The translation of the Preface from the Croatian edition of Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era is one of the milestone texts in this thematic section; it shows the relevance of the concept and the degrowth movement for the region, bringing it closer to our specific context. The authors accurately and concretely outline their understanding of degrowth by slowly revealing layers of this school of thought and the conceptual framework of the paradigm, showing that there is a potential to develop a regional school of thought. The authors emphasize the necessity of intellectual curiosity and point out that thought on degrowth is not static or inflexible, but is rather evolving over time. They also explain the considerations that were made when translating the term “degrowth” into Croatian, and they are similar to our thoughts when we were translating the term into Slovenian. The text confronts the reader with the key civilizational questions connected to degrowth, covering issues such as our way of life, restrictions on growth, social metabolism, economism, and depoliticization. The ongoing debates on the Anthropocene are touched upon as well, and the authors also advocate the position that the theory and movement of degrowth demand the creation of new institutions. The most thought-provoking part of the text is perhaps its conclusion, where the authors concentrate on the Croatian context and discuss the relation between the center and periphery and the advantages of a semi-peripheral country in the process of transforming into a degrowth society.
