Pirages, Dennis. 1994. "Sustainability as an Evolving Process." Futures 26(2): 197-205.

Thesis:

There is a marked gap between the sustaining ability of natural systems and dominant human paradigms. A 'sociocultural genome' project is needed. A goal of this project would be to develop new measures of what constitutes "progress."

Summary:

Pirages begins by presenting two faces to the 'sustainability problematique'. First, we look outward to maintain a viable natural environment. On the other face, we must look inward to assess the core values of existing sociopolitical systems and paradigms. We must look at the political and economic values and institutions which shape our consumption of natural resources. (p.203). Pirage focuses his paper on this second face of sustainability. He argues that our sociocultural paradigms can be likened to the genetic information passed on through the evolution of species. However, we have engaged in generations of 'unnatural selection' as our societies have drifted from the long-term sustaining ability of the ecosystem (p.200). This brings us to the need for what Pirages calls 'a human sociocultural genome project'.

The industrial revolution produced an abundance that shaped a materially comfortable and globally emulated lifestyle of consumption that is no longer sustainable (p.198). The industrial revolution, with its rapid growth of material throughput, and the resultant environmental change, has led us to a "growing gap between the existing sociocultural genome and the tightening global constraints of nature" (p.200). A human sociocultural genome project would move toward understanding the cognitive and structural aspects of our dominant social paradigm, and evaluating them in light of their potential for sustainability. Pirage defines sustainability as

maintaining a dynamic balance among a growing human population and its demands, the changing capabilities of the physical environment to absorb the wastes of human activity, the changing possibilities opened up by new knowledge and technological changes and the values, aspirations and institutions that channel human behavior (p.200).

In evaluating our sociocultural paradigms in light of sustainability, a central concern will be to clarify the meaning and measurement of 'progress'. Use of the GNP counts resource depletion associated with obtaining coal, oil, minerals and forest products as additions to the GNP, rather than as ecological losses. This suggests a need to develop more sophisticated measures of human well-being and progress. (pp.203-204).

Keywords: sociocultural evolution, sustainability, dominant social paradigm