This phrase is very popular now and I have heard it for as long as 15 years. Then it was thought to be oxymoronic because development is always seen as being contradictory to sustainability. But the people who were in support of this phrase and therefore the concept that it belies came up with a definition, one that could escape the paradox by recognizing the fates of future generations in relation to current development.
Smart!
These days, it’s uncommon to not talk about sustainable development in any academic discourse about global economics, human rights, environmental problems – or in short, any issue relating to human conditions. That’s how pervasive the concept of sustainable development had become today.
Who came up with it? I suspect it was not the work of a single person – as often the case with a smart idea – it was an idea borne out of many minds. But it was one that appealed to our good common sense. And why not? As humans we are social beings that care about other individuals of our species because our very existence depends on the well-being of others. Then why do “greed”, “individualism”, “enemies” are such common place occurrences?
It has been suggested that selfish behaviour actually arose for the common good because it forces individuals to compete, and so certain positive qualities will be fostered and maintained in the process. And although selfish behaviour exists, the survival of humans actually depends on cooperation and so perhaps selfishness really is a type of cooperation working at different levels to achieve the common good.
Consider this scenario: competition for its own sake is good but when competition is limited by something as finite as natural resources (on Earth) competition can be a bad thing. Nevertheless co-operative competition may be the way to go for environmental sustainability because co-operative capitalism (sensu Noreena Hertz) is now accepted as a better modus operandi for economic sustainability.
What is the redeeming quality of sustainable development? HOPE.
Are there cases where SD has worked? I don’t know. But I hope so.
