Charles J. Kibert, Martha C. Monroe, Anna Peterson, Richard R. Plate, Leslie Paul Thiele

Working Toward Sustainability (eBook, ePUB)

Ethical Decision-Making in a Technological World

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A comprehensive introduction to the ethics of sustainability for empowering professionals and practitioners in many different fields By building the framework for balancing technological developments with their social and environmental effects, sustainable practices have grounded the vision of the green movement for the past few decades. Now deeply rooted in the public conscience, sustainability has put its stamp on various institutions and sectors, from national to local governments, from agriculture to tourism, and from manufacturing to resource management. But until now, the technological sector has operated without a cohesive set of sustainability principles to guide its actions. Working Toward Sustainability fills this gap by empowering professionals in various fields with an understanding of the ethical foundations they need to promoting and achieving sustainable development. In addition, Working Toward Sustainability: * Offers a comprehensive introduction to the ethics of sustainability for those in the technical fields whether construction, engineering, resource management, the sciences, architecture, or design * Supports nine central principles using case studies, exercises, and instructor material * Includes illustrations throughout to help bring the concepts to life By demonstrating that sustainable solutions tart with ethical choices, this groundbreaking book helps professionals in virtually every sector and field of endeavor work toward sustainability.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Seitenzahl: 352
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. September 2011
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781118105894
• Artikelnr.: 37354936

Autorenporträt

Charles J. Kibert is Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment and a Professor in the M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Building Construction at the University of Florida, where he teaches courses on sustainability and sustainable construction and conducts research on design, energy, water, and materials challenges in the built environment. He is a cofounder and CEO of the Cross Creek Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit industry-university joint venture seeking to implement sustainability principles into construction. he is the author of Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (Wiley). Martha C. Monroe is Professor and extension specialist in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. Her work in environmental education and communication uses effective programs and materials to engage people in working toward the resolution of environmental issues. She coauthored Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques and Evaluating Your Environmental Education Programs. Anna L. Peterson is professor in the Department of Religion and affiliated professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the center of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. She teaches and publishes widely on social and environmental ethics as well as religion in Latin America. Her books include Being Human: Ethics, Environment, and Our Place in the World and Everyday Ethics and Social Change: The Education of Desire. Richard R. Plate is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has taught courses on environmental ethics and politics, critical thinking for environmental scientist, and socioeconomic on how individuals learn about make decisions regarding complex environmental systems. Leslie Paul Thiele teaches political theory and serves as Director Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida. He employs a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the aptitudes, values, and skills demanded of democratic citizens and leaders in a world of rapid technological, social, and ecological change. His books include Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution and Indra's Net and the Midas Touch: Living Sustainably in Connected World.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction xvii MAKING CONNECTIONS xviii
SHIFTING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY xix THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK xx Chapter 1
A Context for Sustainability 1 THE RATIONALE FOR SUSTAINABILITY 1
Sustainability Interlude 1 A Response to a Crisis 2 CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES
5 Population and Consumption 6 Climate Change 6 Nonrenewable Resource
Depletion 8 Loss of Biodiversity 9 Overfishing 10 Eutrophication 12
Desertification and Acidification 13 Poverty 14 Ecosystem Services and
Quality of Life 14 THE ETHICAL CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY 15 THE THREE-LEG
MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY 15 CONCLUSION 17 Chapter 2 The Technology Challenge
21 OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY 21 Defining Technology 22 A Brief History of
Technology 22 THE TECHNOLOGY PARADOX 25 Technological Optimism versus
Technological Pessimism 25 Developing a More Nuanced View of the Impacts of
Technology 27 CONSEQUENCES OF TECHNOLOGY 28 Predicting Consequences of
Technology 29 Reducing the Uncertainty of Technology 31 Technology Risk
Assessment, Acceptance, and Management 32 ALTERNATIVE, APPROPRIATE, AND
SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY 34 THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY 36 SUMMARY
AND CONCLUSIONS 37 Chapter 3 Introduction to Ethical Concepts 41 RELIGIOUS
ETHICS 42 Common Ideals 42 Views of Human Nature 45 SECULAR AND
PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICAL TRADITIONS 46 Justice 47 Deontological Ethics 47
Rights 48 Consequentialist Ethics 51 Objectivism and Ethical Relativism 52
Objectivism and Relativism in Sustainability 55 ETHICS AS A TOOL FOR MAKING
DECISIONS 55 Framing Ethical Problems 56 Conflicting Values 56 THE THREE
LEGS OF SUSTAINABILITY 58 Social Ethics 59 Environmental Ethics 60 Economic
Ethics 61 Integrating the Three Legs 63 CONCLUSION 64 Chapter 4 Social
Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 67 JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, AND RECIPROCITY
67 The Golden Rule 68 Ethics of Care 71 DISTRIBUTIONAL PRINCIPLES 72
Distribution in a Just Society 73 Distributing Disadvantages 74 EXPLORING
INTERDEPENDENCE 75 Thinking Globally, Acting Locally 76 Life on Spaceship
Earth 78 Environmental Justice 80 OBLIGATIONS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS 81
Intergenerational Justice 82 A Look Back at Looking Forward 84 Future
Quality of Life 85 Beyond Seven Generations 87 CONCLUSION 90 Chapter 5
Environmental Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 95 THE EMERGENCE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 95 The Birth of Modern Environmental Ethics 96
Environmentalism Becomes Mainstream 98 Undertones of the Sacred 99 RELIGION
AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 99 Religion and Nature 99 Greening Religion 101
ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 103 Development of Ecology
103 CARICATURES OF NATURE 104 A Closer World 105 CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES IN
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 107 Getting the Scale of Ethics Right 108 Deep
Ecology, Ecofeminism, and Social Ecology 109 Pluralistic Approaches 111
Bioregionalism 112 The New Agrarian Movement 113 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND
NONHUMAN ANIMALS 114 Making a Case for the Individual 114 Mixed Communities
115 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND THE ETHICS OF SUSTAINABILITY 116 Identifying
Values 117 Emphasizing Human Priorities 117 CONCLUSION 118 Chapter 6
Economic Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 123 FROM CLASSICAL ECONOMICS
TO ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 124 The Advent of Modern Economics 124 Ecological
Economics and the Classical Economists 125 Neoclassical Economics 128
Criticisms of Neoclassical Economics 130 Physical Limitations 131
Influences of Ecology 132 THE ECOLOGICAL ECONOMIC MODEL 134 Natural Capital
and Ecological Services 135 Discounting the Future 136 The Economic Value
of Natural Systems 137 Feedback between Ecological and Economic Systems 139
TOOLS OF ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 144 The Polluter Pays Principle 144 Extended
Producer Responsibility 145 Beneficiary Pays Principle 146 Full Cost
Accounting, Full Cost Pricing, and Life-Cycle Costing 148 CONCLUSION 150
Chapter 7 Integrating the Three Legs of Sustainability 155 THE
PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE 156 A Legal Context 157 Precaution in Practice 159
Precaution as Risk Management 160 Cost-Benefit Analysis 161 Including
Stakeholders 162 Including Science 164 Compensation for Risks 165 The March
of Progress 167 IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES 168 Lifeboat Ethics 168 Tragedy
of the Commons 169 Hardin's Challenge 170 POVERTY REDUCTION VERSUS
ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION 170 Linking Social and Environmental Goals 171
Finding Synergistic Solutions 172 The Role of Technology 174 MANAGING THE
GLOBAL COMMONS 175 The Need for a Central Authority 176 Moving beyond the
Tragedy of the Commons 177 International Multilateral Agreements 179
Non-Governmental Organizations 180 The Role of Government 181 TRANSCENDING
THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL MODEL 182 Integrating the Three Legs 182 Complex
Adaptive Systems 183 Integrating Behavior at Different Scales 184
Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems 187 Resilience and the
Precautionary Principle 188 Resilience and Technology 189 Conflicting
Values 191 THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN DECISION MAKING 192 The Principle
of Transparency 193 Transparency in Industry 194 Transparency and
Technology 196 The Value of Autonomy 197 CONCLUSION 199 Chapter 8 Improving
Our Thinking about Sustainability 209 OBSTACLES TO MAKING GOOD DECISIONS
210 Rational Decision Making 210 Limits of Rationality 212 Cognitive
Heuristics 214 Discounting the Future 217 Complexity 219 How Barriers to
Rationality Affect Decisions 220 STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING LIMITS TO
RATIONALITY 224 Becoming Environmentally Informed 224 Becoming Socially and
Economically Informed 226 Systems Thinking 227 CONCLUSION 235 Chapter 9 The
Process of Changing Behavior 239 THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR 239 Attitudes
240 Subjective Norms 240 Perceived Control 241 Understanding Planned
Behavior 242 OBSTACLES TO SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIOR 243 Political Obstacles to
Sustainable Behavior 244 Lack of Social Capital 244 Accepting Unsustainable
Outcomes 245 Individualization 246 Distancing 248 HOW CHANGE HAPPENS 251
The Five Phases of Individual Change 251 Diffusion of Innovation 253
Applying Diffusion of Innovation 254 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTING CHANGE 257
Small Wins 257 Reasonable Person Model 258 Moving People toward Change 261
CONCLUSION 262 Chapter 10 Creating Change with Groups 267 ADVANTAGES OF
GROUP DECISION MAKING 267 Additional Insights 268 New Discoveries 270
Increased Buy-In 271 TYPES OF COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES 272 MAKING THE
MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PROCESS WORK 273 Social Learning 273 Building Shared
Understanding 275 Trust 281 Iterative Approach 284 LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS
287 Developing the Ideal of a Learning Organization 288 Creating Change in
a Learning Organization 289 CONCLUSION 290 Chapter 11 Applying an Ethic of
Sustainability 295 MAKING ETHICAL DECISIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: AN
OVERVIEW 295 Social Sustainability 296 Ecological Sustainability 296
Economic Sustainability 297 Integrating the Dimensions of Sustainability
298 CONTEMPORARY SUSTAINABILITY-BASED FRAMEWORKS 298 The Natural Step 299
The Hannover Principles 300 Corporate Social Responsibility 300 PUTTING IT
ALL TOGETHER 303 Sustainability Frameworks and Ethics 303 Picturing the
Three-Legged Stool Model 304 A FINAL CRITIQUE 313 Index 319