Less Is Not Enough

Examining the rise of minimalist self-help, Miriam Meissner shows how it depoliticizes middle-class frustrations with capitalist exploitation, and proposes a cultural strategy to channel minimalist desires into a more radical, postgrowth politics. In the past decade minimalist self-help has exploded, from tidying guides to media detoxes which promise to help affluent middle classes navigate a world of excess - too much clutter, stress, and distraction. Less Is Not Enough exposes the limits of minimalism in addressing both middle-class overload and the environmental crisis. Through a critical analysis of self-help books, TV shows, and online communities, it argues that while minimalism is well-intended, it ultimately distracts from the root causes of the very problems it seeks to alleviate. Trends like decluttering and mindfulness depoliticize middle-class frustrations with the capitalist exploitation of labour, attention, and ecology for profit. In an era where climate justice and class struggle are inseparable, Meissner proposes an eco-political strategy that refuses to pit middle-class interests against the demands of a just green transition. Drawing on cultural studies and political ecology, the book reveals how affluent minimalists seek emancipation and argues for redirecting these desires away from individualistic self-help toward a collective postgrowth politics.

Miriam Meissner is Assistant Professor of Political Ecology at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. She authored Narrating the Global Financial Crisis (2017) and co-edited Global Garbage (2016) and The Routledge Companion to Urban Imaginaries (2018). Her current research focuses on postgrowth and cultural politics.

Preface: Postgrowth Against Postfascism? Introduction: Too Much and Too Little-The Unease of the Affluent 1. Desire for Less: Minimalist Choices Beyond Consumer Democracy 2. Desire for Resonance: Minimalist Performance Beyond Tidying 5. Desire for Experience: Minimalist Attention Beyond Self-Focus 4. Desire for Idleness: Minimalist Withdrawal Beyond Productivism 5. Desire for Liberation: Minimalist Well-Being Beyond Privilege Conclusion: Who Will Organise the Liberation? Index