Sustainable Development and Modernity: Resolving Tension through Communicative Sustainability

The rise of the discourse of sustainable development has been fraught with conflict. Initial conceptual ambiguities have led to a conflictual understanding of the meaning of sustainable development, and the basis for action that this understanding implies. This thesis employs a Habermasian analytical framework to assess the competing views on the relationship between sustainable development and modernity, with particular emphasis on the promise of postmodernism, as developed in more radical sustainability critiques. This thesis argues that the ‘uncritically modern’ approach to sustainable development does not offer an adequate means for addressing the challenge of sustainability. However, in following Habermas, this thesis argues that postmodernism does not offer a legitimate alternative. Postmodernisn fails as a basis for a philosophy of praxis and thus is an unsuitable means for addressing the cultural and ecological critiques against the project of modernity, from the viewpoint of sustainable development. As an alternative to postmodernism, this thesis proposes a critical approach to sustainable development rooted in Habermas’ concept of communicative rationality. A new theoretical framework for sustainable development is proposed, incorporating a pillar of ‘communicative sustainability.’ This new theoretical approach is capable of addressing the majority of the critiques arising from the antimodern sustainability theorists, while retaining the core praxiological goal of the sustainable development project. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of this theoretical shift, focusing on the radicalization of the public sphere, a shift towards a capabilities approach for development, and the implementation of deliberative structures of governance.