ABSTRACT

The main thesis of this chapter is that sustainability cannot be achieved without institutional changes in liberal democratic societies. The institutional changes explored have been proposed in other contexts by theorists of associative democracy and are supposed to broaden and enhance the democratic character of society. Two approaches to sustainability are discussed in the first section-the concepts of a sustainable society and of sustainable development. There is something common to these different concepts: both share an inescapable moral commitment, particularly to intergenerational and intragenerational justice or fairness. Realising sustainability could therefore imply a heavy burden of redistribution for rich countries. Because social acceptance of substantial redistribution requires mutual identification between all concerned and because the ties of community or, at least, mutual identification between citizens are rather weak in contemporary societies, the required redistributive measures might turn out to be a serious stumbling block on the route to a more sustainable and more just society. The importance of community for the realisation of sustainability will be explored in the second section.