Domains of Sustainability

Introduction

One dominant framework sets the terms for almost all thinking today about questions of sustainability. Whether contemporary policy-makers are aware of it or not, this structure is the basis of the way that most practitioners and thinkers across the globe approach sustainability issues. The framework assumes that sustainability should be understood in terms of three domains: the economy, the environment, and the social. These domains are said to relate to each other as three independent spheres of life. They are usually depicted visually as three pillars, as a Venn diagram of three intersecting circles, or as three nested concentric circles with the economy at the center. In each case their combined outcome is one of supposed sustainability.

Today, sustainability is a foundational concept for public administration, policy-making and political governance, and versions of this three-domain framework are everywhere in policy documents. Despite this prevalence, however, the...