IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/nglost/v9y2015i1p27-56n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Development in a Global Context: A Success or a Nuisance?

Author

Listed:
  • Bakari Mohamed El-Kamel

    (Department of English Language, Literature, and Civilization, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities, The University of Mannouba, Tunis, Tunisia)

Abstract

This article argues that the evolution of, and challenges to, sustainable development cannot be understood completely outside its contemporary global context, consisting mainly of three interconnected spheres, i.e., the global governance system, the North-South debate, and global trade liberalization. As the boundaries of these three spheres get more and more blurred in a context of an intensifying globalization, the project of sustainable development is very often faced with obstacles that set back its evolution and might very well bring it to a halt. Above all, sustainable development is now caught in the crossfire between the push for exponential economic growth, on the one hand, and a compelling need to reverse catastrophic ecological threats and social exigencies, on the other. More often than not, the current structure and scope of global governance constitutes more of a hindrance than a help to the emerging paradigm of sustainable development. Accordingly, this article seeks to pinpoint the different challenges to the implementation of sustainable development in the field of global governance and to discuss to what extent these challenges are inherent in the structure and scope of this system. In a similar vein, this article examines and discusses the challenges to sustainability within two other highly interrelated spheres, namely global trade and the North-South politics. With this end in view, a special focus is placed throughout this paper on the interconnectedness of, and overlap between, these three global spheres and the determinant role played by the major actors therein.

Suggested Citation

  • Bakari Mohamed El-Kamel, 2015. "Sustainable Development in a Global Context: A Success or a Nuisance?," New Global Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 27-56, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:nglost:v:9:y:2015:i:1:p:27-56:n:1
    DOI: 10.1515/ngs-2014-0003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/ngs-2014-0003
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/ngs-2014-0003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    3. Bhagwati, Jagdish, 2007. "In Defense of Globalization: With a New Afterword," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195330939.
    4. ., 2006. "Sustainable Development," Chapters, in: David Alexander Clark (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Development Studies, chapter 123, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Rostow,W. W., 1991. "The Stages of Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521409285, October.
    6. Rostow,W. W., 1991. "The Stages of Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521400701, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bakari Mohamed El-Kamel, 2013. "Globalization and Sustainable Development: False Twins?," New Global Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 7(3), pages 23-56, November.
    2. Sarah Karinge, 2013. "The Elite Factor in Sub-Saharan Africa’s Development," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 29(4), pages 435-455, December.
    3. David I. Stern, 2017. "The environmental Kuznets curve after 25 years," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 7-28, April.
    4. Evan, Tomáš & Holý, Vladimír, 2021. "Economic conditions for innovation: Private vs. public sector," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Stern, David I., 2014. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Primer," Working Papers 249424, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
    6. Tehmina Zahid & Noman Arshed & Mubbasher Munir & Kamran Hameed, 2021. "Role of energy consumption preferences on human development: a study of SAARC region," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 121-144, February.
    7. Tan Yigitcanlar & Md. Kamruzzaman, 2015. "Planning, Development and Management of Sustainable Cities: A Commentary from the Guest Editors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-12, November.
    8. Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 1995. "A Rostovian model of endogenous growth and underdevelopment traps," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1569-1602, October.
    9. Dhahri, Sabrine & Omri, Anis, 2018. "Entrepreneurship contribution to the three pillars of sustainable development: What does the evidence really say?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 64-77.
    10. Tom'av{s} Evan & Vladim'ir Hol'y, 2020. "Economic Conditions for Innovation: Private vs. Public Sector," Papers 2004.07814, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2020.
    11. Sameer Kumar & Jariah Mohd. Jan, 2014. "Research collaboration networks of two OIC nations: comparative study between Turkey and Malaysia in the field of ‘Energy Fuels’, 2009–2011," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 387-414, January.
    12. Eleonora Sofilda & Muhammad Zilal Hamzah, 2015. "Government Spending Contributions on per Capita Income and its Effect toward the Human Development Index (Comparative Study between Western Indonesia and Central & East Indonesia)," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 6(3), pages 43-49.
    13. Jingxia Chai & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu & Yuemiao Yang, 2021. "Do constraints created by economic growth targets benefit sustainable development? Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 4188-4205, December.
    14. Andrei JOSAN & Radu USZKAI, 2016. "AN INQUIRY CONCERNING ROMANIA'S DIFFICULT ECONOMIC DEVELOPEMENT FROM THE 19th CENTURY TO WWII. A PLURALIST APPROACH," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(1), pages 526-538, November.
    15. Adrian Boos, 2015. "Genuine Savings as an Indicator for “Weak” Sustainability: Critical Survey and Possible Ways forward in Practical Measuring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-37, April.
    16. Barbier,Edward B., 2007. "Natural Resources and Economic Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521706513.
    17. Xie, Ronghui & Teo, Thompson S.H., 2022. "Green technology innovation, environmental externality, and the cleaner upgrading of industrial structure in China — Considering the moderating effect of environmental regulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    18. James Rising, 2014. "Creating the Commons: Fisheries and the World Bank," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 75-95.
    19. Waligo, Victoria M. & Clarke, Jackie & Hawkins, Rebecca, 2013. "Implementing sustainable tourism: A multi-stakeholder involvement management framework," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 342-353.
    20. Emmanuel Kumi & Albert Arhin & Thomas Yeboah, 2014. "Can post-2015 sustainable development goals survive neoliberalism? A critical examination of the sustainable development–neoliberalism nexus in developing countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 539-554, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:nglost:v:9:y:2015:i:1:p:27-56:n:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.