The Dictionary of Human Geography

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Suggested reading

Adams (2001); Dobson (1998); Ostrom, Burger,

Field, Norgaard and Policansky (1999); Redclift

(1987).

sustainable development The concept of

sustainable development has become ubiqui-

tous in global debate, but likesustainability,

different actors use the phrase to express dif-

ferent visions foreconomy, environment and

society (Adams, 2001). The Brundtland

Report of 1987 famously defined sustainable

development as ‘development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising

the ability of future generations to meet their

own needs’. This cleverly captures the central

paradox of the impact ofeconomic growth

on the environment, and yet the need for such

growth to alleviate both present and future

poverty(often spoken of as intra- and inter-

generational equity).

Radical critiques of the unsustainable nature

ofdevelopmenthave included calls for zero

economic growth and critiques ofindustrial-

ization, consumerism and free market eco-

nomics. However, mainstream thinking about

sustainable development has centred on

‘market environmentalism’ and continued

economic growth, adapted to ensure that the

capacity of the planet to provide raw materials

and absorb wastes is not overstretched (Low

and Gleeson, 1998). This is to be achieved

through the ‘greening’ of industry and society,

‘green’ consumerism and efficient production

systems that minimize wastage,pollutionand

negative social impact. Under marketenvir-

onmentalism, growth and consumption are

the engine that drives the creation of sustain-

able environments and livelihoods.

Such changes demand ‘ecologicalmodern-

ization’, the pursuit of rational, technical

solutions to environmental problems and

more efficient institutions for environmental

management and control (Hajer, 1995). This

involves new partnerships betweenstateand

private enterprise, including market-based

incentives, self-regulation by business, strong

government and an efficient state bureaucracy.

The feasibility of this approach is limited by the

erosion of state power byglobalizationand

freetrade. Many developing countries in parti-

cular display significant weaknesses in govern-

ance, and powerlesscivil societyinstitutions.

Mainstream thinking about sustainable

development became established at the

United Nations Conference on Environment

and Development (UNCED, or simply the

‘Rio Conference’), held at Rio de Janeiro in

Brazil in June 1992 (Chatterjee and Finger,

1994). This meeting produced a vast encyclo-

paedia of ideas inAgenda 21(over 600 pages

long), the Convention on Biological Diversity

(http://www.biodiv.org/default.shtml) and the

Framework Convention on Climate Change

(http://unfccc.int/2860.php).

At Rio, sustainable development was inter-

preted primarily in terms of global environ-

mental change (biodiversitydepletion and

climate change), reflecting the agenda of

industrialized Northern countries. Complex

and controversial issues of global poverty or

north–south inequality were discussed

less effectively). However, this emphasis

changed at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD), in Johannesburg,

South Africa, in 2002. This followed the

United Nations Millennium Summit in

September 2000 and agreement on a series

of Millennium Development Goals (www.

developmentgoals.org/). Poverty was central

to debate at Johannesburg. The Johannesburg

Plan of Implementation addressed the eradi-

cation of poverty as well as issues such as

unsustainable patterns ofconsumptionand

production, the protection and management of

thenatural resourcebase of economic and

social development, globalization and health

(www.johannesburgsummit.org/). wma

symbolic interactionism Asocial theory

that focuses upon thesocial construction

of the self and objects through interaction with

others. Based on the theoretical formulations

of the philosopher G.H. Mead (1934), its

sociological implications were developed by

Herbert Blumer (1969) and others. The the-

ory posits that the self and social organization

more broadly are formed by an ongoing process

of the interpretation of meanings. As such, the

theory isopposedtonotionsofstructures,which

are not reducible to ongoing interaction. More

structurally inclined theorists have accused it

of being individualistic and voluntarist.anti-

humanismingeographycriticizes its primary

emphasis on human interaction. jsd

Suggested reading

Prus (1995).

system A set of elements organized so that

each is either directly or indirectly interde-

pendent on every other, usually in some form

of network (cf.graph theory;social net-

work). Many analysts argue that systems must

have a function, goal or purpose – even if this

is only the maintenance of the system itself

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SYSTEM