Rethinking Sustainable Development: Considering How Different Worldviews Envision “Development” and “Quality of Life”

Annick Hedlund- de Witt
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Annick Hedlund- de Witt: Biotechnology and Society section, TU Delft, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: The concept of sustainable development does not articulate what needs to be sustained, developed, or how, and is consequently intersubjective and intercultural. I therefore argue that it is essential to consider different worldviews when discussing sustainable development, and I offer broad, provisional suggestions as to how we can begin doing this. I first discuss how the notion of sustainable development at its heart is an attempt to unite conservation with growth. I then consider how different worldviews relate to this unitary ideal, by articulating how they envision “development” and “quality of life”. I do this by drawing on the Integrative Worldview Framework , which distinguishes between multiple, ideal-typical worldviews. However, I argue that more important than any typology of worldviews is the reflexive attitude a worldview-perspective supports. I conclude with implications for more reflexive and inclusive forms of policy-making, also in light of the to-be-formulated Sustainable Development Goals .

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s); worldviews; the Integrative Worldview Framework (IWF); development; quality of life; beyond GDP; reflexivity; pluralism; integration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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