platform which could be adopted by social movements, some NGOs and political parties, and defended in international negotiations as well as inside each country, with the same goals. This platform could be based on the proposal of a coordinated convergence (in terms of consumption, C02 emissions and access to resources) between countries and between citizens in each country. The idea is that today it is no more a question of utopian-egalitarian dream but an urgent necessity if we want to avoid environmental and social injustice as well as the rise of violence caused by an increasing scarcity of essential resources.

Contribution to the 3rd International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity in Venice in 2012.