Global Structure of Dependency and Socio-ecological Crisis: Intersecting Delinking and Degrowth for an Ecosocialist Transition

Abstract

Neoliberal globalization has led to a functional differentiation between an extractive periphery providing natural resources and a productive periphery providing labor for capital accumulation in the center through unequal exchange. The global structure of dependency inherited from colonialism has not been substantially altered, thus challenging the development strategies of peripheral countries. The question of delinking from the global capitalist market for an autocentric economic model to escape dependency is back on the agenda. Democratic economic and ecological planning, combined with a paradigm shift from a quantitative conception of development to a qualitative conception of well-being, are integral to this alternative strategy. In this framework, delinking of the global South and degrowth of the global North configure an eco-socialist transition out of the global socio-ecological crisis.