Who Sustains Whose Development? Sustainable Development and the Reinvention of Nature
Abstract
This paper explores the contradictions inherent in one of the more popular buzzwords of today: sustainable development. I argue that, despite claims of a paradigm shift, the sustainable development paradigm is based on an economic, not ecological, rationality. Discourses of sustainable development embody a view of nature specified by modern economic thought. One consequence of this discourse involves the transformation of ‘nature’ into ‘environment’, a transformation that has important implications for notions of how development should proceed. The ‘rational’ management of resources is integral to the Western economy and its imposition on developing countries is problematic. I discuss the implications of this ‘regime of truth’ for the Third World with particular reference to biotechnology, biodiversity and intellectual property rights. I argue that these aspects of sustainable development threaten to colonize spaces and sites in the Third World, spaces that now need to be made ‘efficient’ because of the capitalization of nature.
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'Green' discourses work to expand capitalist relations, land control and extractivism to intensify modernist development and wealth accumulation.
“Moreover it demonstrates how 'green' discourses work to expand capitalist relations, land control and extractivism to intensify modernist development and wealth accumulation (Banerjee, 2003; Kirsch, 2009; Sullivan, 2009; Fairhead et al., 2012; Corson et al., 2013).”
From The political ecologies of "green" extractivism(s): An introduction (2024) · cites this paper as Banerjee, 2003
Cites
Banerjee, S. B. (2001) · Journal of Management Studies · doi:10.1111/1467-6486.00246 · Cited by 538 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…perceptions of environmental problems and increased environmental legislation were two key reasons the environment became an important issue for corporations, resulting in the need for companies to ‘sell environmentalism’ in order to be perceived as green (Banerjee 2001b; Newton and Harte 1997).”
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Scherer, A. G., & Palazzo, G. (2011) · Journal of Management Studies · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00950.x · Cited by 2,131 · see citing works
An inconvenient truth: How organizations translate climate change into business as usual
Wright, C., & Nyberg, D. (2017) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2015.0718 · Cited by 722 · see citing works
The political ecologies of "green" extractivism(s): An introduction
Dunlap, A., Verweijen, J., & Tornel, C. (2024) · Journal of Political Ecology · doi:10.2458/jpe.6131 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
“' Moreover it demonstrates how 'green' discourses work to expand capitalist relations, land control and extractivism to intensify modernist development and wealth accumulation (Banerjee, 2003; Kirsch, 2009; Sullivan, 2009; Fairhead et al. , 2012; Corson et al. , 2013).”
BackgroundHR managers and environmental sustainability: strategic leaders or passive observers?
Harris, C., & Tregidga, H. (2012) · The International Journal of Human Resource Management · doi:10.1080/09585192.2011.561221 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
- Authors
- Banerjee, S. B.
- Affiliations
- University of South Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Banerjee, Subhabrata Bobby
- Venue
- Organization Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2003-01
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 143-180
- ISSN
- 0170-8406 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-3044
- OpenAlex
- W2120839095
- Cited by
- 785
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 34 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 58 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 48 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 35.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Organization Studies (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Sustainable Development and Environmental Management
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Social Sciences and Humanities
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Decolonial Thought and Epistemologies
- Keywords
- sustainable development, economic rationality, ecological rationality, nature and environment, resource management, developing countries, biotechnology, biodiversity, intellectual property, regimes of truth
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