May 8th, 2010

Multi-Dimensional Sustainability: An Exploration of Unification between Ecological & Social Consideration

By Jordana DeZeeuw Spencer

Abstract

This paper addresses 1) the crucial importance of a multi-dimensional vision and approach to sustainability (Wheeler, 2000) and 2) the human responsibility to work toward that end through a transformation in consciousness and action, which ideally will assist in righting humanity’s relationships with itself, all other beings, and the biosphere. The concepts of sustainability and right relationship, as they relate to humanity’s cultural constructs, are explored. An acknowledgement of the acculturated denial that contributes to humanity’s unsustainable ways of being is followed by an examination of the corollaries between the dualities of monologic vs. dialogic communication and environmental vs. sociological foci in sustainability. Finally, the argument is made for a multi-dimensional understanding that may help facilitate transformation in our communicative consciousness and in cultures’ potential for positive change, rather than uncritical perpetuation of unsustainable paradigms.

Full PDF:  DeZeeuwSpencer2010

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