Abstract
What is the concept of ‘sustainable development’? Why has it recently increasingly morphed into ‘sustainability.’ What does it mean for business and politics?
The concept ‘sustainable development’ is a highly contested one; it could be considered what Gallie (Proc Aristot Soc 56:167–198, 1955–1956) once referred to as an ‘essentially contested concept’ whose application is inherently a matter of dispute. The subtle shift to ‘sustainability’ is part of that contestation—and should be recognised as such. Failure to recognise this is to seriously diminish the potential of the concept to achieve the hopes held for it.
Some would argue that is no bad thing. I have variously heard sustainable development described as an oxymoron, or as ‘just words’. But words and their meanings are important—fundamentally important—to addressing public policy problems. We cannot devise laws or public policies unless we can define what it is we are doing. Yet developing shared understandings of problems, while not all the story of gaining political support, then is at least much of it, and the very vagueness which limits policy effectiveness can help with policy adoption—and therein lies a dilemma.
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Kellow, A. (2014). From Sustainable Development to Sustainability: The Response of Business. In: Lang, A., Murphy, H. (eds) Business and Sustainability. Sustainability and Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07239-5_2
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