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- Convenors:
-
Katherine Trebeck
(Oxfam GB)
Irene Guijt (Oxfam GB)
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- Location:
- C9 (Richmond building)
- Start time:
- 6 September, 2017 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
Sustainability is a contested and sometimes exploited term. It is used to describe purposes that stand in opposition and to justify unsustainable practices. This panel aims to interrogate both the term and the associated policy agendas by interrogating what is being sustained and why.
Long Abstract:
The aim of this panel is bring together diverse perspectives about the way the concept of sustainability is used and misused. Participation in determining notions of progress, how power imbalances shape policy making and economic models, and the process by which pioneering alternatives are brought to the fore of development agendas will be core to this panel's discussion.
For example, the extent to which sustainability has been used to preserve structures that exacerbate power imbalances, inequalities, and anthropocentric practices will be interrogated. Equally, the extent to which sustainability has been harnessed to constructively critique a narrow notion of development that equates progress with economic growth will be examined. The discussion will thus be open to contributions that show how sustainability has served as a useful concept to guide development goals that are more nuanced than simply incremental increases in GDP and also those that suggest its mainstreaming has enabled sustainability to be used to mask policies and practices that entrench orthodox views of development.
Papers that are theoretical or practical are welcome and it is envisaged that case studies will encompass, amongst others, topics surrounding gender inequality, degrowth and post-growth, new materialism, beyond-GDP initiatives, pro-poor economic development, pathways for transition, and resilience.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Nelson Rodriguez (University of Manchester )
Paper short abstract:
This presentation discusses how the concept of sustainability has been used to justify different models of agricultural production through the analysis of the Green Revolution trajectories.
Paper long abstract:
The main argument is that the international environmental politics has emptied the concept of sustainability of its socio-political character, and the distinction of its conservative and radical version could be done thorough a historic-geographical analysis that distinguish both understandings. Its conservative version compasses new forms of capital accumulation thought complex mechanisms, such international aid, that can be appreciated in the New Green Revolution in Africa. In contrast, radical forms of agriculture have emerged to confront the expansion of the agro-industry, using the concept of sustainability to achieve social justice, wealth redistribution and environmental balance. The presentation has three parts: firstly, it introduces the first Green Revolution and its environmental consequences in order to explain the emergency of sustainability concerns; secondly, it critically discusses how the New Green Revolution approaches sustainability in their practices, finally, it analyses the alternatives such as the agro-ecology, has emerged to overcome the environmental degradation of the agribusiness
Filippo Menga (University of Bergamo)
Paper short abstract:
A critical look at how key actors in the hydropower sector have re-established its dominance through the incorporation of the discursive frames of sustainability and of the water-energy nexus.
Paper long abstract:
In recent years, the concept of the water-energy nexus (henceforth the 'nexus') has gained traction as a key element of sustainable development, particularly in light of the challenges posed by climate change. Originally introduced by the World Economic Forum to emphasise the ways in which water is linked to economic growth, the 'nexus' approach has been embraced by prominent international institutions. The UN water strategy, for example, underlines the inextricable link between water and energy, presenting hydropower installations as the most versatile way to support flood management, provide storage for dry spells, and produce renewable and low-carbon energy supplies.
The nexus approach, however, leads to an implicit acceptance of the hydropower business as an uncontroversial one through the adoption of a depoliticising language grounded on the empty signifier of sustainability. The societal conflicts, corruption and inequalities inherent to the construction of large-scale hydroelectric plants are buried under a thick layer of discourses that seem to be primarily informed by the natural sciences. The proposed presentation will critically link the current prominence of the 'nexus' with the resurgence of the hydropower sector, through an analysis of recent developments in Ethiopia, a country that in recent years has launched an unprecedented number of large-scale dams incorporating the nexus narrative into the discursive frames of hydropower. A Gramscian historical materialist lens will serve to illustrate the narratives through which key actors in the hydropower sector have re-established its dominance as the main renewable energy source for the Global South.
Katherine Trebeck (Oxfam GB)
Paper short abstract:
'Defensive expenditures'; 'failure demand', and 'consolation goods' are 'down-stream' efforts to heal and hence preserve the current system. This paper will question how efforts to 'sustain' support a growth-ist agenda and undermine debate about a new economic paradigm.
Paper long abstract:
Responses to the impact of the various crises facing the world invariably entail traditional models of state-led redistribution and down-stream amelioration and treatment. Mechanisms include: 'defensive expenditures' (a term from ecological economics) which refers to costs incurred to deal with harm to the environment; 'consolation goods' purchased by individuals seeking to ameliorate stressful lives (Latouche, 2009); and 'failure demand' which describes spending driven by the failure to address inequality (Christie, 2012). Such 'down-stream' efforts to heal and hence preserve the current system. Moreover they are often expensive, inefficient, and politically vulnerable (especially in a context of inequality). They are also reliant on economic growth which is not only ostensibly challenging to realise, but also otentially inappropriate for GDP-rich countries in a time where scientists tell us the world is pushing beyond four of the nine planetary boundaries identified by the Stockholm Resilience Centre (Stefan et al, 2015). This paper will question the different notions of sustainability from the perspective of uneconomic growth, asking if 'sustainability' has become coopted by a growth-ist agenda to enable debate about a new economic paradigm.