The Good Life: Buen Vivir, Hygge, Solarpunk & Degrowth.

How the intersections of these ideas might show us how a good life might feel in a postcapitalist, ecological, and equal future.

The thing about futures is that it’s hard to feel yourself in them. Especially when these futures are radically different from our current realities. It’s hard to conceptualize what revolutionary change might feel like, when everything in our here and now is so different. But it’s for sure needed, not just to convey ideas but to put yourself into them. It’s hard to defeat capitalist realism - the idea that there are no alternatives to capitalism, but we can chip away at these ideas by imagining - and more importantly acting on these imagined futures - to make the alternative possible.

Let’s think about how we might feel in a degrowth/postgrowth future, and what we might discover or even rediscover about ourselves, the planet, and each other.

In this article, I want to lay out how I think the concepts of Buen Vivir and Hygge can give us insight into what a degrowth future might actually feel like. But not just explore what it might feel like, but look like, and act like as well. I see the solarpunk aesthetic as a good way of showcasing the good life - along with the solid social and political change within the idea of Buen Vivir and how Social Ecology intersects with those ideas to make that change happen.

Buen Vivir, Hygge, solarpunk, social ecology, and degrowth are all deeply connected within eachother. From their core values, methods, tactics and aesthetics, we can see how they compliment and build off eachother. Buen Vivir/Sumak Kawsay & Hygge can describe how building community with the people around you, exemplifiying the comfort of life of being able to relax by a fire. Or enjoying a meal with fresh food from a garden with your friends and neighbors. How it feels to be connected to others and the ecosystem around you, to feel connected to each other and the earth. How it feels to be included in something, to have your voice mean something not just in your local community but your region, and even farther. A life of simple pleasures, of living without the rush of capitalst accumulation, the slow life, the fast life, the life you want to choose. Solarpunk can show and tell the stories of a good life, give people visions of what is possible despite climate collapse. Tell stories of triumph, and show whats possible. Social ecology as the political framework along side the existing political framework of Buen Vivir to show how we make it happen. How we dismantle oppressive systems of violence, domination, and exploitation by creating equitable social arrangements. How we can end those same practices in our relationship with the ecosystem around us, and how we can relearn what technology means - not just low or high tech, but appropriate tech. Degrowth can point the way to a postcapitalist system, by decoupling our ideas of growth from made up economic metrics like GDP and make sure the growth we focus on is growing human and ecological well being. All of this is interconnected.

Let’s present some major points that intersect all of these different topics, then break them down into details so we can understand each piece a little better.

Buen Vivir, Hygge, solarpunk, social ecology, and degrowth have these major commonalities between them:

• Interconnectedness (between people and between the ecology)

• Collective and community well-being and action

• Cultural diversity

• Decolonization, Land Back, and Indigenous Rights

• Ecological Sustainability and the rights of nature

• Food and water sovereignty and sustainable agriculture

• Local autonomy and decentralized participatory/direct democracy & decision making

• Reciprocity and Mutual Aid

• The balance of technology with ecology

Terminology / Quick Explanations:

Before getting started it might be helpful to define some of these ideas in case you aren’t familiar.

Buen Vivir: The idea of Buen Vivir is an alternative to this development-centered approach. Buen Vivir is based on the belief that true well-being (“the good life”) is only possible as part of a community. The good of the community is placed above that of the individual, not in a way to negate individual freedom, but to center the community over selfishness, self-service, and resource hoarding. Furthermore, this is community in an expanded sense; it includes Nature, plants, animals, and the Earth. Nature itself must be cared for and respected as a valuable part of the community. The land cannot be owned; it should be honored and protected.

Hygge: Hard to pronounce, hygge ("hooga") is difficult to explain, too. In brief, hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about - or even by yourself - to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures. Hygge is often about informal time together with family or close friends. Typically, the setting is at home or another quiet location, or perhaps a picnic during the summer months. It usually involves sharing a meal and wine or beer, or hot chocolate and a bowl of candy if children are included. There is no agenda. You celebrate the small joys of life, or maybe discuss deeper topics. It is an opportunity to unwind and take things slow. 

Social Ecology: Social ecology is the study of how individuals interact with and respond to the environment around them, and how these interactions affect society and the environment as a whole. Consider traditional ecological studies, in which students examine how multiple factors must interact within nature to create the world’s ecosystems. Social ecology takes the same approach by examining society holistically. Studying how individuals, collectives and institutions interact with and depend on one another, social ecologists look at the bigger picture of our “system”—allowing for a more effective approach to solving society’s collective problems. The concept of social ecology was introduced by an environmental activist named Murray Bookchin. He was an ecologist and believed there was a better approach to the study. In his paper “What is Social Ecology?”, he argues environmentalists are too focused on studying the individual symptoms of a problem rather than addressing the problem itself—the belief that humans can and should control nature. Social Ecology also posits that technology can be positive if our social relations involving technology are positive. It points out that technology, social relations, economic relations and ecological relations are all interconnected.

Solarpunk: Solarpunk is a literary and artistic movement that envisions and works toward actualizing a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community. The "solar" represents solar energy as a renewable energy source and an optimistic vision of the future that rejects climate doomerism, while the "punk" refers to the countercultural, post-capitalist, and decolonial enthusiasm for creating such a future.

As a science fiction literary subgenre and art movement, solarpunk works address how the future might look if humanity succeeded in solving major contemporary challenges with an emphasis on sustainability, human impact on the environment, and addressing climate change and pollution.

Degrowth: Degrowth broadly means shrinking rather than growing economies, so we use less of the world’s energy and resources and put wellbeing ahead of profit.

The idea is that by pursuing degrowth policies, economies can help themselves, their citizens, and the planet by becoming more sustainable. This is done by decoupling our ideas of infinite economic growth based on made up measures like GDP, and instead focus on actual human and ecological benefit. Degrowth is an idea that critiques the global capitalist system which pursues growth at all costs, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction. The degrowth movement of activists and researchers advocates for societies that prioritize social and ecological well-being instead of corporate profits, over-production and excess consumption. This requires radical redistribution, reduction in the material size of the global economy, and a shift in common values towards care, solidarity and autonomy. Degrowth means transforming societies to ensure environmental justice and a good life for all within planetary boundaries.

Buen Vivir, Sumak Kawsay and the good life: A Framework of Latin American Resistance, Joy, and Connection

Buen Vivir originates from the socialist indigenous communities of Latin America and has spread across South and Central America as a cultural reflection of various indigenous groups. Specifically, the idea comes from Sumak Kawsay which is the Quechua term for what roughly can be translated into Spansh as Buen Vivir and into English as “good living”. The term has been used in Peru, Bolivia, Chile (Mapuche), Paraguay (Guarani), Ecuador (Achuar), and Panama (Guna) - with multiple cultures sharing the same general idea with changes depending on the languages spoken.

These ideas can be traced back to the Tsotsil and Tseltal indigenous groups and their influence on Neozapatismo and the eventual creation of the Zapatistas.

At its core Buen Vivir is about well being, the things that make a good life possible. It’s about the interconnectedness of all people and beings to their environment, and a recognition of how interconnected we are to the ecosystem. Our lives depend on the well being of the ecosystem and the ecosystem is directly influenced by our actions. By killing the ecosystem, we are killing ourselves. Living the good life isn’t about consuming goods, hoarding money, or economic growth at the expense of the ecosystem, it’s about actually living a life of dignity. Being able to eat fresh and nutritious food, being able to drink clean water, being able to be a part of the collective whole of your local community, being able to enjoy all of the parts of life not because you can afford it, or some despot says you can, but because you are a human being.

The good life is also about resistance, and resisting ecological and social destruction. Resisting the calls for capital to subsume everything for a profit and fighting for a life of dignity. This quote from “Buen Vivir As an Alternative to Sustainable Development” by Natasha Chassagne points this out firsthand.

“We have gold. It flows in our rivers. We don’t want it” I was once told by a campesino in the highlands of Ecuador speaking of the encroachment of extractive companies on their doorstep. “We don’t want the problems you have in the West,” I was told by another. “If we look after Mother Earth she will look after us”

You can’t have a good life without being able to live, and the ability for indigenous people and of all people in Latin/South America to live well will come down to their ability to choose how to live their lives, and have control over land stewardship without capital forces coming in to extract the land for profits. You can’t have a good life without equality - where everyone in the community has equal access to healthy food, clean water, and quality homes. These imbalances affect communities at their core and you see this with the egalitarian - or better put communal - ways of living. If all of us aren’t thriving, none of us are, including the ecosystem. And so Buen Vivir is both a social & ecological understanding that also ties into the political.

Political Aspects of Buen Vivir, Social Ecology, Degrowth, and the Political Struggle for Equality

Following this thread you can see how the social and political background of Buen Vivir intersects with ideas in Social Ecology and Degrowth. From ideas in social ecology, our social arrangements will impact our ecological impact. If we base our lives on hierarchy and extraction of labor and resources, that will be reflected in how we interact with the ecosystem as well. To stop the harm, we have to address the underlying issues within our social and political lives. That means getting rid of violence, domination, extraction, and patriarchy within our social and political lives. We can’t have Buen Vivir without addressing these core issues, and fighting that looks like decolonial, anti-authoritarian, radically equitable, feminist, and eco-centered political action. This means an intersectional movement of various fights that combine into one. Not just social battles, but economic ones as well because the economic factors will influence the social and political and vice-versa. That is where degrowth comes into play and the interactions between how we measure progress, and economic activity. By decoupling endless economic growth, by moving away from purely economic measurements that ignore all social and ecological factors like GDP, we can actually measure the impacts things have on us. Imagine if instead of tracking GDP, quarterly profits, and stock prices, we measured if certain actions would benefit people, or hurt the environment. It’s simple. It’s direct. It’s concrete. We can’t do things for the sake of profit while sacrificing people and the earth.

And so the core commonalities between the social and economic struggles at the core of Buen Vivir are about building autonomous, communal, and equal societies. This is also part of Social Ecology and Degrowth as they address both the social and political realms and the methods and ways towards a post-capitalist - post-economic growth future.

Buen Vivir & Hygge: The good life means being together and really living.

Part of Buen Vivir would be the feeling of community, safety, and joy. There is something special about being able to live life without economic or social blockers, being able to live without institutions saying you can’t because you can’t afford it or because you look a certain way, or are a certain demographic background. Living life because we can and should live to the best possible definitions. Hygge is an interesting term that compliments Buen Vivir, and is more so a good describer of how the good life might really feel.

Hygge is about being content with lives pleasures, taking joy in the little things, and spending time to relax with family - either biological, adopted, or queer family, strangers, comrades, anyone. The idea connects back with Buen Vivir’s sense of living the good life, of a holistic understanding that to live a good life, there are social, economic and emotional aspects about our lives that need to have a balance. And to reach that balance for everyone, there is a certain baseline that all people need to live happy and healthy lives.

Solarpunk as an aesthetic to show the good life

We can see how solarpunk intersects with all of the topics we talked about before, because some of the core principles intersect with Social Ecology, Degrowth, Buen Vivir, and Hygge. We can think of solarpunk as the way of imagining what this future might look like both aesthetically and physically. Speculation can help us to use these principals to imagine their outcomes. At the moment, we are in the global struggle against capitalism, hierarchy, and domination. But it’s interesting to read a story about how people made it through, and built a better future around some of the topics and ideas here. It makes it easier to walk in someone else’s shoes so to speak and imagine yourself say in a democratic confederalist assembly of your community, voicing your opinion on a community action to help preserve endangered wildlife in your area. Or speculating what a degrowth future might look like where we lower our energy demand by creating free and open housing that is passive, and heats and cools itself, and how you might interact in an upcycled and revamped suburb with sprawling public transport that runs off low resource intensive passive solar. These things can be worked out, speculated, and shown as both a fiction, but also a path forward to imagine what the world could look like.

Show the future of change, feel the future of change, and make the future happen with direct action to create that change

What I’m talking about here is to look at these various ideas and frameworks as interconnected, and see how they interconnect with other things. How can we not only do revolutionary action, but show it, imagine it, feel it, and then fight for it. Have the imagination to imagine a better future, have the understanding of what life really could feel like, and then have the concrete social and political education and frameworks to make that all happen.

Let’s work to make the good life possible for all.