Utopianism and the equity path to sustainability

Abstract

By adding social equity to its goals of ecological and economic viability, the sustainability project runs the risk of being dismissed as wishful utopian thinking. Like the socialist movements that preceded it, the sustainability movement must grapple with the pitfalls of utopianism and chart a path forward that acknowledges the current social, political, and economic realities that seek to thwart it. To use references from the history of nineteenth and twentieth century socialism, sustainability, like Marxism, will need to distinguish itself from “utopian” thinking by promoting a “scientific” strategy that identifies and engages key historical dynamics and political agents that will promote an ecological transition. This article argues that the most promising strategy for sustainability progress centers, paradoxically, on the most neglected element of the sustainability equation: equity. Recent research indicates that the promotion of greater economic and political democracy is correlated with improved environmental performance. These findings suggest that an indirect approach to sustainability—prioritizing efforts to increase social equity—might be the most pragmatic and direct strategy for building a sustainable future.