BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:adamgibbons/ics METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:23195@offbeat.amsterdam SUMMARY:(PRE)FIGURING FASCISM #4: War Machines and Growth Engines: Militari sm\, State Formation\, and the Limits of Degrowth Politics DTSTAMP:20260530T181430Z DTSTART:20260618T150000Z DTEND:20260618T170000Z DESCRIPTION:THURSDAY\, 18 JUNE\, 2026 – 17:00 TO 19:00\n\nThis talk argues that the degrowth movement has two blind spots at its\ntheoretical core. T he first concerns militarism. The vast apparatus of modern\nwarfare — the logistics\, the accounting systems\, the nationalism needed to make\npeopl e willing to fight — was not a byproduct of capitalist growth but one of\n the forces that produced it. The second blind spot concerns the solution(s )\ndegrowth proposes. The dominant strand of degrowth scholarship looks to \nprogressive state institutions and cultural transformation as the vehicl e for a\ndegrowth transition. But the modern state is constituted by organ ised violence —\nit is\, at its core\, a war machine — and a politics that fails to name and\nconfront this fact will end up reproducing what it opp oses\, whether at the\nnational scale or the municipal one. In other words \, this talk will argue that a\ngenuine degrowth transition requires demil itarisation as a precondition.\n\n————-\n\nAndro Rilović is a lecturer and PhD researcher at UvA. Both his teaching and\nresearch are rooted in degr owth scholarship\, and he primarily investigates how\nmilitarism shapes po litical and economic institutions in ways that create and\nreinforce a con stant imperative for economic growth.\n\n————-\n\n(Pre)Figuring Fascism is a series of talks drawing attention to the continuities\nbetween liberal governance and fascism\, hoping to stimulate an understanding of\nfascism as it relates to colonialism\, imperialism\, and capitalism – rather than\ nviewing it as a kind of shock to an otherwise well-working liberal system .\nBecause we know: So long as the conditions for fascism’s emergence are not\novercome\, we are always living in proto-fascist times. URL:https://offbeat.amsterdam/event/prefiguring-fascism-4-war-machines-and- growth-engines-militarism-state-formation-and-the-limits-of-degrowth-polit ics GEO:52.3691111;4.9018933 LOCATION:Het Fort van Sjakoo - Jodenbreestraat 24\, 1011 NK Amsterdam STATUS:CONFIRMED CATEGORIES:amsterdam-centrum,capitalism,colonialism,nieuwmarkt/lastage,talk X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Thursday, 18 June, 2026 – 17:00 to 19:00

This talk argues that the degrowth movement has two blind spots at its theoretical core. The first concerns militarism. The vast apparatus of modern warfare — the logistics, the accounting systems, the nationalism n eeded to make people willing to fight — was not a byproduct of capitalist growth but one of the forces that produced it. The second blind spot conce rns the solution(s) degrowth proposes. The dominant strand of degrowth sch olarship looks to progressive state institutions and cultural transformati on as the vehicle for a degrowth transition. But the modern state is const ituted by organised violence — it is, at its core, a war machine — and a p olitics that fails to name and confront this fact will end up reproducing what it opposes, whether at the national scale or the municipal one. In ot her words, this talk will argue that a genuine degrowth transition require s demilitarisation as a precondition.

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Andro Ri lović is a lecturer and PhD researcher at UvA. Both his teaching and research are rooted in degrowth scholarship, and he primarily investig ates how militarism shapes political and economic institutions in ways tha t create and reinforce a constant imperative for economic growth.

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(Pre)Figuring Fascism is a series of talk s drawing attention to the continuities between liberal governance and fas cism, hoping to stimulate an understanding of fascism as it relates to col onialism, imperialism, and capitalism – rather than viewing it as a kind o f shock to an otherwise well-working liberal system. Because we know: So l ong as the conditions for fascism’s emergence are not overcome, we are alw ays living in proto-fascist times.

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