Sustainable development and the market : A framework for analysis

The environment has been confined to the margins of most research in the social sciences, particularly theoretical work on development. One consequence is that the environment has lacked an historical focus, which would allow us a broader, more comparative view of how nature is transformed under the impact of capitalist development. The object of this article is to sketch out such a framework, beginning with ‘autochtonous’ societies, in which sustainability, rather than development, is the key characteristic. The role of the market in transforming such societies is explored through a typology of social and environmental systems. In the light of the transformation of environmental goods, made necessary by market accumulation, the role of ‘environmental management’ is considered, and found to be inadequate. Sustainability, as a concept, needs to be related to the role of the market within the process of development itself.