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Paper short abstract:

I would like to bring the discourse that alternative (to) development practices in the Global South particularly in the Philippines exhibit a form of degrowth ideals through the lens of the local values of aruga (ethics of care). These are shown through two case studies of zero waste communities.

Paper long abstract:

The current socio-ecological crisis is driving explorations of alternatives to mainstream development thinking. Although degrowth engenders alternative conceptualizations and practices of development, its potentially significant social and cultural dimensions are yet to be fully examined. While research and experiments on degrowth focus on the Global North, similar work is lacking in the Global South. At the same time, civil society and scholars in the Global South are experimenting with parallel approaches that – like degrowth and post-growth – seek to subvert growth-based economies and amplify community-led thinking and practice. At the crux of the politics behind these alternatives to development movements are the tasks of ‘imagining, producing, circulating’ better material flows (Schlosberg and Craven, 2019), with important implications for how we use and manage waste. Building on a four-month period of fieldwork in two zero waste communities in the Philippines, this chapter explores what conditions enable alternatives to capitalism such as degrowth and post-growth to be mobilized in practice in developing countries like the Philippines. The research is informed by a political ecology lens and draws primarily on qualitative methodologies. It explores the underpinnings of community-led zero waste management systems in central Philippines and the movements behind these from the lens of local values of ‘aruga’ (care) and ‘ginhawa’ (well-being). In conclusion, the chapter unpacks lessons that can be learned both for the relevance of degrowth and post-growth in the Philippines, and pathways to navigate our current ‘wasteocene’.