IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/iimkoz/v1y2012i1p11-20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Development and Governance: Complex Processes and Unpredictable Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Anup Sinha

Abstract

This article tries to demonstrate how the concept of sustainable development is fraught with tensions that are political and ethical in nature. In trying to implement any notion of sustainability the agenda for policy action would be quite different in different contexts. The complex set of problems to be addressed would differ considerably in countries with different levels of economic development. Similarly, on certain issues global governance is called for. In other contexts, local conditions and culture must be understood before any policy intervention can be thought of. This is the first level of complexity with which any governance mechanism for sustainability must come to terms with. Governance itself is also inherently complex. It is an unfolding of a complicated interaction between different participants such as policy-makers, the wide variety of agencies which come together in the process of implementation and the beneficiaries themselves. Policy, and its outcomes, should not be viewed as a linear process. It is argued that governance is the result of the interaction between the processes of implementation and the outcomes that are possible. Governance, in this sense, is both complex and unpredictable. Unintended consequences are more the rule than the exception. The complexity of governance is a result of the interplay of knowledge and culture in a variety of power relations. The dominant narrative of sustainability and its associated pathway may not be the only alternative available. It is important to hear out suppressed and appropriated narratives and what they imply for sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Anup Sinha, 2012. "Sustainable Development and Governance: Complex Processes and Unpredictable Outcomes," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 1(1), pages 11-20, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:iimkoz:v:1:y:2012:i:1:p:11-20
    DOI: 10.1177/227797521200100103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/227797521200100103
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/227797521200100103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert M. Solow, 1974. "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 12, pages 257-276, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Neva Goodwin, "undated". "An Overview of Climate Change: What does it mean for our way of life? What is the best future we can hope for?," GDAE Working Papers 08-01, GDAE, Tufts University.
    3. Aldy,Joseph E. & Stavins,Robert N. (ed.), 2007. "Architectures for Agreement," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521871631.
    4. Aldy,Joseph E. & Stavins,Robert N. (ed.), 2007. "Architectures for Agreement," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521692175.
    5. Giles Atkinson & Simon Dietz (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Sustainable Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1818.
    6. Andrew Metrick & Martin L. Weitzman, 1998. "Conflicts and Choices in Biodiversity Preservation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 21-34, Summer.
    7. R. M. Solow, 1974. "Intergenerational Equity and Exhaustible Resources," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(5), pages 29-45.
    8. Dasgupta, Partha, 2001. "Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199247882.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kanika Khurana & Atanu Ghosh, 2023. "Management in the Performing Arts: An Empirical Exploration of Organizational Structures in Indian Theatre," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 67-84, January.
    2. Wajeeha Aslam & Syed Tehseen Jawaid, 2023. "Systematic Review of Green Banking Adoption: Following PRISMA Protocols," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 213-233, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniele Schilirò, 2019. "Sustainability, Innovation, and Efficiency: A Key Relationship," Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance, in: Magdalena Ziolo & Bruno S. Sergi (ed.), Financing Sustainable Development, chapter 0, pages 83-102, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Perrings, Charles, 2014. "Environment and development economics 20 years on," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 333-366, June.
    3. Koji Tokimatsu & Rintaro Yamguchi & Masayuki Sato & Rieko Yasuoka & Masahiro Nishio & Kazuhiro Ueta, 2014. "Assessing future sustainability by forecast of Genuine Savings paths," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(4), pages 359-379, October.
    4. Cairns, Robert D. & Tian, Huilan, 2010. "Sustained development of a society with a renewable resource," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1048-1061, June.
    5. Adrian Boos, 2015. "Genuine Savings as an Indicator for “Weak” Sustainability: Critical Survey and Possible Ways forward in Practical Measuring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-37, April.
    6. Thomas Aronsson & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of Environmental Accounting," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12796.
    7. Antoci, Angelo & Russu, Paolo & Ticci, Elisa, 2012. "Environmental externalities and immiserizing structural changes in an economy with heterogeneous agents," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 80-91.
    8. Gébert, Judit, 2015. "Mit is kell fenntartani?. Fenntarthatóság a képességszemlélet perspektívájából [Sustaining what?. Sustainability in terms of the capability approach]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 972-989.
    9. Grimaud, Andre & Rouge, Luc, 2003. "Non-renewable resources and growth with vertical innovations: optimum, equilibrium and economic policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2, Supple), pages 433-453, March.
    10. Hadi Sasana & Imam Ghozali, 2017. "The Impact of Fossil and Renewable Energy Consumption on the Economic Growth in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 7(3), pages 194-200.
    11. Joseph E. Aldy & William A. Pizer, 2009. "Issues in Designing U.S. Climate Change Policy," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 179-210.
    12. Kempf, Hubert & Rossignol, Stéphane, 2013. "National politics and international agreements," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 93-105.
    13. Frankel, Jeffrey A. & Bosetti, Valentina, 2011. "Politically Feasible Emission Target Formulas to Attain 460 ppm CO[subscript 2] Concentrations," Working Paper Series rwp11-016, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    14. Mitra, Tapan, 2002. "Intertemporal Equity and Efficient Allocation of Resources," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 356-376, December.
    15. Toman, Michael & Pezzey, John C., 2002. "The Economics of Sustainability: A Review of Journal Articles," RFF Working Paper Series dp-02-03, Resources for the Future.
    16. Marc N. Conte & Matthew J. Kotchen, 2010. "Explaining The Price Of Voluntary Carbon Offsets," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(02), pages 93-111.
    17. Thomas Norman & Heinrich H. Nax, 2011. "Leading the Way: Coalitional Stability in Technological Cooperation & Sequential Climate Policy," Economics Series Working Papers 585, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    18. Seidman, Laurence & Lewis, Kenneth, 2009. "Compensations and contributions under an international carbon treaty," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 341-350, May.
    19. Phillip M. Hannam & Vítor V. Vasconcelos & Simon A. Levin & Jorge M. Pacheco, 2017. "Incomplete cooperation and co-benefits: deepening climate cooperation with a proliferation of small agreements," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 65-79, September.
    20. Hänsel, Martin C. & Quaas, Martin F., 2018. "Intertemporal Distribution, Sufficiency, and the Social Cost of Carbon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 520-535.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:iimkoz:v:1:y:2012:i:1:p:11-20. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.