Perspectives for a New Social Theory of Sustainability(ORIGINAL PDF)

This ambitious book outlines the theoretical and practical implications of the recent technological revolution of human/non-human relations for social researchers, and in so doing, seeks to develop more adequate theoretical and methodological models for social scientists to describe and investigate these social transformations and their consequences. The environmental strategies to balance human actions with the earth’s resources utilizing a sustainable approach can inspire original conceptualizations and, therefore, a new sociological paradigm rooted in a necessary rethinking of the dualism between nature and culture, and of human relations in a hyper-connected society increasingly composed by non-human elements.

Chapter discussions include:

• Sustainability and the crisis of the theoretical functional model
• Environmental sustainability and the evolution of capitalism
• From moral imperatives to indicators and indices: a methodology for validating and assessing SDGs
• An understanding of psychopathological syndromes related to social environments
• Social research between participation and critical detachment

Perspectives for a New Social Theory of Sustainability emphasizes that not only are modernist theories of unlimited wealth and progress no longer supportable, but also that their theoretical and empirical settings must be reassessed if society is to move towards sustainability. It promises to be required reading for students and researchers in sociology, psychology, economics and statistics, as well as professionals within government organizations and NGOs focused on human rights work, global inequities, ethical activism, and the UN Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals.

David Maria SASSOLI

European Parliament President