Understanding Sustainable Development

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John Blewitt 2015. Understanding Sustainable Development. 2e. Earthscan. ISBN 978 0 415 70782 4

It’s always instructive to find oneself reviewing a second edition with the first edition (also reviewed) sitting next to it! There’s a temptation to check out the contents page, size, figures etc. to see the immediate differences. It’s fair to say I’ve given in to this but there’s more than just changes to discuss (especially as no-one will recall the first review!). So, we need to consider what it says and what it says has changed. Rather than skim the introduction, it’s worth diving in to see what is being said because it’s not just about the book but the way the author now sees the topic compared to the first edition.

This is useful; the introduction is instructive. The usual comments about the rate of change and key events are to be expected. However, there are ideas that need to be considered: “…sustainable development…is the idea that the future should be a better, healthier, place than the present or past…” (p1) certainly catches the eye. The notion of economic development (because it is always this at the root of it) needing to be organised in ways that can be continued for successive generations would not be too contentious. The fact that few seem to see “sustainable development” as an oxymoron is not raised – the only development that could be sustained indefinitely would be zero development! The idea that we need to remediate the planet to conditions better than in the past (which past is not made clear) is far more difficult to maintain. Perhaps the idea is not to be taken literally but to show what sorts of different worldviews can be brought in to the debate (and that point is made clear later on).

The text proper is a series of relatively self-contained studies on the theme of sustainable development. It starts with an exploration of how the term has developed and what it has meant over the years. Fairly, Blewitt puts the key starting point as the 1972 Stockholm Conference, not least because this was the start for most of the modern, global environmental moves. In fairness, its antecedents are noted but this is a modern text and so those ideas central to current thinking are given precedence. The early meetings and key texts might be the foundations, but the debate soon focusses on two areas – globalisation and humanisation. This takes the debate into fresher pastures. Globalisation, as an economic force, has sufficient critics in its own right but here it is linked to an anti-sustainability ethos and one that seeks to maintain or increase economic development. Not unreasonably, there has been a backlash and this is gaining momentum. Humanization relates to work carried out in “developing” nations and is taken here as being the Millennium Development Goals. These goals were set for 2015 but since this is now with us and the goals still not completely met, new ideas are being formed. It’s useful to see the context of this debate mentioned in this chapter.

Sustainable development has often been characterized as a battle between worldviews and chapter two takes on this debate. The major perspectives are neatly summarised and provide the reader with, at least, some notion of how these ideas came to be developed. This has value beyond the mere descriptive. Current debates about sustainability, climate change etc. are dominated by fine arguments and so it is important to see how these develop. If we accept a plurality of worldviews, as seems common with sustainability (not least through its links to social justice) then we must also accept that knowledge can be contested. The old positivistic school of science gives way, as do worldviews, to a range of interpretations. That sustainability moves within these means we need to navigate the space to find areas of agreement (if not “truth”).  Contestable knowledge, as noted above, is rooted in modern theories of social justice. Using the chapters in this pattern, we see the author’s slow case developing. Worldviews means contest and, as in most contests, there are winners and losers and the losers should, in an equitable situation, receive some justice to mitigate their plight. It is made very clear that sustainability, as presented here, is a major part of social justice. As an aside, it is interesting to see that one part of the argument focussed on the value of public libraries. They were/are places where social justice can be seen through the open loaning of information and ideas (or even be specifically developed for sustainability).

So far, this work has focussed on the theoretical and conceptual. The text now moves to the more practical aspects, starting with politics. One of the more interesting aspects of sustainability politics is that is inevitably becomes a social/democratic/Left issue with almost no regards for the neoliberal Right. This might well be correct but it does limit debate to a particular social sector. Given that this is a text looking at alternative perspectives, it would be instructive to see a sustainability of the Right developed (assuming such a thing could exist). This potential dichotomy between left and right surfaces beyond this chapter. For example, there is an extensive discussion of the role of conservation areas. Are these for human use or as part of a wider sustainability issue with their own rights? Are we the dominators or stewards of the environment? surely sustainability should suggest the latter but current politics (see previous chapter!) focusses on the more anthropocentric view. Once we see this as a valid discussion, we move into economic grounds and the ways in which economics and sustainability can exist together. Until recently, it would be difficult to talk about a business’ “green credentials” but this is becoming more usual. Of course, stating you are “green” and proving it are different issues. Nonetheless, significant numbers of nations and businesses have valued this alternative to the financial bottom line.

It is now fairly clear that the author considers the debate about the value of sustainability to be sufficiently argued. The final chapters look at the practicalities – how to develop a “green city” or “sustainable utopia” and what this might look like to its designers and citizens. If we are to get anywhere near this, we will need a series of “tools” to help. Tools in this sense are ones like data gathering, sustainability measures, well-being indices and those methods that allow us to chart change. Such ideas will not be easy to sell – communication and education are key elements. Finally, it takes leaders and this last chapter argues that sustainability needs its champions and leaders if it is to grow.

This edition continues and expands upon the work of the first edition to capture not only the new debate but to bring together disparate areas of sustainability thinking to create a holistic viewpoint. Its strength lies in the comprehensive nature of its coverage of the topic. It is a powerful advocate for its subject and herein lies both strength and weakness. It would be instructive to see some extra focus on counter-arguments because by examining alternative ideas it is possible to strengthen ones case. That aside, this is one of the key intorductory texts, deserving of the widest readership.