Education, Longing, and the Art of Keeping Life Going

Abstract

This article offers a critical appraisal of the term degrowth by questioning some of its basic epistemological and ontological assumptions. Rather provocatively, we suggest that both education and degrowth are chained to a logic of progressive development, and enshrine an enduring faith in science, technology, and economics. We strip the term degrowth down to its roots and champion the role of the aesthetic, in both the form and substance of this article. In the concluding vignettes, we uncover a space for longing and belonging – namely, the desire for the transcendent and a sense of rootedness in the present – in the educational realm.

Keywords

• degrowth
• longing
• belonging
• Generation Now