Abstract
The current pandemic might temporarily slow down environmentally destructive economic growth. However, claiming that we are flattening the curve of (un)sustainability is dangerous. The global sustainability crisis is not just being driven by uneconomic growth but also increasing global inequality and social stratification. Teaching this key lesson requires widening the repertoire of sustainability pedagogy from the conventional wisdom of pedagogical monism to the radical approach centred on both pluralism and pedagogical citizenship.
Highlights
Suggesting that COVID-19 is a pathway to sustainability is tempting (Carrington, 2020)
That is the argument made by political economists such as Ezra Mishan (1967) who coined the name ‘growthmania’ in The Costs of Economic Growth, published about a decade before The Limits to Growth
In an impressive collection of articles by leading writers on sustainability, the editors observed what is a well-known proposition: The general consensus of the papers seems to be that climate change can only be arrested by bringing an end to economic growth, and this necessarily means confronting the irreducible imperative of capital to accumulate. (Goodman & Rosewarne, 2011, p. 9)
Summary
Suggesting that COVID-19 is a pathway to sustainability is tempting (Carrington, 2020). Do these courses neglect how economic systems shape sustainability, they overlook how different schools of economics consider environmental problems. Even when it is the cornerstone of political economy and, political-economic concerns become a central tendency, the resulting sustainability course is still much more comprehensive than pedagogical monism can offer.
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