Slow Down

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What to expect

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2024

'ACCESSIBLE AND CONVINCING' - SALLY ROONEY

Capitalism by its very nature puts us at odds with the environment. Therefore, argues award-winning Japanese philosopher Kohei Saito, the future must belong to a new form of communism, the only fair and humane existence the limits of nature can support.

Drawing on a revelatory new reading of Karl Marx's enigmatic final writings, Saito shows us how nothing but a transformation of our economic life can save us from climate collapse. There is no alternative: the endless acceleration of capital has run out of road. If we can't slow down, we will crash.

Critics Review

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2024
Accessible and convincing
Intermezzo
SLOW DOWN has an almost magic ability to formulate complex thoughts in clear language, as well as to combine strict conceptual thinking with passionate personal engagement. What this means is that Saito's book is not just for anyone interested in ecology or in the problems of today's global capitalism, it is simply indispensable for those of us who want to SURVIVE in short, to all of us
The Sublime Object of Ideology
Marxist philosopher Kohei Saito calls us to reject the logic of economic growth and embrace a different kind of plenty . . . The key insight, or provocation, of Slow Down is to give the lie to we-can-have-it-all green capitalism . . . In place of a command economy, Saito puts forth a model based on local experimentation
New Yorker
Kohei Saito is one of the most important scholars in the world. In SLOW DOWN, he delivers a Karl Marx for the climate crisis and a vision of communism for the 21st century. No work could be more vital today
Palo Alto
Saito has emerged as the [degrowth] movement's public face . . . His uncompromising provocations are undoubtedly part of the appeal . . . Even degrowth's sceptics may find that Saito's examples of grassroots organising sound agreeably democratic and improvisational . . . such experiments offer something crucial: an enlarged sense of what's possible
New York Times
Saito unites Marxism with ecology and lights a path out of our present crisis. A powerful book from one of the most compelling young thinkers of our time
Less Is More
This necessary and energizing 21st Century manifesto is a truth mirror inviting us to see ourselves and our place in the metastatic growth engine that is our current economic system. Saito is a well-read soothsayer -- one who loves this world, who has done his homework, and who is eager to share a viable way forward
Fire Weather
A masterpiece
Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer and music pioneer
In a stagnant world where it is difficult to formulate visions for the future, the liberation of imagination offered by Capital in the Anthropocene . . . is a much-needed antidote
Asia Book Awards 2021
Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism's ability to solve the problems people see around them, whether caring for the country's growing older population, stemming rising inequality or mitigating climate change . . . His vision for the future is one in which people - less consumed by their endless pursuit of growth for growth's sake - have the leisure time to spend a workday pursuing new interests
New York Times
A richly researched, deftly wrought manifesto . . . The acuity of Saitō's argument lies in his defense of degrowth as the only viable option to combat climate change
Los Angeles Review of Books
A glimmer of hope shining through otherwise dark times . . . Saito challenges us not to just think in terms of numbers, but for a new way of life in a different civilisation . . . SLOW DOWN is a major contribution to the fields of degrowth, Marxist ecology, and ecosocialism
Resilience
Saito's book taps into deep concern about runaway global heating and dire threats to our life-sustaining biosphere . . . his connection of Marxism, particularly identifying the importance of production and the exploitation of labour in the fight for the future of the planet for a wide audience is welcome
Tempest Mag
Saito's clarity of thought, plethora of evidence, and conversational, gentle, yet urgent tone-even when describing the most alarming aspects of the climate crisis-are sure to win over open-minded readers who understand the dire nature of our global situation and that 'green capitalism is a myth.' A cogently structured anti-capitalist approach to the climate crisis
Kirkus (starred review)

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Lucid and comprehensive. Saito is unapologetic in his arguments, but provides a robust framework for further discussion. Glasgow's crisp narration is a perfect match.
TB 09/02/2024

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