Sustainability has been subjected to many contested meanings since the constitution of Brundtland Commission in 1983, originally meant to emphasize ecological and environmental practices with a perspective of preserving and regenerating natural resources for the benefit of future generations. Recently the term has come to be associated with the relationship between ecological security and social equity. Social science perspectives have contended that sustainability cannot be merely seen in a pure value-neutral scientific terms. It is recognized that the interventions needed to tackle the current ecological and social crisis have to be guided by systemic approaches aiming at changes in the patterns of production and consumption of the developed and developing world. This is necessary because environmental and social changes are guided by dominant interests and imaginations. The unfolding of the globalizing forces has made the process of environmental and social change even more complex. Hence, the sociology, history and politics of the use and management of nature have begun to form the core of contemporary social science perspectives on sustainability and globalization.
New approaches to sustainability involve the application of inputs from trans-disciplinary research efforts. These efforts need to be embedded in frontline areas of research such as political ecology; social ecology; nature, labour and value theory; science and technology studies; innovation studies; politics of knowledge; public health; environmental and occupational health; demography, economics and geography (physical and human); planning and regional development studies; ecological economics; environmental and cultural anthropology; and other related interdisciplinary fields.
The Transdisciplinary Research Cluster on Sustainable Studies (TRCSS) focuses on national and international dimensions of the interface between the issues of social and ecological justice. Within this broad theme, it formulates projects and activities to cover the thematic concerns through the participation of different Centres within the University.
Participating Centres:
