The post- WWII modernist paradigm had its roots in Woodrow Wilson’s view of the world

(1901):

The East is to be opened and transformed whether we will it or not; the standards of the West are to be imposed on it; nations and peoples which have stood still the centuries through…[will be] made part of the universal world of commerce and of ideas

Modernism vintage 1950s

• Carl Silvert: There is something in the nature of Latin American man that prevents him from being modern

• George Foster: The only path to development (for Latin America) is through cultural emulation.

Development consequences in Latin America, 1970 - 1990

• Strengthened local elites (polarization)• Displacement of local merchants• TNC domination of local capital• Capital drain • TNC subsidiaries: lower wages and little or no

improvement in work conditions• Increased seasonality of labor• Rapid loss of forest to agribusiness and meat industry• Dumping of pharmacuticals and pesticides• Clientalism and political manipulation

Potential climate changes impact

Sustainable DevelopmentOECD/CSD 1990

• Reduced levels of production and consumption in the industrialized world

• An absolute reduction of resource use• Simpler lifestyles while maintaining

present standards of living• Greatly increased energy and material

efficiency• A rethinking of the notion of ”quality of life”

to emphasize less materialistic goals

Sustainable Development Amedeo Postiglione

Italian Judge and adovate for an International Court of the Environment

• Sustainability should not be confused with development. Development is economic and thus unlimited, while sustainability is, strictly speaking, only a characteristic of living systems that are limited. The earth as a self-regulatory and interdependent closed system is similarly limited. We must avoid ambiguity with the term ”sustainable develoment”. Sustainability in this expression is simply used as a qualifying adjective and not as it should be as a fundamental concept, the basic reference point. We should not attempt to define the sustainaility of our earth in economic terms. Our global ecological system cannot be made to conform to our economic needs and wants. Necessarily, the latter must be defined by the limitations of the former.

Sustainable developmentWorld Bank

James D. Wolfensohn, 2001

• Growth in material well-being is a central element in advancing human welfare and reducing poverty…Sustaining (economic) growth over the long term therefore requires that such (environmental) problems be addressed integrally in current growth strategies and investment programs