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The Justice Dimension of Sustainability: A Systematic and General Conceptual Framework

Author

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  • Klara Helene Stumpf

    (Sustainability Economics Group, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Scharnhorststraße 1, D-21335 Lüneburg, Germany
    Norbert Elias Center for Transformation Design and Research, Europa-University Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, D-24943 Flensburg, Germany)

  • Stefan Baumgärtner

    (Sustainability Economics Group, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Scharnhorststraße 1, D-21335 Lüneburg, Germany
    Department of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, Freiburg D-79106, Germany)

  • Christian U. Becker

    (College of Business, Colorado State University, 1271 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1271, USA)

  • Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach

    (Sustainability Economics Group, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Scharnhorststraße 1, D-21335 Lüneburg, Germany
    Ecological Economics Group, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Postfach 2503, Oldenburg D-26111, Germany)

Abstract

We discuss how the normative dimension of sustainability can be captured in terms of justice. We (i) identify the core characteristics of the concept of sustainability and discuss underlying ethical, ontological and epistemological assumptions; (ii) introduce a general conceptual structure of justice for the analysis and comparison of different conceptions of justice; and (iii) employ this conceptual structure to determine the specific characteristics and challenges of justice in the context of sustainability. We demonstrate that sustainability raises specific and partly new challenges of justice regarding the community of justice, the judicandum, the informational base, the principles, and the instruments of justice.

Suggested Citation

  • Klara Helene Stumpf & Stefan Baumgärtner & Christian U. Becker & Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach, 2015. "The Justice Dimension of Sustainability: A Systematic and General Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-35, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:7438-7472:d:50903
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Sievers-Glotzbach, Stefanie & Tschersich, Julia, 2019. "Overcoming the process-structure divide in conceptions of Social-Ecological Transformation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.

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