General Issues
Defining Sustainable Development
Sustainable development as a concept has become
increasingly attended to by varying interests. While the concept is useful
as a bridge in facilitating public discussion, its definition remains ambiguous.
The following articles attempt to clarify what is meant by "sustainable
development."
Brown, Becky J., Mark E.
Hanson, Diana M. Liverman, Robert W. Merideth, Jr. 1987. "Global Sustainability:
Toward Definition." Environmental Management 11 (6): 713-19.
Corson, Walter H. 1994. "Changing
Course: An Outline of Strategies for a Sustainable Future." Futures
26 (2): 206-223.
Dixon, John A. and Louise
A. Fallon. 1989. "The Concept of Sustainability: Origins, Extensions,
and Usefulness for Polity." Society and Natural Resources 2:
73-84.
Goodland, Robert. 1995. "The
Concept of Environmental Sustainability." Annual Review of Ecology
and Systematics 26: 1-24.
Graaf, H. J. de, C.J.M.
Musters and W.J. ter Keurs. 1996. "Sustainable Development: Looking
for New Strategies." Ecological Economics 16: 205-16.
Heyes, Anthony G. and Catherine
Liston-Heyes. 1995. "Sustainable Resource Use: The Search for Meaning."
Energy Policy 23 (1): 1-3.
Le´le´, Sharachchandra
M. 1991. "Sustainable Development: A Critical Review." World
Development 19 (6): 607-21.
Marien, M. 1994a. "Visions
of Sustainability: Introduction." Futures 26 (2): 115-116.
Mitcham, Carl. 1995. "The
Concept of Sustainable Development: Its Origins and Ambivalence."
Technology In Society 17 (3): 311-26.
Pezzey, John. 1992. "Sustainability:
An Interdisciplinary Guide." Environmental Values 1: 321-62.
Redclift, Michael. 1992.
"The Meaning of Sustainable Development." Geoforum 23
(3): 395-403.
Sachs, Wolfgang. 1991. "Environment
and Development: The Story of a Dangerous Liaison." The Ecologist
21 (6): 252-7.
Sunderlin, William D. 1995.
"Managerialism and the Conceptual Limits of Sustainable Development."
Society and Natural Resources 8: 481-92.
Toman, Michael A. 1992. "The
Difficulty in Defining Sustainability." Resources 106 (Winter):
3-6.
Additional Readings:
Beder, Sharon. 1994. "The Hidden Messages within
Sustainable Development." Social-Alternatives 13 (2) July :
8-12
Bennet, G. 1992. Dilemmas: Coping with Environmental
Problems. London: Earthscan.
Brown, L. R. 1996. State of the World: 1996.
A Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society.
London: Earthscan.
Gore, A. 1992. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and
the Human Spirit. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Hinrichsen, D. 1987. Our Common Future, a Reader's
Guide: The Brundtland Report explained. London: Earthscan.
The Council on Environmental Quality and the Department
of State. 1982. The Global 2000 Report to the President. New York:
Penguin.
World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987.
Our Common Future. New York: Oxford University Press.
Epistemological Debates
Critiques of Western Models for
Development
Clark, John G. 1995. "Economic
Development vs. Sustainable Societies: Reflections on the Players in a
Crucial Contest." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics
26: 225-48.
Disinger, John F. 1990. "Environmental
Education for Sustainable Development?" Journal of Environmental
Education 21 (Summer): 3-6.
Gowdy, John M. 1994. "Progress
and Environmental Sustainability." Environmental Ethics 16
(1) Spring: 41-55.
Lele, Sharachchandra
M. and Richard B. Norgaard. 1995. "Sustainability and the Scientist's
Burden." Conservation Biology 10 (2): 254-65.
Murdoch, Jonathan
and Judy Clark. 1994. "Sustainable Knowledge." Geoforum 25
(2): 115-32.
Nelson, Robert H. 1995. "Sustainability,
Efficiency, and God: Economic Values and the Sustainability Debate."
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 26: 135-54.
Norgaard, Richard. 1988.
"Sustainable Development: A Co-Evolutionary View." Futures
(December): 606-20.
Norgaard, Richard B. 1995.
"Intergenerational Commons, Globalization, Economism, and Unsustainable
Development." Pp. 141-71 in L. Freese (ed.) Advances in Human Ecology,
Vol. 4 Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Redclift, Michael. 1988.
"Sustainable Development and the Market: A Framework for Analysis."
Futures (December): 635-50.
Redclift, Michael. 1991.
"The Multiple Dimensions of Sustainable Development." Geography
1991: 36-42.
Redclift, Michael. 1993.
"Sustainable Development: Needs, Values, Rights." Environmental
Values 2: 3-20.
Simonelli, Richard. 1994.
"Sustainable Science: A Look at Science Through Historic Eyes and
Through the Eyes of Indigenous Peoples." Bulletin of Science, Technology
and Society 24 (1): 1-12.
Additional Readings:
Vandana, Shiva. 1989. Staying Alive: Women, Ecology
and Development. London: Zed Books.
The Ecological Paradigm
Dilworth, Craig. 1994. "Two
Perspectives on Sustainable Development." Population and Environment:
A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 15 (6): 441-67.
Giampietro, Mario. 1994.
"Using Hierarchy Theory to Explore the Concept of Sustainable Development."
Futures 26 (6): 616-25.
Gowdy, John M. 1994. "Progress
and Environmental Sustainability." Environmental Ethics 16
(1): 41-55.
Milbrath, Lester. 1994. "Stumbling
Blocks to a Sustainable Society: Incoherences in Key Premises About The
Way The World Works." Futures 26 (2): 117-24.
Pirages, Dennis. 1994. "Sustainability
as an Evolving process." Futures 26 (2): 197-205.
Additional Readings:
Bowen, James. 1988. "Science, Education and the
Environment: Ecocentrism as the New Paradigm." Education and Society
6 (1-2) June-Dec: 3-15.
Kiefer, Charles F. and Peter M. Senge. 1982. "Metanoic
Organizations in the Transition to a Sustainable Society." Technological
Forecasting and Social Change 22 (2) Oct: 109-122.
Eco-Feminist Theory
Braidotti, Rosi, Ewa Charkiewicz, Sabine Hausler, and
Saskia Wieringa. 1994. Women, the Environment and Sustainable Development:
Towards a Theoretical Synthesis. Zed Books.
Harcourt, Wendy (Ed.). 1994. Feminist Perspectives
on Sustainable Development: Shifting Knowledge Boundaries. Zed Books
with Society for International Development.
Marietta, Don E.., Jr. 1984. "Environmentalism,
Feminism, and the Future of American Society." Humanist 44
(3) May-June: 15-18, 30.
Mies, Marie and Vandan Shiva. 1993. Ecofeminism.
Zed Books.
Vandana, Shiva. 1989. Staying Alive: Women, Ecology
and Development. London: Zed Books.
Multicultural Discourse
Emberson-Bain. 'Atu (Ed.). 1994. Sustainable Development
or Malignant Growth? Perspectives of Pacific Island Women. Marama Publications.
Martinez, Alier Juan. 1987. Ecological Economics:
Energy, Environment, and Society. New York: Basil Blackwell.
Pena, Devon. 1992. "The 'brown' and the 'green':
Chicanos and environmental politics in the Upper Rio Grande." Capitalism,
Nature, and Socialism 3: 79-103.
Reviews of the Academic
Literature
Le´le´, Sharachchandra
M. 1991. "Sustainable Development: A Critical Review." World
Development 19 (6): 607-21.
Marien M. 1996. "Environmental
Problems and Sustainable Futures: Major Literature from WCED to UNCED."
Futures (Oct): 731-757.
Theoretical Issues in Global
Change
Globalization of Culture and Markets
Boxill, Ian. 1994. "Globalization,
Sustainable Development, and Postmodernism: The New Ideology of Imperialism."
Humanity and Society 18 (4): 3-18.
Korten, David C. 1991-92.
"Sustainable Development." World Policy Journal 9 (1):
157-90.
Novek, Joel and Karen Kampen.
1992. "Sustainable or Unsustainable Development? An Analysis of an
Environmental Controversy." Canadian Journal of Sociology 17
(3): 249-73.
Streeten, Paul. 1993. "Institutions
for Sustainable Development." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews
18 (4): 350-58.
Schrecker, Ted. 1996. "Whither
Sustainable Development?" Journal of Canadian Studies 31 (1):
3-6.
Defining Sustainable Development