15: Democratizing the Forces of Re/Production: AI Planning as a Sensing Device for a Degrowth Economy

Author:
Simon Schaupp
Publication Date:
12 Feb 2025
Pages:
279–293
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529235142.ch015
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This chapter discusses the role of AI technology in the democratic planning of a degrowth economy by way of an exploration of the Marxian concept of productive forces. It argues against a technological-deterministic understanding of the concept, and interprets productive forces as the totality of what humans are able to do. This definition stresses the centrality of potential, rather than a given technological state of the art. Such an emphasis on potential enables the systematic identification of the political and not merely technical nature of productive forces. The chapter finds that any assessment of the viability of those technologies relevant to a degrowth economy turns on the question of whether they may be transformed into forces of re/production, allowing for the reconciliation of production and reproduction.

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