Less Is More by Jason Hickel Summary

Less is More by Jason Hickel is a comprehensive introduction to degrowth economics that challenges GDP-centered capitalism and its environmental consequences. The book traces 500 years of capitalist history to reveal how endless economic growth drives ecological breakdown and proposes a transition toward sustainable wellbeing through reduced resource consumption, wealth redistribution, and public investment in healthcare and education.

Jason Hickel is an economic anthropologist and Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science & Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, Hickel serves on the US National Academy of Sciences Climate and Macroeconomics Roundtable and advises the Green New Deal for Europe.

Less is More is essential reading for environmental activists, policy makers, economics students, and anyone concerned about climate change and sustainability. The book appeals to readers questioning capitalist growth models, those interested in alternative economic systems, and individuals seeking concrete solutions to ecological crisis while understanding the colonial dimensions of environmental degradation.

Less is More is widely regarded as worth reading, listed as a book of the year by both Financial Times and New Scientist. The book successfully translates complex degrowth theory into accessible prose while offering concrete policy proposals that governments could implement immediately. Hickel's anthropological approach adds valuable historical depth, though some critics note the subtitle's ambitious claim may understate transformation challenges.

Degrowth in Less is More represents a deliberate reduction of resource consumption in wealthy nations while improving quality of life through fair wealth distribution, reduced working hours, and expanded public services. Rather than recession or "less of everything," Hickel frames degrowth as moving from scarcity to abundance, extraction to regeneration, and domination to reciprocity with the living world.

Less is More argues that GDP growth perpetuates ecological destruction through material footprint expansion and colonial exploitation of the Global South. Key concepts include separating wellbeing from economic growth, recognizing capitalism's totalitarian growth logic, implementing material footprint analysis beyond carbon emissions, and advancing five policy proposals for degrowth transformation that wealthy nations can adopt immediately.

Hickel demonstrates in Less is More that GDP fails to measure genuine wellbeing and that high-income countries passed the GDP-wellbeing connection breakpoint long ago. He compares Costa Rica's high wellbeing with relatively low GDP against the United States' astronomical GDP and material footprint alongside poor wellbeing indicators, proving that prosperity doesn't require endless growth.

Less is More presents five concrete policy proposals for degrowth transformation that governments could implement immediately to reduce ecological impact while improving citizens' quality of life. Solutions include justice frameworks, abundance through public affluence, commons-based approaches, regenerative development, and investments in public services rather than private consumption, all while addressing the colonial dimensions of environmental crisis.

Hickel traces in Less is More how capitalism's core principle of "taking more than you give" has historically driven empire, slavery, and today's climate breakdown. The book demonstrates capitalism's totalitarian growth logic requires every sector to expand endlessly without identifiable endpoints, creating a system where wealthy nations continue GDP expansion through exploiting Global South ecosystems, labor, and disproportionate atmospheric commons claims.

Less is More anchors its growth critique in a decolonial framework, showing how Global North nations expand GDP through exploiting Global South ecosystems and labor while claiming disproportionate atmospheric commons. Hickel emphasizes that ecological crisis solutions must be decolonial, addressing how wealthy countries achieve prosperity through colonial exploitation and how degrowth represents reversing 500 years of capitalist enclosure and dispossession.

Some critics argue the subtitle "How Degrowth Will Save the World" overpromises and understates transformation difficulties ahead. The title "Less is More" risks reinforcing mischaracterizations of degrowth as "less of the same" or recession rather than systemic transformation. However, reviewers note the book's nuanced text addresses these concerns with sophisticated arguments about what societies need less versus more of.

Both Less is More and The Divide by Jason Hickel use historical analysis to explain contemporary crises—The Divide examines global inequality's origins while Less is More traces capitalism's ecological destruction. Less is More expands on The Divide's themes by moving from diagnosing inequality to proposing degrowth solutions, maintaining Hickel's accessible writing style while incorporating more anthropological perspectives on humanity's relationship with nature across civilizations.