Sustainability and the Civil Commons: Rural Communities in the Age of Globalization

190 Pages·2005·1.086 MB·English

by  Jennifer Sumner

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE CIVIL COMMONS:
RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION
Oftenusedbutlittleunderstood,theword‘sustainability’ispotentinits
ability to evoke a better world based on economic, social, and environ-
mental justice. In Sustainability and the Civil Commons, Jennifer Sumner
explainswhycurrentdefinitionsofsustainabilityareinadequateandof-
fers a framework for a new understanding of sustainability centered on
thecivilcommons,whichincludessuchinstitutionsandpracticesasuni-
versalhealthcare,environmentaltreaties, workplacesafety regulations,
andpubliceducation.
Theconceptofsustainabilityhasinfactbeenremarkablyunder-theo-
rized.Thisworkprovidesbothatheoreticalbasisforsustainabilityandan
imageofafuturethatinvolvesincreasedindividualandcommunitywell-
being grounded in environmental security. Using rural communities as
her reference point, Sumner examines sustainability in the context of
corporate globalization. She argues that globalizing the civil commons,
not corporate-sponsored trade agreements, will open the way to true
sustainability.DrawingonAntonioGramsci’smodelofcounter-hegemony,
JürgenHabermas’stheoryofcommunicativeaction,andJohnMcMurtry’s
conceptoflife-valueethics,theauthorbuildsanoriginaltheoreticalframe-
workthatcombinesglobalreachwithlocalfocus.Challengingandwide-
ranginginscope,SustainabilityandtheCivilCommonswillbeaninvaluable
resourceforscholarsandpractitionersinterestedinpublicpolicy,com-
munitydevelopment,andruralstudies.
jennifer sumner is an assistant professor in the Adult Education and
CommunityDevelopmentProgramattheOntarioInstituteforStudiesin
EducationoftheUniversityofToronto.
This page intentionally left blank
Sustainability and the
Civil Commons
Rural Communities in the
Age of Globalization
Jennifer Sumner
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2005
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
Reprinted in paperback 2007
ISBN 978-0-8020-7999-2 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8020-9527-5 (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Sumner, Jennifer, 1949–
Sustainability and the civil commons : rural communities in the
age of globalization / Jennifer Sumner.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8020-7999-2 (bound). – ISBN 978-0-8020-9527-5 (pbk.)
1. Sustainable development. 2. Globalization. 3. Capitalism.
4. Cooperation. 5. Quality of life. 6. Canada – Rural conditions.
I. Title.
HC120.E5S86 2004 320.5(cid:99)8 C2004-905650-6
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to
its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the
Ontario Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for
its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the
Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
For my grandchildren – may they live in a more sustainable world
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 The Age of Globalization 14
Corporate Globalization 19
Globalization from Below 25
2 Rural Reckoning: The Impacts of Corporate Globalization
on Rural Communities 30
Economic Impacts 33
Political Impacts 47
Social Impacts 48
Environmental Impacts 51
Gendered Impacts 53
Cultural Impacts 55
3 Strategies for Sustainability: Building a Theory for Practice 59
The Basis of the Theoretical Model 61
Commonalities and Differences 69
The Formation of the Theoretical Model 72
Using the Theoretical Model 73
4 Searching for Sustainability: Past and Present 76
The Idea 76
The Concept 77
viii Contents
The History 79
The Watershed: The Brundtland Report 81
The Definitions 84
Perspectives and Definitions in the Academic Literature 85
5 Searching for Sustainability: Future 93
Sustainability as a Set of Structures 94
Sustainability as a Set of Processes 95
Sustainability as the Civil Commons 96
Whose Tragedy of the Commons? 108
From the Enclosure of the Commons to the Assault on
the Civil Commons 109
A New Understanding of Sustainability 109
6 New Directions for Research 116
A New Understanding of Sustainable Development 117
A New Understanding of Sustainable Rural Community 121
Sustainable Globalization 124
Living in the Age of Sustainable Globalization 127
Notes 133
Bibliography 153
Index 175
Acknowledgments
This book has been a labour of exhilaration, frustration, perseverance,
and love. A number of people contributed to smoothing my path, and
deserve recognition. I wish to thank friends and colleagues at the Univer-
sity of Guelph who helped along the way: Al Lauzon, Don Reid, Bob
Brown, Heather Mair, and Wendy Milne. Thanks as well to Virgil Duff at
the University of Toronto Press for his seasoned guidance, and to the
anonymous reviewers of this book for their thoughtful insights and
challenging suggestions.
I also want to thank my family for supporting this work, especially my
partner, John, for his example of scholarship that makes a difference,
and my son, JJ, who was always there when I needed advice. The birth of
my grandchildren has encouraged me to take the long view and to
consider the possibility of a better world than the one we currently
inhabit, and I thank them for inspiring me.
And, finally, I wish to thank the people who have built the civil
commons over millennia – your work has enabled all our lives to be more
fufilled, more inclusive, and more sustainable.