Culture and Sustainability

Abstract

It can be argued that the roots of our global sustainability crisis are buried not in natural processes, but precisely in our cultural habits. Over consumption, flying and driving, the generation of excessive waste in a “throw away” society, pollution and emissions from construction, sea transport, “dirty” forms of energy generation, forest destruction, our eating and fashion habits, and other human cultural practices contribute massively to the very lack of sustainability that we now confront on a planetary scale. If this is true, and a persuasive case can be made that it is, then the search for solutions must be directed to that primary culprit: our cultural habits and practices. This chapter examines the cultural bases of non-sustainability, and explores the cultural resources for achieving the desired goal of a sustainable society. It discusses the ways in which culture and sustainability are linked, explores creative cultural responses to sustainability challenges, not only in areas such as consumption but also in fields such as the arts, design, architecture, religion, and literature, and promotes the idea that maintaining cultural diversity is as important as the parallel and linked maintenance of biological diversity. It proposes ways in which cultures of sustainability might be achieved, including education for sustainability and the re-evaluation of value systems themselves, including the ethical codes structuring our relationship to nature. It argues not only for the recognition of stronger links between culture and sustainability, but also for the promotion of sustainable cultures – ones compatible in the long run not only with livable futures, but with creative, harmonious, just, inclusive, and pleasurable ones.