ABSTRACT
The popularization of the sustainable development phenomenon raised a growing dissatisfaction over what is known about the underlying premises of development. This chapter presents several models of development, which failed to devote serious attention to the phenomenon of sustainability. It details the general theory of sustainability, which attempts to bridge the economic, social, cultural, political, and, ecological dimensions of development in order to achieve a multidisciplinary understanding. Sustainable development is a very problematic phenomenon because its language and definitions differ according to the ideological perspectives of groups advocating sustainability. The chapter discusses six diverse theories and models of economic development: linear-stage theory, Harrod-Domar growth model, structural-change models, international-dependence models, neoclassical counterrevolution model, and new growth theory. It looks at some of the major economic development theories that preceded the sustainable development paradigm. The general theory of sustainability underscores the need to broaden our paradigmatic lenses while devising and analyzing strategies intended to promote sustainable development.
