Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Radical sustainability

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Radical sustainability recognizes that a system is not sustainable if any part of it is unsustainable. An economy cannot be sustained if the underlying social structure is unsustainable. A social structure cannot be sustained if the environment it depends upon is unsustainable. Vice versa we find that in our modern day the environment cannot be sustained unless proper economical and social practices are in place.

A radical sustainability viewpoint recognizes the inseparability of ecological and social issues and the necessity of ensuring the solution to one problem does not create or worsen another.

The radical sustainable philosophy addressed problems of sustainability through a bottom-up approach - a form of "grass roots" sustainability.

Radical sustainability advocates and supports autonomous development, indigenous movements, women's rights, social justice and green practices.

Examples

There are widespread examples of radical sustainability including open source ecology, rainwater harvesting (e.g. the projects by Brad Lancaster) and the Bushmen who live a life where social and environmental aspects are completely intertwined.

References

Radical sustainability Wikipedia