Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins

The three-pillar conception of (social, economic and environmental) sustainability, commonly represented by three intersecting circles with overall sustainability at the centre, has become ubiquitous. With a view of identifying the genesis and theoretical foundations of this conception, this paper reviews and discusses relevant historical sustainability literature. From this we find that there is no single point of origin of this three-pillar conception, but rather a gradual emergence from various critiques in the early academic literature of the economic status quo from both social and ecological perspectives on the one hand, and the quest to reconcile economic growth as a solution to social and ecological problems on the part of the United Nations on the other. The popular three circles diagram appears to have been first presented by Barbier (Environ Conserv 14:101, doi: 10.1017/s0376892900011449, 1987), albeit purposed towards developing nations with foci which differ from modern interpretations. The conceptualisation of three pillars seems to predate this, however. Nowhere have we found a theoretically rigorous description of the three pillars. This is thought to be in part due to the nature of the sustainability discourse arising from broadly different schools of thought historically. The absence of such a theoretically solid conception frustrates approaches towards a theoretically rigorous operationalisation of ‘sustainability’

Toward Renewed Legitimacy? Nuclear Power, Global Warming, and Security

With calls for the renewal of the nuclear energy industry in the United States and elsewhere, the international political economy of this troubled industry assumes increased importance. Though technical difficulties have plagued the industry for many decades, it is the equally problematic task of establishing public trust on which the article focuses. Arguably, with the advent of widespread concern over global warming, nuclear power offers a low-emission alternative. Yet safety, security, and political concerns color this highly centralized energy source, as well as its export-based political economy. The article traces the history of global nuclear commerce, as well as recent attempts to revive the industry. I suggest that efforts to re-legitimize the state-industry-power complex by way of nuclear commerce and associated discourse may have some success, but this will be tempered by sustained opposition to the centralizing tendencies of nuclear power and continued safety concerns. Copyright (c) 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.