ABSTRACT
This chapter considers theoretical responses to sustainable development in high income countries, in particular to open up discussion beyond environmental management practice and intergovernmental discussions of sustainable development. It brings together an impressive number of insights from social science that is relevant to the question of technology assessment. A useful typological review of the then existing sustainable development and environmental sustainability literature is provided by James Dobson. In this, he argues that the principle motivation behind any conception or theory of sustainable development is human interest in human welfare. It is important to note that much of the literature that considers epistemo-logical questions around sustainable development, links epistemology and ethics quite closely, typically implying or arguing that less stress to the Earth System or at least subsystems is needed. The chaoter examines more pointedly ethical literature around sustainable development.
