ABSTRACT
Attention to climate change and its negative consequences for society emphasizes the need for reflection about current patterns of growth. Two interrelated elements are important in this reflection: the growing disparities among and within societies leading to impressive levels of segregation, marginalization and injustice; and the imbalance in the society/nature relationship with a remarkable rate of depletion of natural resources. These two combined elements present a shady future for societies in the 21st century. Calls for new patterns of growth have been shaped in different forms, particularly under the broad umbrella of sustainable development. Unfortunately, sustainable development remains a rather vague and rhetorical concept and there is an urgent need to expand the discussion of alternatives to transform it into an operational concept capable of addressing the complex realities of the 21st century.
