Constructing Sustainable Development

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Constructing Sustainable Development

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Neil E. Harrison - Author

Price: $55.50
Hardcover - 188 pages

Release Date: September 2000

ISBN10: 0-7914-4667-0
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-4667-6

Price: $24.95
Paperback - 188 pages

Release Date: September 2000

ISBN10: 0-7914-4668-9
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-4668-3

Summary

Defines, analyzes, critiques, and proposes new policy solutions for achieving sustainable development.

Through a critique of the economic, technological, political, and ethical theories that are the basis for current policy, this book shows that sustainable development proposals are at least incomplete or impractical and at worst dangerously misleading.
The concept of sustainable development presents a problem for theorists and policy makers because it cannot be objectively defined and subjective understandings vary widely. For the capitalist, sustainable development is a problem of production efficiency and technological innovation; for the environmentalist, a more appropriate ethic is a necessity; and for the developing country policy maker, a more equitable distribution of power over resources is imperative.

Harrison shows how sustainable development can be constructed from policy principles derived from ongoing adaptations to changes in values, beliefs, and scientific knowledge, and applied in both developed and developing nations and communities large and small.

"The book takes on a challenging topic. It is written concisely. Harrison has a broad command of the literature and it shows in the presentation and analysis. His approach is generally effective in exposing some of the central dilemmas and problems of the search for sustainable development. Harrison uses postmodernism with a notable degree of effectiveness in the analysis. The analysis of the different sustainable development narratives generates a number of important insights. The book is stimulating and thought-provoking." -- Brian J. Cook, author of Bureaucracy and Self-Government: Reconsidering the Role of Public Administration in American Politics

"Given the growing attention to sustainable development, this book will find a home on many shelves within the scholarly community and more broadly in the environmental policy community and the lay public. Its readability makes it accessible to a broad audience, and I expect the book will be assigned in many undergraduate environmental studies programs." -- Dennis Coyle, author of Property Rights and the Constitution: Shaping Society through Land Use Regulation

Neil E. Harrison is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

The Problem of Policy
Policy Narratives
Constructing an Alternative

2. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND UNCERTAINTY

Measuring Sustainability
The Role of Uncertainty

3. THE EFFICIENCY NARRATIVE: ECO-EFFICIENCY THROUGH MARKETS 19

An Orthodox View
Markets and Consumption
Exclusion of Natural Goods
Problems with Private Exploitation
Regulating Natural Sink7
Market Mechanics
Markets and Collective Response
Ecological Economics
Conclusion

4. ORGANIZING A TECHNOLOGICAL FIX

Technology and Innovation
Understanding Technological Innovation
Structural Inhibitors
Choosing an Ecological Techno-Economic Paradigm
Conclusion

5. CONSIDERING EQUITY

The Need for Authority
The Possibilities of Politics
Politics as Rational Choice
Discursive Politics
The Ecological Uses of Politics

6. SUSTAINABILITY IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

Levels of Analysis
Global Structures
Cooperation Between Sovereignties
Opportunities for Cooperation
Conclusion

7. A PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Extending Legal Rights
Relationship Problems
Valuing Nature
Spirit and Nature
Changing Minds
Conclusion

8. POLICY PRINCIPLES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Process and Goals
Complex Adaptive Systems and Policy Principles
Decision Making on Principle
Initial Policy Directions

NOTES

REFERENCES

INDEX

Related Subjects

Development
Economy and Society
Environmental Studies

36607/36606(/KW/MC)