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ABSTRACT Recent resurgence of interest in social aspects of sustainability has enjoined with on-going debates on environmental justice and equity. However, discussions on the socio-geographic distribution of environmental (dis-) benefits have substantially overlooked the issue of class (as defined by Marx). This paper begins to address that deficit by presenting a new conceptualization of sustainable development explicitly drawing on Marxist theorizations of class. Capital and labour have a fundamental conflict of interest; governments have limited potential, or interest, in intervening on labour's behalf. Environmental policies have been portrayed as offering economic and social benefits including so-called green jobs. This paper argues that such policies generate competition for investment rather than promoting equity. Green jobs may offer distributional benefits to individual workers, in certain locations, but cannot benefit labour as a class. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous issue of Sustainable Development (Kaivo-oja, 1999) some alternative scenarios of social development were presented. The following scenarios were discussed: (i) the deep ecology scenario, (ii) the strong sustainable development scenario, (iii) the weak sustainable development scenario, (iv) the boomsday scenario, (v) the doomsday scenario and (vi) the World Bank ‘policy tunnel’ scenario. In this article a plausible, seventh social development scenario is presented: ‘social and ecological destruction in the first class’. The basic idea of this scenario is presented in this paper. The author argues that this scenario should also be taken into consideration in the strategic discussion of potential sustainable development paths. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the conceptual history of ‘sustainable development’, from the Brundtland Commission's definition in 1987 to the present day. It argues that the superficial consensus that has characterized much of the early debate has given way to a series of parallel but distinct discourses around sustainability. The underlying assumptions behind much of the discussion are assessed, as is the move, after the first Earth Summit (1992), to focus on rights, rather than needs, as the principal line of enquiry. This analytical attention to rights is linked to the neo-liberal economic agendas of the 1990s, and the growth of interest in congruent areas, including human security and the environment, social capital, critical natural capital and intellectual property rights. The paper argues that increasing attention to questions of biology and science studies has strengthened this ‘rights-based’ approach, as well as interest in the linkages between ‘natural’ and ‘human’ systems, including attention to questions of environmental justice. It is clear that issues of global environmental justice are as important as they were when the concept of ‘sustainable development’ was in its infancy, but the new material realities of science and the environment in the 21st century demand a re-engagement with their social consequences, something which is largely ignored by the (market) liberal consensus. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to a specialized research area within environmental sociology – ecological modernization theory – the shift towards seeking to protect the environment constitutes a broadly emergent sociological phenomenon: the radicalization of modernity. The understanding of the fundamentals of such phenomenon is, therefore, crucial for both the practice and theorization of organization and environment. This is the main reason why this paper seeks to incorporate ideas from the disciplines of both environmental sociology and organization theory. By delving into the main sources of dynamism that ‘produced’ modernity the paper argues that a sustainable organizational practice depends on the incorporation of a special type of radicalism into ecological modernization. The paper anchors its main arguments in research conducted in the European automobile industry – a socio-technical context undergoing ecological modernization. The main conclusions of the paper relate to the nature of the reforms required for organizational practices to facilitate sustainable industrial development. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is only a scant possibility of today's environmental problems being solved solely by technical means, with no account being taken of the social or economic aspects. Thus, three generally recognized dimensions of sustainable development have been devised: ecological, social and economic. However, the basis for them is moral reflection regarding humankind's responsibility for nature. Is this all? Perhaps we should also include technical, legal and political dimensions. All of them are important and all of them are characterized in this paper. Since they are connected with one another, examples of the degree to which they can overlap are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions the rhetorical workings of ‘sustainable development’ as an ideological construct in contemporary global society. It suggests that this term actually is increasingly used as a label to place over modes of existence that are neither sustainable nor developmental. Yet, the rhetoric is also now a material culture of being that is created, carried and continued in the everyday practices of design, exchange and production. Copyright ©; 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces the themes of the articles featured in the November 2005 issue of the journal "Sustainable Development." Examination of the evolving discourse of sustainable development from a critical perspective; Conceptual history of sustainable development; Discussion of the rhetorical workings of sustainable development as an ideological construct in contemporary global society; Sustainability of the economy in relation to nature.

Part 1 (Hay, 2005) reviewed the root causes of our society's unsustainable condition and introduced a new approach, becoming ecosynchronous, to discuss how the unfolding of self (becoming) and being aware of events that are meaningfully related (synchronicity) can help us to get in sync with nature and become more sustainable. In Part 2, becoming ecosynchronous is examined further to present a comprehensive program toward achieving sustainability. Ways in which personal development can be considered and advanced in a sustainability framework are demonstrated, with reference to an ecocentric position. Orientation, contexts, meaningful relations, developing a sense of place, adult development (as part of becoming) and synchronicity (as tied to a revised view of reality) are discussed first. The development of a culture of permanency, to address our society's soul sickness, is explored in the conclusion, via practical applications, aspects of societal transformation and principles of becoming ecosynchronous. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]