Sustainable Development in the Anthropocene: Towards a New Holistic and Cosmopolitan Paradigm (The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science)

In the Anthropocene sustainable development responds to socio-economic, environmental and political crises provoked by humankind due to global warming and the great acceleration of human intervention in ecosystems. This book introduces readers to current debates on sustainable development and to a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. Regional integration and supranational institutions are fundamental for sustainable development. The democratisation of the international system requires a new multilateralism. Global problems of demography, economic ideology of unlimited growth, the prevailing technocratic paradigm, consumerism, problems of waste, fossil fuels, industrial food production, use of fertilisers, water management and climate change are discussed, and the importance of multilateral agreements for security, sustainable peace and development is explored. This planetary crisis may be solved by international cooperation based on the UN sustainable development goals. This book - provides a concise synthesis of the main subjects of sustainable development studies - links development studies to multilateral diplomacy as practised by UN bodies and organisations - gives a new holistic and multidisciplinary approach to environmental and social sciences in the Anthropocene epoch. Preface 11 Foreword by Nelson Amaro 14 Foreword by Gabriel Aguilera Peralta 18 Acknowledgments 22 Translator’s Note 23 Introduction 24 Contents 38 Abbreviations 42 List of Figures, Graphs and Photographs 46 List of Tables 52 1 International Relations Theory and the Great Paradigms 53 1.1 Introduction 53 1.2 Multilateralism and the Democratization of the International System 54 1.3 A Historical Perspective of the Great Paradigms 57 1.4 The Peace of Westphalia 61 1.5 The Peace of Vienna and the Balance of Power 66 1.6 The First World War or the Rupture of the European Concert 68 1.7 The Versailles Treaty, Wilsonian Idealism and the League of Nations 70 1.8 The United Nations as an Expression of the Idealist Paradigm 74 1.9 Bipolarity and the Cold War 81 1.10 Summary 85 References 90 2 Integration: A Means to Transcend the Westphalian Order and Go Beyond Geopolitics 94 2.1 Introduction 95 2.2 Regionalization and Integration 96 2.3 Central American Regionalization 103 2.4 The European Integration Process 108 2.5 The Geopolitical Issue 119 2.6 Latin American Geopolitics 132 2.6.1 The Islands of the Beagle Channel 133 2.6.2 The Peru-Chile Case of Maritime Delimitation 135 2.6.3 The Case of Nicaragua Versus Colombia 138 2.6.4 Other Territorial Disputes 139 References 141 3 The Anthropocene: Are We in the Midst of the Sixth Mass Extinction? 144 3.1 Introduction 145 3.2 The Anthropocene: Planetary Boundaries, Climate Change and Loss of Biodiversity 145 3.3 Are We in the Midst of the Sixth Mass Extinction? 148 3.4 Is the Anthropocene the End of Nature? 149 3.5 The Great Acceleration 160 3.6 Demographic Explosion 164 3.7 The Technocratic Paradigm 169 3.8 Consumerism and the Culture of Discarding 179 3.9 Toxic Waste Contamination and Garbage 183 3.10 Decarbonization and Renewable Energy 187 3.11 Food Security 189 3.12 Water Resources 193 3.13 Integrated Water Resources Management 195 3.14 Climate Change 197 3.15 The Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol 197 3.16 The Issue of Human Security 200 3.17 Scientific Evidence of Climate Change 202 3.18 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 203 3.19 Implications of Climate Change for Latin America 207 3.20 Central American Vulnerability 209 3.21 Neoliberalism, Violence and Political Crises 211 3.22 Summary: Is the Breakdown of Homo Sapiens the Central Issue of the Anthropocene? 212 References 215 4 Sustainable Development or Sustainable Systems? 219 4.1 Introduction 219 4.2 Historical Background of the Sustainable Development 221 4.3 The Planetary Boundaries 223 4.4 The Origins of Human and Sustainable Development as UN Paradigms 225 4.5 The Satisfaction of Human Needs as the Main Purpose of Human Development 232 4.6 Cultural and Community Development 234 4.7 The New Constitutionalism of Bolivia and Ecuador 236 4.8 Sustainable Development as a UN Paradigm 242 4.9 Jared Diamond: Unsustainable Systems and Sustainability 246 4.10 Summary 257 References 260 5 Alternative Paths Towards Post-capitalism or a Renewed Democratic Socialism 262 5.1 Introduction 263 5.2 The Need for a Change of Paradigm 265 5.3 Alternatives for Overcoming Neoliberal Capitalism 271 5.3.1 Yanis Varoufakis 272 5.3.2 Thomas Piketty 277 5.3.3 Richard Wolff 280 5.3.4 Ian Angus 281 5.3.5 Howard Richards 283 5.3.6 John Holloway 285 5.4 Circular Economy 287 5.5 The UN 2030 Agenda and the SDGs 291 5.5.1 Central America 293 5.5.2 The Tribulations of World Capitalism 298 5.5.3 Are We in the Midst of the Sixth Mass Extinction? 305 5.6 Maja Göpel and Renewable Energy in Germany: A Change of Paradigm? 308 5.7 Other Experiences and Economic Alternatives 310 5.7.1 The Matrix of the ‘Common Good’ 310 5.7.2 Communities in Transition: Resilience in Local Solutions 311 5.7.3 The Information Age and Post-capitalism 314 5.8 How to Evaluate Sustainable Development: Happiness Goes Beyond GDP and Is Based on Quality of Life, Not Quantity Indicators, as Demonstrated by the Paradigmatic Example of Bhutan 318 5.9 Boaventura de Sousa Santos 324 5.10 Summary 326 References 331 6 Towards a Transnational Cosmopolitan Paradigm and Citizenship 335 6.1 Introduction 336 6.2 The Cosmopolitan Approach of Ulrich Beck 338 6.3 Transnational Citizenship in the European Union 339 6.4 Globalization, the World System and the Crisis of the Westphalian Order 343 6.5 The Information Era and Globalization 353 6.6 Human Rights, Mobility and the Migration Crisis 357 6.7 Human Mobility in the Context of Hegemonic Capitalist Globalization 361 6.8 Transnational Citizenship Could Solve the World’s Migration Crisis 365 6.9 Rainer Bauböck’s Perspective 371 6.10 Ludger Pries’s Approach 379 6.11 Cosmopolitanism and Global Civil Society 382 6.12 Cosmopolitanism and Governance in the Anthropocene 389 6.13 Institutional Cosmopolitanism 395 6.14 Paul Raskin and the Global Scenario Group 397 6.15 Summary 400 References 402 Epilogue 405 Bibliography 411 On the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) 422 IPRA Conferences, Secretary Generals and Presidents (1964–2021) 424 On CLAIP 425 On IRIPAZ 427 On the Author 429