ABSTRACT
This Introduction explains the importance of focusing on sustainable development in a Northern industrialized context. In considering sustainable development from this perspective, the authors are aware that many of the key, critical components of the concept are more sharply revealed from a perspective that takes account of the global dimension, and in particular the inequalities in global resource use and life chances that exist between the North and the South. However, the literature on the struggle over the environment in the South is already well developed, whilst that on the North is underdeveloped. The authors therefore seek to fill an appreciable gap in political science literature by focusing on the promotion of sustainable development in a Northern, industrialized context, and in particular the European Union (EU) context in terms of theory, policy and practice. Accordingly, the Introduction has been divided into five sections. The first examines the theoretical debates surrounding the concept of sustainable development and argues that the concept is contestable by its very nature. The second defends the position that sustainable development needs to be understood as a social and political construct and, as such, the study of the operationalization of sustainable development through the implementation of specific policies provides the critical focus for research. The third develops a Ladder of Sustainable Development as a heuristic device for situating and grouping the range of policy imperatives associated with the promotion and implementation of sustainable development policies. The fourth looks at the role of government, at both the national and sub-national levels, and of bottomup participation in this process of implementation. The final section looks at the implementation of sustainable development policy within the EUthe main focus of this book.
