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

• Main Author: Annick Hedlund-de Witt
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014-11-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s); worldviews; the Integrative Worldview Framework (IWF); development; quality of life; beyond GDP; reflexivity; pluralism; integration
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/11/8310

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.