CONTENTS
List of figures
Foreword WILLIAM REES
Acknowledgments
1.Introduction: sustainability - seeking clarity in the mist
The 'old' sustainability: a story of listening and harmony A history of caring 8
Modernism and the decline of harmony 11
Tlie revolt against modernism 12 C
onclusion 14
2.The 1960s to the present: key conferences and statements The fabulous 1960s and 1970s 17
Key conferences and reports 20
3.Rise of the 'new' sustainability - the weak and the strong Destination or journey? 29
Is 'sustainable development' a code for sustainable growth? 30
Docs 'sustainable development' equal sustainability? 33
Sustainability - the 'weak', the 'strong' and the 'strongest' 38
Conclusion 42
4.Economic sustainability: coming to grips with endless growth 47
Tlie underlying assumptions of neoclassical economics 51
The steady state economy 54
Degrowth and the circular economy 55
Endless growth and 'growthmania' 56
Reductionism, economic modelling and the 'fallacy of misplaced concreteness' 58 '
Resources are infinite', techno-centrism and substitution 59
The ethics of economics 60
Tlie 'green' economy 61
Wliat should economic sustainability mean? 62
5. Ecological sustainability - essential but overlooked Do we have a problem? 72
Human dependence on Nature 73
Tlieory and the 'balance of Nature' 79
Wfiat should ecological sustainability mean? 86
6.Social sustainability - Utopian dream or practical path to change? 94
Introduction 94
Utopia 95
Wliat is fair? Equity and equality 96
Wliat is just - and for whom? 99
Social cohesion and capital - keeping it 'together' to act 100
Democracy 101
Governance 101
War and conflict 104
Tlie practicality of social sustainability 104
Wliat should social sustainability be? 106
Overpopulation and overconsumption Overpopulation 114
Dealing with consumerism and overconsumption 119
Dematerialising our economy 122
Beyond 'triple bottom line', 'eco-efficiency' and the 'small and easy' approach 125
Alternatives to the consumer society 129
Dealing with the heresy of more 129
Worldview and ethics in 'sustainability' Worldview, ethics, values and ideologies 137 Anthropocentrism 141
Anthropocentrism in 'sustainable development' 143
Ideologies - modernism 144
Intrinsic value and the revolt against modernism 144
Deep ecology 145
Ideologies - postmodernism 146
Questioning reality and 'Nature scepticism' 147
A sense of wonder 149
Anti-spirituality in Western culture 151
How do we bridge the great divide? 151
9 An unsustainable denial Believing in stupid things 160
Scepticism vs denial 161
Denial is common 161
The history of denial 163 I
deological basis for denial 166
Psychological types of denial 167
Ways we let denial prosper 170
Conclusion 172
10.Appropriate technology for sustainability Appropriate technology 177
Renewable energy technologies 180
Inappropriate technologies 184
Conclusion 187
11. Solutions for sustainability
Can we know what future generations will want? 191
Solutions - pluralism vs specificity 192
Demystification - what meaningful sustainability cannot be 193
Wliat sustainability should be? 195
Is it too late? Optimism, pessimism and realism 196
Solutions 199
Worldview, ethics, values and ideologies 199
Redesigning ourselves to enable change 200
Population 201
Consumerism and the growth economy 202
Solving climate change 202
Appropriate technology: a renewable future 203
Reducing Poverty and inequality 204
Education and communication 205
The politics of it all 207
The Great Work 208
Can we demistify sustainability 208
Index 215