The three-pillar conception of (social, economic and environmental) sustainability, commonly represented by three intersecting circles with overall sustainability at the centre, has become ubiquitous. With a view of identifying the genesis and theoretical foundations of this conception, this paper reviews and discusses relevant historical sustainability literature. From this we find that there is no single point of origin of this three-pillar conception, but rather a gradual emergence from various critiques in the early academic literature of the economic status quo from both social and ecological perspectives on the one hand, and the quest to reconcile economic growth as a solution to social and ecological problems on the part of the United Nations on the other. The popular three circles diagram appears to have been first presented by Barbier (Environ Conserv 14:101, doi: 10.1017/s0376892900011449, 1987), albeit purposed towards developing nations with foci which differ from modern interpretations. The conceptualisation of three pillars seems to predate this, however. Nowhere have we found a theoretically rigorous description of the three pillars. This is thought to be in part due to the nature of the sustainability discourse arising from broadly different schools of thought historically. The absence of such a theoretically solid conception frustrates approaches towards a theoretically rigorous operationalisation of ‘sustainability’.

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Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins

Page Introduction ........................................................................................................................41 The capability approach: conceptual roots .........................................................................43 Commodities, functionings and capability..........................................................................43 Utilitarian calculus versus objective deprivation ................................................................44 Ambiguities, precision and relevance .................................................................................45 Quality of life, Basic needs and capability .........................................................................46 Rawls, primary goods and freedoms...................................................................................47 Freedom, capability and data limitations ............................................................................48 Inequality, class and gender................................................................................................51 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................54

Development as Capability Expansion

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Social exclusion : concept, application, and scrutiny

The principal aim of this book is to make planners and policymakers more aware of the problems that can arise in developing investment strategies for education and the analytical tools and information that are available to help solve them. It draws both on World Bank analysis and research and on the wider literature on planning educational investment. Among the topics discussed are the contribution of education to economic and human development, cost-benefit analysis, the demand for educated manpower, finance, the efficiency and quality of education, equity considerations, and the links between investment in education and in other sectors.

Education for Development: An Analysis of Investment Choices

In this revised and expanded version of a classic IEA text, first published in 1983, but revised and expanded in 1997, Professor Lal provides a robust critique of the statist model of development which denigrates both trade and open markets. He concludes that the demise of this dogma would be beneficial to the health of both the economics and the economies of developing countries. The history of the last twenty years has demonstrated the force of the Lal critique. The dogma in its old form has gone, as Professor Lal shows in a postscript that brings the original text up to date both in terms of statistics and in terms of the history of ideas. Nevertheless, as he warns, dirigiste tendencies have not disappeared, but are emerging in new guises.

The Poverty of `Development Economics'.

Basic needs: Some issues

Meeting basic needs: An overview

World economy in transition : essays presented to Surendra Patel on his sixtieth birthday

Pakistan's development: An overview

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Shahid Javed Burki

Papers

Basic needs: Some issues

Meeting basic needs: An overview

World economy in transition : essays presented to Surendra Patel on his sixtieth birthday

Pakistan's development: An overview

World Bank Reprint Series: Number Fifty-three