Social sustainability
Social sustainability is a sub-discipline of sustainability science and deals in general with the social aspects of sustainability . It exists in the three-pillar model alongside the economic and ecological level.
Meanings
Main meaning
In more recent texts, social sustainability is in the vast majority of cases understood as the prohibition on making irreversible changes in the world in the present that future generations might not want. In this sense, intergenerational distributive justice (intergenerational justice) is often used. This understanding of social sustainability is mainly based on the Brundtland report . In addition to the aspect of securing basic needs and fighting poverty, through fair access to opportunities and the distribution of resources - both within society and globally (ethics of inter- and intra-generative justice) - the social dimension explicitly includes the question of gender relations ( see S. Bauer 2008).
Variations
Overall, the term does not yet have a completely clear outline and can therefore be understood differently depending on the context; older texts in particular differ e.g. T. considerably in the use of the term. According to another understanding of social sustainability, a balance in the ecological area can only be achieved by overcoming social problems. Another perspective is increasingly coming from economic parlance, which uses the term social sustainability to explain permanent phenomena and effects in society, e.g. E.g. "lasting damage to consumer confidence". The term social sustainability is sometimes used synonymously for corporate social responsibility .
History of theory
The term grew in sustainability research in the 1980s, when it became apparent from examples such as the Chernobyl disaster or global warming that environmental problems often have an international (often even global) dimension and that social measures are therefore necessary to effectively protect the environment to be able to operate. The early approaches to social sustainability are therefore primarily concerned with the international institutionalization of environmental protection. Since then, social sustainability research has increasingly emancipated itself from ecological origins and has meanwhile developed non-ecological approaches, particularly on the topics of poverty, participation and development .
Fields of application
- Corporate social responsibility
- Systemic advice
- Policy planning
- Urban planning / architecture
Dimensions
Anthropocentrism / Biocentricity
This dimension is understood to mean two approaches to the term: In the anthropocentric perspective, social sustainability is understood as necessary for maintaining the human livelihood, while in the biocentric (also ecocentric) perspective, social sustainability only serves to preserve nature. In the ecocentric approach, nature is therefore often assigned an intrinsic value, while in the anthropocentric perspective, nature is only a means of securing human existence.
Efficiency / sufficiency strategy
The efficiency strategy aims to overcome social problems, that is, changes are to be brought about by increasing technological efficiency. In contrast, the sufficiency strategy calls for a change in lifestyles.
Laissez-faire / interventions
Representatives of the laissez-faire confident that the momentum of the market will solve the problems independently, while other positions demanding moderate to strong government intervention and changes in individual behavior, to get the problems under control.
See also
literature
- Ritt (2002): Social Sustainability: From Environmental Policy to Sustainability? (PDF; 2.47 kB)
- Spangenberg (2003): Social Sustainability - An Integrated Perspective for Germany (PDF; 100 kB)
- Littig, Grießler (2004): Social Sustainability (PDF; 1.14 MB)
- Flieger, Sing: Social sustainability stepchild of the sustainable development discussion (28 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bauer, Steffen: Mission Statement for Sustainable Development. In information on political education (issue 287). Bundesdruckerei: Bonn 2008. Archived copy ( memento of the original from May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
