The Historical Context: Sustainability in Modern Society

Abstract

The chapter describes the development of the idea of sustainable use of natural resources in the environmental history of modern society. In Europe the sustainability debate began in early modernity, with a wood crisis caused by deforestation. In the classical and critical political economy in the nineteenth century, sustainability became a core theme of debates about economic growth, the natural limits of resources and environmental pollution in industrial society. In this form the theme entered the agenda of global policy in the second half of the twentieth century with the discourses of limits to growth and sustainable development.

Appendices: Further Information and Material

1.1 1. Questions and Individual Exercises

1.1.1 Learning Exercise 1: “Industrial Society and Ways Beyond”

Organise a discussion about the ways out of the industrial society in the form of a discussion between two groups: one defending and one rejecting the possibility of phasing out the industrial society.

The group of defenders should prepare their arguments based on the “transformation hypothesis” (using arguments from the debate about post-industrial and post-capitalist societies). The socio-economic transformation towards a post-industrial society has been under way since the second half of the twentieth century in advanced industrial societies and is visible in a series of changes: the continuous reduction of the second or industrial sector in the national economies, the growth of a third or service sector, the economic change of accumulation regimes (Post-fordism) and technological change through the internet-based knowledge economy and society.

The opposing group should prepare t arguments for the permanence of industrial society with other interpretations of the socio-economic changes observed: the technological innovation of the knowledge society as a new form of industrialisation (hypothesis of the “fourth industrial revolution”: Klaus Schwab); the late industrialisation of the BRICS countries in the Global South that export large parts of their industrial production to the early industrialising countries in the North—industrial production is not being phased out but is being shifting geographically and differentiated into “high tech industries” in the Global North and old forms of polluting industrialisation in the BRICS countries.

In the discussion (30–45 minutes) each group also needs to deal with the responses and arguments of the other group, not just defend their own positions. One or two participants will guide the discussion and document the main points (in a flipchart); another participant will write a protocol. In a follow-up discussion all participants will discuss their learning process (this should also be documented).

Introductory statement for the discussion:

The discussion of alternatives to industrialisation during the building of industrial economies in the Western world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not advance. Ideas about the agricultural welfare state and discussions of the peasant economy and simple commodity production (Chayanov) as another mode of production in the modern capitalist economy did not turn out to be alternatives. The agricultural economies became part of asynchronous process of industrialisation, where older forms of economic production were integrated in the industrial division of labour (shown in the anthropological analysis of modern capitalism by Eric Wolf 1982). Only with the current environmental and sustainability discourses did the trend towards post-industrial societies accelerate in the early industrialising countries of the West. This has occurred in contradictory forms of “super-industrialisation” (high-tech and knowledge economy) and the ideas of post-growth societies and post-capitalist societies.

Additional reading: two classical books on the post-industrial society—Bell (1973), Touraine (1971).

1.1.2 Learning Exercise 2: “Agenda 2030” for Sustainable Development

Suggested tasks and questions for further reflection and discussion (individually or in a working group): Download “Agenda 2030” from the internet and discuss the development goals and the process to achieve them; do a SWOT analysis (descriptions for the method available on the internet) of the strengths and weaknesses of the Agenda as a political document: (How) can the achievement of goals be measured (indicators, criteria)? Which goals can be realistically achieved by 2030? What would be required to make the process effective and successful (in terms of: policy instruments, financing, institutional change, resource sharing, coordination, monitoring, assessment, cooperation of governments, empowerment of actors, responsibility of actors and institutions, removing hindrances, institutional change)? Who are the key actors in the process that need to take the initiative and responsibility?

The UN’s “Agenda 2030”, “Transforming our world”, is currently the guiding document for global sustainability policy. It does not have the status of a legally binding document; it is a shared global vision adopted by the governments at a global summit in 2015 as a guideline for all countries. At the core of the agenda are seventeen Sustainable Development Goals as decided at the “Rio+20” conference in 2012. A summary:

• 1. The global Sustainable Development Goals: the goals are specified for the three dimensions of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

• 2. The guiding principles and messages: “5Ps”—People—human dignity; Planet—protecting; Prosperity—for all; Peace—securing; Partnership—global cooperation and partnership.

• 3. How to achieve the goals: no specific regulations are formulated, only goals and principles; all countries/governments are asked to report on their efforts and progress in achieving the goals; the main actors cooperating in the process should include individuals, civil society, local communities, private economy, governments and non-governmental organisations.

If you are interested in a deeper discussion of the problems, you should work with the Global Sustainable Development Report (UN 2019): try to find out more about the transformative changes of the global economic system to achieve sustainability—markets and their limitations regarding sustainable development, possibilities of global redistribution and sharing of resources, of new forms of sustainable growth and of a sharing economy.

1.2 2. Further Reading Suggested: Deepening, Thematically Specialised

Books—environmental policies, governance and natural resource management:

• Caradonna, J. L. ed. (2018). Routledge Handbook of the History of Sustainability. London: Routledge.

• Isenberg, A. C., ed. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Environmental History. New York et al.: Oxford University Press.

• Worster, D. (1994 [1970]). Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scientific journals (international, peer reviewed) for the themes of this chapter, showing the advancing historical debate and research: “Environmental History”, “Environment and History” (interdisciplinary), “Global Environmental Change”, “The Journal of Economic History”, “The Journal of Peasant Studies”, “Sustainability Science”