The Sociology of Development and Sustainability: A Summary of the Theoretical Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33423/4gdcq167Keywords:
management, sustainability, sociology, development, public policies, social change, international relationsAbstract
This article discusses different models for analyzing the social processes of economic growth and development. First, it examines the origins of the debate in the context of the emergence of the social sciences. It discusses an alternative approach to development in relation to the original model of economic growth, which is based on a quantitative perspective and strictly productivist concerns. Modernization Theory and the influences of classical economics are central to the problematization of this conceptual framework. Next, the limitations of the concept of growth and the debate on Dependency Theory, originating in Latin America, are discussed. It is within this debate and various social and theoretical movements that the concept of sustainability takes root, highlighting its social and sociological dimensions, rather than its original association with the strictly environmental and ecological domains. Finally, we analyze the main guiding principles underpinning the emergence of the sociology of sustainability as a specific branch of sociology, within the framework of interdisciplinarity and the debate on cohesive, balanced societies across their social, economic, environmental, and governance dimensions. As this is not the setting for a lengthy, more in-depth theoretical discussion, we propose an analytical synthesis capable of fostering subsequent, more robust explorations.
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