Hi Mike and thank you very much for the response to my question.
I don't intend to reply to every repsonse, nor even contribute my own thoughts to every question posed in 'Your Point of View' in the future - after all it's 'Your' point of view - but as this is the first I thought I'd introduce myself and the idea behind it.
I'm David, the editor of Sustained, and have started 'Your Point of View' for the very simple reason of stimulating some thought and debate.
The term 'sustainability' is naturally developing a general meaning or definition, one that I'm not entirely in agreement with. If there were no climate change or looming energy crisis then Sustained would still be here.
I've therefore decided to ask questions that are a bit leftfield or provocative to hopefully draw out responses that can help us all to gain a deeper understanding of what is going on and what is needed. I really don't think 'the problem' has been properly identified yet even by leading thinkers, let alone by governments and societies. If we haven't identified the problem then can we really find appropriate solutions?
This particular question: 'Is sustainability just another occupation of the middle classes?' attempts to address the subject in the context of power relations and historical process.
Such fundamental forces that shape our entire lives simply cannot be ignored nor can we pretend that they somehow don't have bearing on the attempt to create a globally sustainable society.
Not all questions in the future will be so 'intellectual' but intellect is, in my opinion, an extremely important tool for humans and, sadly, one that appears much undervalued in the UK.
Anyway, Sustained is big enough to accommodate a little intellectual speculation from time to time. Consider this the Radio 4 corner ;o)
Please don't understand me too soon
Hi Mike and thank you very much for the response to my question.
I don't intend to reply to every repsonse, nor even contribute my own thoughts to every question posed in 'Your Point of View' in the future - after all it's 'Your' point of view - but as this is the first I thought I'd introduce myself and the idea behind it.
I'm David, the editor of Sustained, and have started 'Your Point of View' for the very simple reason of stimulating some thought and debate.
The term 'sustainability' is naturally developing a general meaning or definition, one that I'm not entirely in agreement with. If there were no climate change or looming energy crisis then Sustained would still be here.
I've therefore decided to ask questions that are a bit leftfield or provocative to hopefully draw out responses that can help us all to gain a deeper understanding of what is going on and what is needed. I really don't think 'the problem' has been properly identified yet even by leading thinkers, let alone by governments and societies. If we haven't identified the problem then can we really find appropriate solutions?
This particular question: 'Is sustainability just another occupation of the middle classes?' attempts to address the subject in the context of power relations and historical process.
Such fundamental forces that shape our entire lives simply cannot be ignored nor can we pretend that they somehow don't have bearing on the attempt to create a globally sustainable society.
Not all questions in the future will be so 'intellectual' but intellect is, in my opinion, an extremely important tool for humans and, sadly, one that appears much undervalued in the UK.
Anyway, Sustained is big enough to accommodate a little intellectual speculation from time to time. Consider this the Radio 4 corner ;o)