Human Flourishing as

Reflected in Progress
and Development
CHAPTER 5
Objective
ObjectiveNo.
No.11
Critique human flourishing
vis-à-vis the progress of
science and technology
Objective
ObjectiveNo.
No.22
Explain Hickel’s paradigm
of “de-development”
Objective
ObjectiveNo.
No.33
Differentiate it from the
traditional notions of
growth and consumption
CHAPTER
CHAPTERFIVE
FIVE
How do we know we are
progressing? What are the
indicators of
development?
 Hickel’s article

Conclusion

Jason Hickel Reflection

 7

Dr. Jason Hickel

An anthropologist
and author who
works on political
economy and
global justice.
 8

Dr. Jason Hickel

Professor at London
School of Economics
and challenges us to
rethink and reflect on
a different paradigm
of “de-development”
 9

Dr. Jason Hickel

“Forget developing
poor countries, it’s
time to de-develop
rich countries.”
ERADICATE POVERTY BY 2030

Is the main objective of the

Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) of the United Nations
 11

GROWTH
• is the standard response to
eradicating poverty.
 12

GROWTH
has been the main object of
development for the past 70
years, despite the fact that
it is not working.
 The global
Since economy has
grown to

1980 380%
HOWEVER …
The number of people
living in poverty on less

than $5 a day has

increased by more than
1.1 billion.
 HENCE OUR
ECONOMY HAD
GROWN …
 50%
At current levels of
average global
consumption, we are
overshooting our planet’s
bio-capacity by more than each year
 GO BACK WITH MARTIN
HEIDEGGER’S CONCEPT OF
CALCULATIVE THINKING…
 GLOBAL
HECTARES
a standardized unit that
measures resource use and
waste.
 1.8
Each one of us should consume

global hectares
annually based on the resources
available in the planet.
 1.9 HECTARES

Is the threshold of the

Earth for adequately
sustaining life.
The average person in Ghan
or Guatamela consumes

1.8 GLOBAL HECTARES

The average person in
US and Canada
consumes 8 hectares.
Europeans consume about

4.7 hectares
 HICKEL wants us to
know our purpose in
life …
Purpose of life?
Human Progress
True form of progress?
Quality over Quantity of life
Life expectancy
and Happiness
are the two indicators of the
quality of life given in the
article.
US life expectancy and GDP per

79 years
capita is and

$53,000.
The GDP per capita and consumption

$6000 and
of Cuba is

1.9 hectares.
COSTA RICA
manages to sustain of the highest
happiness indicators and life
expectancies with a per capita income
one-fourth of the US ($13,250)
 32

Peter Edward

argues that instead of

pushing poor countries to
“catch-up” with rich ones,
we should be thinking of
ways to get rich countries
to “catch-down” to more
appropriate levels of
development.
 According to the 70%
of people in middle- and high-
income countries,
overconsumption is putting our planet and
society at risk.
 How to reduce of
goods and services?
 Curb advertising

Based on the book entitled “How much is

enough?” by Robert and Edward Skidelsky,
to reduce consumption we need to:
 Carbon taxing

Based on the book entitled “How much is

enough?” by Robert and Edward Skidelsky,
to reduce consumption we need to:
 Shorter
working week
and basic
income.
Based on the book entitled “How much is
enough?” by Robert and Edward Skidelsky,
to reduce consumption we need to:
Climate Change is
the crisis in the planet that would
force us to slow down if we do not do
so voluntarily.