IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v17y2009i6p341-356.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aboriginal principles for sustainable development as told in traditional law stories

Author

Listed:
  • Karl-Erik Sveiby

    (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

Sustainable development has become an arena where people bring already existing political and philosophical outlooks to a debate characterized by fundamental dichotomies. This paper presents an analysis of ten Australian Aboriginal law stories to derive a range of principles for how the Nhunggabarra people of Australia sustained their society against three such dichotomies: holism versus fragmentation, 'strong' versus 'weak' SD and growth versus no-growth economy. The Aboriginal sustainability model is possibly the oldest we have some evidence of, with a successful track record of several tens of thousands of years. It is a surprisingly 'realistic' model: neither representative of strong SD, nor giving arguments to no-growth proponents. The paper argues against a common perception that modern industrialized societies cannot learn from indigenous societies: it is a matter of perspective. Although many practices and solutions are not viable for our time, we can learn from the principles and the governance models as a whole. The Nhunggabarra society model provides a set of such principles, with a sustainability track record. Australia, therefore, has two models, the Aboriginal and the industrial, both implemented on a continent, which can be seen as a bellwether for the planet as a whole - a unique learning opportunity for the discourse on sustainable development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Karl-Erik Sveiby, 2009. "Aboriginal principles for sustainable development as told in traditional law stories," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(6), pages 341-356.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:17:y:2009:i:6:p:341-356
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.389
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/sd.389
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.389?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geoffrey Lamberton, 2005. "Sustainable sufficiency - an internally consistent version of sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 53-68.
    2. Leonardo Osorio & Manuel Lobato & Xavier Castillo, 2005. "Debates on Sustainable Development: Towards a Holistic View of Reality," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 501-518, December.
    3. Antoni Skowroński, 2008. "A civilization based on sustainable development: its limits and prospects," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(2), pages 117-125.
    4. Ali Bagheri & Peder Hjorth, 2007. "Planning for sustainable development: a paradigm shift towards a process-based approach," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(2), pages 83-96.
    5. Judith E. M. Klostermann & Jacqueline Cramer, 2006. "The contextual meaning of sustainable development: the case of the Dutch drinking water sector," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 268-276.
    6. Jonnalagadda Rajeswar, 2001. "Conservation ethics versus development: how to obviate the dichotomy?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 16-23.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nick Wills-Johnson, 2010. "Lessons for sustainability from the world’s most sustainable culture," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(6), pages 909-925, December.

    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. Nicos A. Scordis & Yoshihiko Suzawa & Astrid Zwick & Lucia Ruckner, 2014. "Principles for Sustainable Insurance: Risk Management and Value," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 17(2), pages 265-276, September.
    2. James Keirstead & Matt Leach, 2008. "Bridging the gaps between theory and practice: a service niche approach to urban sustainability indicators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 329-340.
    3. Annukka Berg, 2011. "Not Roadmaps but Toolboxes: Analysing Pioneering National Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 9-23, March.
    4. Lauriane Mouysset & Luc Doyen & François Léger & Frédéric Jiguet & Tim G. Benton, 2018. "Operationalizing Sustainability as a Safe Policy Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-9, October.
    5. Michael B. Wironen & Robert V. Bartlett & Jon D. Erickson, 2019. "Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Erik Aschenbrand & Thomas Michler, 2021. "Why Do UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Get Less Recognition than National Parks? A Landscape Research Perspective on Protected Area Narratives in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Ninko Kostovski & Jadranka Mrsic & Venera Krliu Handziski, 2017. "Accounting For Socially Responsible And Environmentally Friendly Operations," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 4, pages 66-73, August.
    8. Fabien Martinez & Ken Peattie & Diego Vazquez‐brust & Diego Vazquez-Brust, 2019. "Beyond win–win: A syncretic theory on corporate stakeholder engagement in sustainable development," Post-Print hal-02887685, HAL.
    9. M.A. Quaddus & M.A.B. Siddique, 2013. "Application of decision support tools in sustainable development planning: review and analysis," Chapters, in: M. A. Quaddus & M. A.B. Siddique (ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Development Planning, chapter 1, pages 3-16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. repec:hrs:journl::y:2012:v:4:i:3:p:137-153 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Samadi, Sascha & Gröne, Marie-Christine & Schneidewind, Uwe & Luhmann, Hans-Jochen & Venjakob, Johannes & Best, Benjamin, 2017. "Sufficiency in energy scenario studies: Taking the potential benefits of lifestyle changes into account," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 126-134.
    12. Jose Manuel Diaz-Sarachaga, 2019. "Analysis of the Local Agenda 21 in Madrid Compared with Other Global Actions in Sustainable Development," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-16, September.
    13. Luis Velázquez & Nora Munguía & Andrea Zavala & Maria de los Ángeles Navarrete, 2008. "Challenges in operating sustainability initiatives in Northwest Mexico," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(6), pages 401-409.
    14. Olivier, Michelle M. & Wilson, Ben P. & Howard, Johnathon L., 2017. "Measuring Localisation Nationally to Form a Global Index," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 207-219.
    15. Erling Holden & Kristin Linnerud, 2007. "The sustainable development area: satisfying basic needs and safeguarding ecological sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 174-187.
    16. Seungjun Roh & Sungho Tae & Rakhyun Kim & Daniela M. Martínez, 2018. "Analysis of Worker Category Social Impacts in Different Types of Concrete Plant Operations: A Case Study in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-13, October.
    17. Bernal, Estrella & Edgar, David & Burnes, Bernard, 2018. "Building Sustainability on Deep Values Through Mindfulness Nurturing," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 645-657.
    18. L. Metcalf & S. Benn, 2012. "The Corporation is Ailing Social Technology: Creating a ‘Fit for Purpose’ Design for Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 195-210, December.
    19. David Maya-Drysdale & Louise Krog Jensen & Brian Vad Mathiesen, 2020. "Energy Vision Strategies for the EU Green New Deal: A Case Study of European Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, May.
    20. Marco Vacchi & Cristina Siligardi & Fabio Demaria & Erika Iveth Cedillo-González & Rocío González-Sánchez & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2021. "Technological Sustainability or Sustainable Technology? A Multidimensional Vision of Sustainability in Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, September.
    21. Glover, J.L. & Champion, D. & Daniels, K.J. & Dainty, A.J.D., 2014. "An Institutional Theory perspective on sustainable practices across the dairy supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 102-111.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:sustdv:v:17:y:2009:i:6:p:341-356. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.