Rethinking Sustainable Development In Terms Of Justice

The need to reassess the discourse of sustainable development in terms of equity and justice has grown rapidly in the last decade. This book explores renewed and distinctive approaches to the sustainability and justice debate, integrating a range of perspectives that include moral philosophy, sociology and law. By bringing together young and senior scholars from the field of global environmental law and governance from around the world, this work is divided into three sections, covering sustainable development and justice, sustainable development in context, and sustainable development and judiciaries. This book will appeal to academics, law practitioners and policy-makers interested in shaping future socio-legal research on global environmental law and governance.

Throughout the past decade, the meaning of "sustainable development" - which rose to prominence following after the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - has evolved toward a broad and integrative concept that focuses on environmental protection as well as intergenerational social equity, human rights, and social justice. As the definition of sustainable development has expanded its meaning has become even more ambiguous, and the gulf between theory and practice continue to widen. Often obscured by jargon-laden debate and embedded in capitalism, the possibilities of realizing goals of sustainable development have begun to fade while the reproduction of the socioeconomic forces that lead to unsustainable development continues to thrive. Yet to dismiss the notion of sustainable development would be a tacit acceptance of the conditions of unsustainable development. The rapidly maturing capitalism worldwide appears have brought sustainable development to an impasse both in terms of theory and in practice. Capitalism has shown remarkable creativity and power to undermine the goals of sustainable development by appropriating and exploiting the language and practices of sustainable development. To effectively engage with the interplay between capitalism and sustainable development it is urgent that the debate takes on a greater conceptual and analytical clarity and be centered on the consideration of a just world order. A specific institutional environment is needed to achieve sustainable social justice must be clearly identified and articulated in ways that could be translated into effective practice. This special issue of The ANNALS takes a radical departure from current reformist approaches to sustainable development and makes the argument for the necessity of an alternative vision of global political economy linked to strong commitment to a equity and social justice. With the help of case studies from different parts of the world, this volume examines and provides a foundation for thinking about alternative framework of analyses. Especially, it calls to reexamine the currently dominant formulations concerning the 'desirable' role of the state and no-governmental organization (NGOs) in sustainable development. Providing an in-depth look at the conditions and processes that perpetuate unsustainable development, these articles examine a myriad of pivotal topics: poverty, prosperity, insecurity, diversity, and (NGOs), overproduction and scarcity, the role of the state, cultures of instability and violence, and social justice. Social and environmental theorists, practitioners, and activists will find an innovative and ardent perspective that strives radical changes in the current discourse of sustainable development.

This book offers a cutting-edge scholarly discussion of judicial and legal methods to reconcile national and international economic, social and environmental law for sustainable development. A diverse anthology of perspectives from developed and developing countries, the book contains contributions from judges, international lawyers and other experts with a wealth of experience in the emerging field of sustainable development law. It presents negotiators, scholars and jurists with a lively, thought-provoking and highly current discussion of international legal debates related to sustainable development. The final part discusses future developments in sustainable development law, based on the results of three recent international processes. Sustainable Justice weaves a diverse and intriguing collection, reflecting a vigorous yet practical international legal debate of crucial importance to our common future.

"Using the principles of John Rawls' theory of justice, this book offers an alternative political vision; one which describes a mode of governance that will enable communities to implement a sustainable and socially just future. Rawls described a theory of justice that not only describes the sort of society in which anyone would like to live but that any society can create a society based on just institutions. While philosophers have demonstrated that Rawls's theory can provide a framework for the discussion of questions of environmental justice, the problem for many philosophical theories is that discussions of sustainable development open the need to address questions of ecological interdependence, historical inequality in past resource use and the recognition that we cannot afford to ignore the limitations of growth. These ideas do not fit in comfortably in standard discourse about theories of justice. In contrast, this book frames the discussion of global justice in terms of environmental sustainability. The author argues that these ideas can be used to develop a coherent political theory which reconciles cosmopolitan arguments and the non-cosmopolitan or nationalist arguments concerning social and environmental justice. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environment philosophy and ethics, moral and political philosophy, global studies and sustainable development"--

Utilizes Heidegger in rethinking common environmental paradigms.

Using the principles of John Rawls’ theory of justice, this book offers an alternative political vision, one which describes a mode of governance that will enable communities to implement a sustainable and socially just future. Rawls described a theory of justice that not only describes the sort of society in which anyone would like to live but that any society can create a society based on just institutions. While philosophers have demonstrated that Rawls’s theory can provide a framework for the discussion of questions of environmental justice, the problem for many philosophical theories is that discussions of sustainable development open the need to address questions of ecological interdependence, historical inequality in past resource use and the recognition that we cannot afford to ignore the limitations of growth. These ideas do not fit in comfortably in standard discourse about theories of justice. In contrast, this book frames the discussion of global justice in terms of environmental sustainability. The author argues that these ideas can be used to develop a coherent political theory that reconciles cosmopolitan arguments and the non-cosmopolitan or nationalist arguments concerning social and environmental justice. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental philosophy and ethics, moral and political philosophy, global studies and sustainable development.

An analysis of the relationship between environmental sustainability and social justice, this text concludes that radical environmental demands are only incompletely served by couching them in terms of justice.

Environmental activists and academics alike are realizing that a sustainable society must be a just one. Environmental degradation is almost always linked to questions of human equality and quality of life. Throughout the world, those segments of the population that have the least political power and are the most marginalized are selectively victimized by environmental crises. This book argues that social and environmental justice within and between nations should be an integral part of the policies and agreements that promote sustainable development. The book addresses the links between environmental quality and human equality and between sustainability and environmental justice.