Militarism vs the Care Economy and Degrowth
Militarism vs the Care Economy and Degrowth
At this critical time, when climate change and war are devastating the planet and causing tremendous suffering, the current political climate is taking everything in the wrong direction. The system of endless growth and accumulation of wealth in fewer and fewer hands at the expense of everyone else and the earth cannot be sustained. How can we do more than hold back the most extreme antidemocratic and environmentally destructive measures and work together to realize a common vision of a livable world? Speakers Harrris Gruman, Juan Jose De Blas and Anna Prouty will address how we can transition from the current disaster/militarist economy to a peace, climate, and justice-oriented care and degrowth economy. They will lay out some of the principles and benefits of a care economy and degrowth and talk about practical steps we can take here in the US to bring about the world we want to see.
Speakers:
Harris Gruman – Executive Director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council. He is co-founder and co-chair of Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of 150 organizations which successfully campaigned to raise the minimum wage to $15, enact paid family and medical leave, and pass the Fair Share Amendment, aka millionaire’s tax. A veteran of decades of successful issue and electoral work in community and labor organizing, he is an astute political strategist. A former executive director of the Neighbor to Neighbor Education Fund, he studied at Johns Hopkins University. At MAPA, he is a member of the Board of Directors, the Ukraine Committee, and of the Peace and the Working Class Working Group.
Juan Jose Deblas is an active member of the International Degrowth Network as well as the Spanish member group Red Decrecer para Vivir. He sees degrowth as an opportunity to rethink the world’s economic and social systems, address the imbalance between the Global North and South, and protect humanity’s most vulnerable. He is Coordinator of the IDN practice circle, Secretary of organizing and general circles, and helping with European newsletter. He helped organize the September 2025 Beyond Growth conference in the Spanish parliament.
Anna Prouty, Media + Outreach Coordinator at the Degrowth Institute, is a writer, artist and community organizer living in Cascadia. She is the media and outreach coordinator for DGI, and coordinates the Policy Working Group. She was also a co-founder of DegrowUS. When not at DGI, she works for the Center for Rural Livelihoods in Oregon, and organizes around economic democracy, land restoration and bioregionalism. Her debut novel, Genesis, will be released in summer 2026 by Vine Leaves Press.
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