I haven't read Saito's books, or looked too deeply into degrowth as a movement. I just read this article and thought it made some good arguments against what it claims are Saito's understandings of Marx. I'm not sure I agree with everything, but I thought it was interesting enough to share.
imma be honest I have a hard time giving a shit whether or not some guy I've never read misinterpreted marx or not.
What's obvious to me is that in the near term a lot needs to change about production everywhere and allocation of resources in the global north especially, if we are to slow down/reverse climate change and survive it. Does this imply a permanent limit on production or population? No. But like, it might be a while before we get this shit under control, if we ever do.
In the meantime, reallocating resources does not have to come with a loss of quality of life. If I never flew on a plane again but I had enough time off of work to take a train instead, that would be a net increase in quality of life. If instead of the primary way of getting around for 95% of americans being a car, it was public transit, that would be an improvement, not a decline in QoL. The list goes on. Living slower (in some respects), simpler, less wasteful lives, is not an inherent regression in society, more production isn't inherently better when the things being produced and the process of production are both fucked and making people's lives worse.