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Beyond an absolving role for sustainable development: Assessing consumption as a basis for sustainable societies

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  • Karl Johan Bonnedahl
  • Maria José Caramujo

Abstract

Three decades after the launch of sustainable development as a key objective for the global community, the unsustainable exploitation of the planet's species, spaces and systems continues. This paper examines this failure by discussing the strategy of control over nature, and the idea of balance between human endeavour and nature, inherent in the term sustainable. The relevance of such ecological balance is assessed by comparing how consumption typically appears in modern human societies versus nature. This presents traits of the human actor which depart significantly from the traits of actors in typified natural settings, from which ideas of ecological balance are taken. Calling for an alternative framing of the relationship between human society and nature, possible adaptation towards a biological understanding of such a relationship is discussed through features of today's consumption, including its connection to needs, the role of labour, and the use of energy and technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Karl Johan Bonnedahl & Maria José Caramujo, 2019. "Beyond an absolving role for sustainable development: Assessing consumption as a basis for sustainable societies," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 61-68, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:27:y:2019:i:1:p:61-68
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.1862
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    Cited by:

    1. Heikkurinen, Pasi & Ruuska, Toni & Wilén, Kristoffer & Ulvila, Marko, 2019. "The Anthropocene exit: Reconciling discursive tensions on the new geological epoch," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Prerna Jain & Pragati Jain, 2020. "Are the Sustainable Development Goals really sustainable? A policy perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1642-1651, November.
    3. Toni Ruuska & Pasi Heikkurinen & Kristoffer Wilén, 2020. "Domination, Power, Supremacy: Confronting Anthropolitics with Ecological Realism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, March.

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