ABSTRACT

While sustainability has become a buzzword in discussions about the environment and development, work on theories of sustainable development has received much less attention. However, theory is vital as understanding the origins and development of the concept is the key to achieving successful implementation of sustainability.

This book offers an interdisciplinary collection of research articles on the theories of sustainable development, drawing on a wide range of subjects including history, politics, governance, complex systems, economics and philosophy. It advocates viewing sustainable development not only as the establishment of a permanent, globally practicable and future-capable mode of life and economics, but as a complex array of problems involving a wide range of social-scientific and humanistic disciplines. This innovative approach means that the book is oriented toward current problems, not toward the established academic boundaries, and it draws out lessons that are relevant for those studying and working in sustainability across the world.

This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of sustainable development and environmental politics, as well as practitioners working with sustainable development in politics, business, administration, and civil society organizations.

chapter |5 pages

Theories of sustainable development

An introduction

chapter |10 pages

The discovery of sustainability

The genealogy of a term

chapter |13 pages

Theory of sustainability?

Considerations on a basic understanding of “sustainability science”

chapter |22 pages

The quality of sustainability science

A philosophical perspective

chapter |15 pages

Transdisciplinary humanistic sustainability theory

Justice, governance, blocks

chapter |9 pages

Theories of “sustainability” and the sustainability of theories

For alternatives to the mainstream, and against simple solutions

chapter |14 pages

Sustainable development

A global model – universal and contextual

chapter |19 pages

The non-identity problem

An irrefutable argument against representation of future generations?