Abstract

Traditional customs and rituals that continue to exist in the rural peripheries of industrialized countries may contain living elements that 'postfigure' alternative ways of living. We propose a new line of inquiry on postfiguration, at the intersection between anthropology and degrowth and inspired by Antonio Gramsci's work on folklore. By 'postfiguration' we refer to real and existing popular practices with a long history that have elements that disrupt hegemonic growthist common senses. They help imagine alternative futures based on remnants of the past that continue to exist today. We follow a Gramscian understanding of traditional popular culture as a conception of the world and of life. Popular culture contains regressive and progressive elements that need to be analytically identified and separated as part of intentional postfiguration. To illustrate how specific traditions can challenge hegemonic common senses and fuel radical political imaginaries, we analyze three practices from rural Spain: "open councils", or bodies of direct democracy that have existed for centuries; "hacenderas", or traditional forms of work sharing; and long-existing, self-managed rural carnivals associated with convivial subversion. We propose analytics of such instances of 'postfiguration' and discuss the politics that can be built around them.

Keywords: degrowth, folklore, tradition, Gramsci, popular culture, prefiguration

How to Cite:

Muñoz-Sueiro, L. & Kallis, G., (2024) “Postfiguring degrowth: How traditional popular culture challenges growth-oriented common senses”, Journal of Political Ecology 31(1), 951–971. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5708