Caracol DSA

Official account of the @DemSocialists national degrowth ecosocialist caucus. Posts ≠ official statements. Likes/RTs ≠ endorsements. PT/ES 🐌🌹🌍🇵🇸

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

🚨We are thrilled to introduce Caracol DSA: the Degrowth Ecosocialist Caucus of the @DemSocialists! 🐌

Who are we? What is our purpose? Why now? Read below! https://t.co/fmGHkm3ePb

[Benjamin Kunkel @kunktation]

This breezy would-be authoritative dismissal of the ecological problem of economic growth is maddening. *Per capita* ecological impacts aren't the issue, or biophysical throughput per unit of GDP. The issue is *absolute* impacts or throughput, at the world scale still increasing

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

Advertising worsens harmful, unnecessary consumption. Banning commercial advertising has always been a core degrowth policy, it is low-hanging fruit, and we should do it.

[Malcolm Harris @BigMeanInternet]

Advertising companies have outcompeted peers for people's leisure time attention, via the smartphone interface. This has provided a crucial form of growth for the American economy by increasing consumption.

[Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) 🪬 @DoctorVive]

Climate change may well inspire a reckoning for you about who you are and what it means to be human. Let it do so. But always remember: this is a battle against the forces of destruction to save something of this achingly beautiful, utterly miraculous world for our children.

[The Global Warmer🔥 @TheGlobalWarmer]

In 1921, Paris reaching 38.4°C generated headlines warning of “DEATH FOR MILLIONS.”

Now Paris faces a potentially far more intense event: multiple 40°C days, perhaps a week at 38°C+, and 25°C nights — all before July.
1921 was globally cold by modern standards.

So where is the equivalent front-page urgency now? How many deaths are simply absorbed into the background and never counted, reported, or connected to the heat?

[DSA @DemSocialists]

WHOSE POWER? Our power! This Sunday, June 21st, join DSA's Ecosocialism Commission for an exciting conversation with author and organizer Astra Taylor, New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, and organizers from DSA chapters fighting corporate power and data centers.

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

How can we reduce pressure on ecosystems as much as possible to make space for their repair?

Arrest destructive capitalist growth.

Degrow industries and things that harm rather than help worker and community wellbeing.

[Geoffrey Lean @GeoffreyLean]

Disturbing news. Loss of Arctic sea ice has caused an “irreversible” shift in the chemistry of the ocean that is disrupting the foundations of chain of life, a two-decade-long study has concluded. Tipping points are already here…

https://t.co/KxWPsI8qST

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

I'm excited to announce this new paper we have in Nature Climate Change, establishing the core principles of a post-growth climate mitigation scenario that can achieve rapid decarbonization and high well-being. https://t.co/27ExZu2w9S

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

Degrowth ecosocialism means dismantling the imperial military-industrial complex and securing political-economic sovereignty for all peoples of the Earth.

No war in Iran. Justice for the Global South.

[Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib @RepRashida]

The American people do not want a war with Iran. Trump is acting on the violent fantasies of the American political elite and the Israeli apartheid government, ignoring the vast majority of Americans who say loud and clear: No More Wars.

[DSA International Committee @dsa_intl_comm]

What is an "Ecological Civilization" and why does China talk about it so much? Join us & @KyleTrainEmoji on February 4 at 8pm ET for a presentation and discussion tackling these questions. Register at https://t.co/KgjtSRMUAN

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

New research highlights from 2025! 

This thread covers some of our latest work on capitalism, imperialism, post-growth and ecosocialist futures. It's all open access, and free PDFs are available via the link at the end of the thread. 🧵

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

In Caracol, we know that ecomodernism contradicts basic ecosocialist principles and must be soundly rejected. Check out this thread to learn more about its incompatibility with socialist internationalism.

[Kai Heron @KaiHeron]

Our special issue of Labor and Society on the ecomodernist features of imperialism is now online in full. The issue makes a stronger contribution to theorising contemporary imperialism than I could ever have hoped. Here's a thread introducing each contribution. 🧵

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

I'm excited to announce this new study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, which explores public support for degrowth and ecosocialist transformation. The findings are quite surprising.

We surveyed more than 5,000 people in the UK and US, using demographically representative samples and two separate study designs. Here I'll report results for the UK, but the US is similar.

First, we presented people with a full proposal for degrowth-ecosocialist transformation, but without using any label. This included:

-scaling down damaging and unnecessary production/consumption
-cutting the purchasing power of the rich
-establishing universal public services and a public job guarantee to reorganize production around needs
-democratizing control over finance and the means of production
-ending imperialist appropriation from the global South through unequal exchange

We found that 82% of people supported it.

Next, we presented people with various labels - including "degrowth", "ecosocialism", and "well-being economy" - without any description.

We found that "degrowth" was supported by 20-26%, depending on the study, but also attracted a lot of opposition (16-34%).

"Ecosocialism" had higher support, at 36-58%, and much lower opposition (11-16%).

"Well-being economy" had even higher support (51-81%) and very minimal opposition (more on this later).

Next, we gave people the full proposal but this time together with various different labels. We found that support was high regardless of the label, with very strong majorities.

So what can we make of all this? For me, here are the main takeaways:

First, the transformative vision and policies advanced by advocates of degrowth-ecosocialism are extremely popular and can form the basis of a winning political campaign.

Second, the word "degrowth" is a crucial analytical and scientific term, but - depending on the context - perhaps less useful as a public-facing political slogan, as it is easily misunderstood....

...UNLESS you have the capacity to educate people about what the term means and what such a transformation would entail.

Third, the term ecosocialism is substantially more popular and I think can create broader political support (we didn't test related terms, like socialism or democratic socialism or communism... but this would be interesting!).

What about "well-being economy"? It's popular and very useful in certain contexts, but it is also apolitical and can easily be co-opted by capitalists. To me it's important to be clear about the political antagonism that is at stake: this is a class war. Ecosocialism does this job (but other terms may work just as well or better).

But ultimately, what this study shows is that we don't necessarily need a single term; it's the political substance and the concrete policies that matter.

And we must remember that the struggle does not consist in deciding on the right terminology and framing. It consists in building power. This must remain front and centre.

The paper is open-access, and I'll put a link in the reply.

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

We are proud to be part of the largest, most powerful U.S. socialist organization this century. We’ve had current and prospective members sign up with DSA just so they could apply to our caucus, but regardless, now is the time to join!

[DSA @DemSocialists]

Be a part of the movement! https://t.co/ITpec5jND9

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

Degrowth is the only sustainable, just way to allow for global poverty elimination, and the only one consistent with socialism.

“Wealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon economic growth as an objective”
https://t.co/AZwHwBk7gf

[Christopher Clarke @EconChrisClarke]

Degrowth Economics can't work. Even Ecuador's consumption is too high. It requires a massive increase in poverty. Impossible to do in a democracy. We need massive green technology investments, which even have modest bipartisan support.

[DSA @DemSocialists]

Until Palestinian Liberation-- Read the entire statement from our National Political Committee:
https://t.co/rjVpxWwbL2

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

EVENT ALERT:
Join us to explore how resisting genocide and ecocide means dismantling imperialism—and fighting for a democratic, just, and sustainable world.
🗓 5pm-6:30pm UTC//1pm-2:30pm EDT on Sunday, July 20
📍🖥️ Learn about our panelists & REGISTER: https://t.co/8N81qoDFCD

[Sam Knowlton @samdknowlton]

The weather patterns that coffee farmers relied on for generations are breaking down.

While global climate change takes the blame, in reality it’s largely a self inflicted cycle of ecological degradation resulting from farming practices.

A look at the problem and solutions: 🧵

[karin slyvia @karinslyvia]

I’m really moved by this. Not only is North Country very rural, very remote, Sackets Harbor is where Thomas Homan, Trump’s demonic border czar, lives. The whole town showed up for the family and against him.

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

PS: If you're a DSA member, join us on the discussion of this proposal and others in the DSA discussion board! https://t.co/MyueRYNhTL

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

Caracol is excited to introduce our platform resolution for this year’s DSA convention. Ecosocialism Within Ecological Limits: Expanding the Green New Deal (1/5)

[Caracol DSA @CaracolDSA]

Please check out our resolution and sign on if you are in support. And join us on our website if you’d like to learn more about joining Caracol, the Degrowth Ecosocialist Caucus. (5/5) https://t.co/u4sEHdQC7c