Managerialism and the conceptual limits of sustainable development

Abstract

This article examines the concept of sustainable development in terms of the three classical sociological paradigms—that is, the class, managerial, and pluralist traditions. In so doing, it is discovered that the concept of sustainable development is firmly rooted in the managerial tradition, and that the concept is often opposed by writers in the class and pluralist traditions. This implies that the power and scope of the concept, although having grown greatly in recent years, is inherently limited by its ideological character.