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With so much attention being devoted to economic development in our present materialistic world, the human side of sustainability, its social pillar, is often neglected. Our world has become polarized between the economic and the social, the political right and left, as if we had to choose one or the other. Sustainable development tries to bring all aspects of the issue together as complementary aspects of a whole that is human development. Social sustainability requires adequate institutions of governance, participation, an efficient legal system, strong involvement of civil society, and elimination of social inequalities, particularly concerning women who are often central actors in achieving sustainability.
The greatest challenge today for our social development is globalization. The great diversity of human cultures evolved in the smaller more isolated social units of the past, but today the revolutions in transportation, information and commucations technologies have eliminated all physical barriers to the unity of the human race, causing all the forces for separation: racism, nationalism, fundamentalism and fanaticism to rise to the surface, precipitating chaos, confusion and violence. Human sustainability today requires that we root out these forces of division and acknowledge and celebrate our unity in diversity.
It is therefore logical to turn to spiritual values to provide the context and guidance for the next stage in our social development. The following principles on social sustainability can help to bring back the balance between the economic, environment and social dimensions of sustainable development.
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Acceptance of the oneness of mankind is the first fundamental prerequisite for the reorganization and administration of the world as one country, the home of humankind. (Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, p. 13-14) ...all the
members of the human family,
whether peoples or governments, cities or villages, have become
increasingly
interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer
possible, inasmuch
as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds of trade
and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened
every
day. Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved.
The bedrock of a strategy that can engage the world's population in assuming responsibility for its collective destiny must be the consciousness of the oneness of humankind. Deceptively simple in popular discourse, the concept that humanity constitutes a single people presents fundamental challenges to the way that most of the institutions of contemporary society carry out their functions. Whether in the form of the adversarial structure of civil government, the advocacy principle informing most of civil law, a glorification of the struggle between classes and other social groups, or the competitive spirit dominating so much of modern life, conflict is accepted as the mainspring of human interaction. It represents yet another expression in social organisation of the materialistic interpretation of life that has progressively consolidated itself over the past two centuries.... Laying the
groundwork for global civilization
calls for the creation of laws and institutions that are universal in
both
character and authority. The effort can begin only when the concept of
the oneness of humanity has been wholeheartedly embraced by those in
whose
hands the responsibility for decision making rests, and when the
related
principles are propagated through both educational systems and the
media
of mass communication. Once this threshold is crossed, a process will
have
been set in motion through which the peoples of the world can be drawn
into the task of formulating common goals and committing themselves to
their attainment. Only so fundamental a reorientation can protect them,
too, from the age-old demons of ethnic and religious strife. Only
through
the dawning consciousness that they constitute a single people will the
inhabitants of the planet be enabled to turn away from the patterns of
conflict that have dominated social organisation in the past and begin
to learn the ways of collaboration and conciliation. "The well-being of
mankind," Bahá'u'lláh writes, "its peace and
security, are
unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established." |
People are what development is all about, yet too often we seem to
sacrifice people for the benefit of the economic system. This results
in social conflict and even terrorism. Putting our human capital back
in the center of development concerns is one step toward
sustainability. For the great majority of the world's people, there is
more than a material reality to the human species. It is what might
best be called our spiritual or ethical reality that distinguishes us
from the animal kingdom. Acknowledging the importance of human
consciousness and morality helps to define the place of people in
sustainable
development. We have a moral responsibility for sustainability, and
achieving a civilization in harmony with nature and the environment has
a spiritual as well as material significance.
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The human body
is like animals subject
to nature's laws. But man is endowed with a second reality, the
rational
or intellectual reality; and the intellectual reality of man
predominates
over nature.... Yet there is a third reality in man, the
spiritual
reality.... That celestial reality... delivers man from the material
world. Its power causes man to escape from nature's world. Escaping, he
will find an illuminating reality, transcending the limited reality of
man and causing him to attain to the infinitude of God, abstracting him
from the world of superstitions and imaginations, and submerging him in
the sea of the rays of the Sun of Reality. [Man] should
be free and emancipated from
the captivity of the world of nature; for as long as man is captive to
nature he is a ferocious animal, as the struggle for existence is one
of
the exigencies of the world of nature. |
This places values,
knowledge, and education at the centre of concerns for sustainability.
We need both the knowledge of science and the wisdom of religion (not
in any sectarian sense but as embodied in the ethical framework common
to all religions) to redefine true prosperity and the purpose of
development.
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...concerning arts,
crafts and sciences. Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and
a ladder
for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The
knowledge
of such sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples
of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words.
Great indeed is the claim of scientists and craftsmen on the peoples of
the world.... In truth, knowledge is a veritable treasure for man, and
a source of glory, of bounty, of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and
gladness
unto him. ...the central
role that knowledge plays in human life and human
society:
that it is the process of generating and applying knowledge that lies
at
the heart of civilization.... ...social advancement, including
economic,
political, and social change, flows from it. Reality is
one, and when truth is investigated
and ascertained, it will lead to individual and collective progress. In
the quest for truth, science and religion
– the two systems of knowledge
available to humankind – must closely and continuously
interact. The insights
and skills that represent scientific accomplishment must look to the
force
of spiritual commitment and moral principle to ensure their appropriate
application. The development of a global society calls for the cultivation of capacities far beyond anything the human race has so far been able to muster. The challenges ahead will require an enormous expansion in access to knowledge on the part of individuals and organizations alike. Universal education will be an indispensable contributor to this process of capacity building, but the effort will succeed only to the extent that both individuals and groups in every sector of society are able to acquire knowledge and to apply it to the shaping of human affairs. Education must be lifelong. It should help people to develop the knowledge, values, attitudes and skills necessary to earn a livelihood and to contribute confidently and constructively to shaping communities that reflect principles of justice, equity and unity. It should also help the individual develop a sense of place and community, grounded in the local, but embracing the whole world. Successful education will cultivate virtue as the foundation for personal and collective well-being, and will nurture in individuals a deep sense of service and an active commitment to the welfare of their families, their communities, their countries, indeed, all mankind. It will encourage self-reflection and thinking in terms of historical process, and it will promote inspirational learning through such means as music, the arts, poetry, meditation and interaction with the natural environment.(Bahá'í International Community. Valuing Spirituality in Development, 1998) |
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CONSUMER
CULTURE
Consumer
culture, today's inheritor by default of materialism's gospel of human
betterment, is unembarassed by the ephemeral nature of the goals that
inspire it. For the small minority of people who can afford them, the
benefits it offers are immediate, and the rationale unapologetic.
Emboldened by the breakdown of traditional morality, the advance of the
new creed is essentially no more than the triumph of animal impulse, as
instinctive and blind as appetite, released at long last from the
restraints of supernatural sanctions. Its most obvious casualty has
been language. Tendencies once universally castigated as moral failings
mutate into necessities of social progress. Selfishness becomes a
prized commercial resource; falsehood reinvents itself as public
information; perversions of various kinds unabashedly claim the status
of civil rights. Under appropriate euphemisms, greed, lust, indolence,
pride - even violence - acquire not merely broad acceptance but social
and economic value. Ironically, as words have been drained of meaning,
so have the very material comforts and acquisitions for which truth has
been casually sacrificed. (Universal House of Justice, One Common Faith, p. 10) |
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ADDITIONAL READING
Communty Sustainability
Assessment section
on Social Indicators:
(http://gen.ecovillage.org/activities/csa/English/index.php) |
As both the human
population and
consumption levels have grown, human impacts have begun to reach global
limits, threatening our future. One of the most significant global
impacts of pollution is climate change, which recent evidence
suggests is accelerating faster than even many environmental extremists
predicted. While governments have adopted a wide variety of
international conventions and other legislation, supported by
scientific advisory processes, these are inadequately supported because
of the problem of short-term costs and long-term benefits, and the lack
of sanctions to apply the agreements effectively.
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The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.... If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation.... The day is approaching when its flame will devour the cities... (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, CLXIV, p. 342-343) Strange and
astonishing things exist in
the earth but they are hidden from the minds and the understanding of
men.
These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth
and their contamination would prove lethal. A challenge of similar nature faces economic thinking as a result of the environmental crisis. The fallacies in theories based on the belief that there is no limit to nature's capacity to fulfil any demand made on it by human beings have now been coldly exposed. A culture which attaches absolute value to expansion, to acquisition, and to the satisfaction of people's wants is being compelled to recognise that such goals are not, by themselves, realistic guides to policy. Inadequate, too, are approaches to economic issues whose decision-making tools cannot deal with the fact that most of the major challenges are global rather than particular in scope. The earnest
hope that this moral crisis
can somehow be met by deifying nature itself is an evidence of the
spiritual
and intellectual desperation that the crisis has engendered.
Recognition
that creation is an organic whole and that humanity has the
responsibility
to care for this whole, welcome as it is, does not represent an
influence
which can by itself establish in the consciousness of people a new
system
of values. Only a breakthrough in understanding that is scientific
and
spiritual in the fullest sense of the terms ill empower the
human race
to assume the trusteeship toward which history impels it. However, until
material achievements, physical
accomplishments and human virtues are reinforced by spiritual
perfections,
luminous qualities and characteristics of mercy, no fruit or result
shall
issue therefrom, nor will the happiness of the world of humanity, which
is the ultimate aim, be attained. For although, on the one
hand,
material achievements and the development of the physical world produce
prosperity, which exquisitely manifests its intended aims, on the other
hand dangers, severe calamities and violent afflictions are
imminent....
Progress and barbarism go hand in hand, unless material civilization be
confirmed by Divine Guidance... and be reinforced by spiritual
conduct... |
QUESTIONS:
What do world social crises have to do with sustainability?
Can terrorism be considered a symptom of unsustainability?
What are some of the principles of social organization that can guide society to a more sustainable course?
Why is it important
to consider the spiritual dimension in social development?
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SUGGESTED
ADDITIONAL READING
Dahl,
Arthur Lyon (1996). The
Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in
Symbiosis. Zed Books Ltd,
London; George Ronald, Oxford.
180 p.
A systems perspective of our economy and environment and their implications for future society, helpful in understanding the complexity of sustainable development. |
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Last updated 10 April 2006
