Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
  • Home
Hostname: page-component-559fc8cf4f-qpj69 Total loading time: 0.309 Render date: 2021-02-27T22:51:31.088Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "metricsAbstractViews": false, "figures": false, "newCiteModal": false, "newCitedByModal": true }
EnglishFrançais
International Journal of Cultural Property International Journal of Cultural Property

Article contents

Sustainability Concepts in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Cultures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2016

David Throsby  and
Ekaterina Petetskaya
David Throsby
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; Email: david.throsby@mq.edu.au
Ekaterina Petetskaya
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Corresponding
E-mail address:
david.throsby@mq.edu.au
Get access
Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The concepts of sustainability, and of the more specific notion of sustainable development, have become entrenched in national and international policy making over the last half century. However, little attention has been paid to sustainability as it relates to indigenous communities. This article discusses sustainability concepts as understood in indigenous and non-indigenous societies, drawing a number of illustrations from the experiences and practices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. We point out that the two approaches to sustainability share many common concerns, although significant differences are evident. While the paradigm of sustainability can be seen as a universal concept that can be applied irrespective of social, political, or cultural context, it is argued that a fully realized model of sustainability for application in non-indigenous societies will only be possible if it acknowledges the importance of culture and incorporates the insights that have been accumulated over generations in indigenous knowledge systems.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , May 2016 , pp. 119 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below.
If you should have access and can't see this content please contact technical support.

References

AIATSIS and FATSIL. 2005. “National Indigenous Languages Survey Report 2005.” Canberra: Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts for AIATSIS and FATSIL.
ARIES. 2010. “Incorporating Australian Indigenous Perspectives in Education for Sustainability: A Report prepared for the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.” Sydney: Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability.
Beddoe, Rachael, et al. 2009. “Overcoming Systemic Roadblocks to Sustainability: The Evolutionary Redesign of Worldviews, Institutions, and Technologies.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: 2483–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benhamou, Françoise. 2011. “Heritage.” In A Handbook of Cultural Economics, edited by Towse, R., 229–35. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Berkes, Fikret. 2009. “Indigenous Ways of Knowing and the Study of Environmental Change.” Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 39: 151–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkes, Fikret, Colding, Johan, and Folke, Carl. 2000. “Rediscovery of Traditional Ecological Knowledge as Adaptive Management.” Ecological Applications 10, no. 5: 1251–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkes, Fikret, Kislalioglu, Mina, Folke, Carl, and Gadgil, Madhav. 1998. “Exploring the Basic Ecological Unit: Ecosystem-like Concepts in Traditional Societies.” Ecosystems 1, no. 5: 409–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carson, Rachel. 1962. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Chapin, F. Stuart III, et al. 2010. “Ecosystem Stewardship: Sustainability Strategies for a Rapidly Changing Planet.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25: 241–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costanza, Robert, ed. 1991. Ecological Economics: the Science and Management of Sustainability. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Datta, Ranjan. 2015. “A Relational Theoretical Framework and Meanings of Land, Nature, and Sustainability for Research with Indigenous Communities.” Local Environment Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability 20: 102–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellen, Roy, Parkes, Peter, and Bicker, Alan. 2000. Indigenous Environmental Knowledge and its Transformations: Critical Anthropological Perspectives. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic.Google Scholar
Emery, Alan R. 2000. Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in Project Planning and Implementation. Quebec: International Labour Organization, World Bank, Canadian International Development Agency, and KIVU Nature.Google Scholar
Enyedi, Gyorgy. 2002. “Social Sustainability of Large Cities.” Ekistics 412: 142–44.Google Scholar
Gadgil, Madhav, Berkes, Fikret, and Folke, Carl. 1993. “Indigenous Knowledge for Biodiversity Conservation.” Ambio 22: 151–56.Google Scholar
Gilbert, Jérémie. 2007. “Historical Indigenous Peoples’ Land Claims: A Comparative and International Approach to the Common Law Doctrine on Indigenous Title.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 56: 583–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, Ernie. 1998. My Land, My Tracks: A Framework for the Holistic Approach to Indigenous Studies. Innisfail, Australia: Innisfail and District Edication Centre.Google Scholar
Grant, Ernie, Geffrey, Sonya, Grant, Caroline, Muriata, Shane, Webster, Dorothy, Grant, Tonya, and Henry, Donna. 2011. Jirrbal Workbook. Tully, Australia: Ingan Aboriginal Corporation.Google Scholar
Hawkes, Jon. 2003. The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability: Culture’s Essential Role in Public Planning. Melbourne: Common Ground.Google Scholar
Haynes, Roslynn D. 1995. “Dreaming the Stars: The Astronomy of the Australian Aborigines.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 20: 187–97.Google Scholar
ICSU and UNESCO. 2002. Science, Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Development. Series on Science for Sustainable Development No. 4. Paris: ICSU.
IFAD. 2003. Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development: Roundtable Discussion Paper for the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Session of IFAD’s Governing Council. Rome: IFAD.
Jansson, Annmari. M., Hammer, Monica, Folke, Carl, and Costanza, Robert, eds. 1994. Investing in Natural Capital: The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Kwaymullina, Ambelin. 2005. “Seeing the Light: Aboriginal Law, Learning and Sustainable Living in Country.” Indigenous Law Bulletin 6, no. 11: 12–15.Google Scholar
Lal, Padma, and Young, Elspeth. 2001. “The Role and Relevance of Indigenous Cultural Capital in Environment Management in Australia and the Pacific.” In Heritage Economics: Challenges for Heritage Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Twenty-First Century, 195–217. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission.Google Scholar
Lawn, Philip. 2007. Frontier Issues in Ecological Economics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leonard, Sonia, Parsons, Meg, Olawsky, Knut, and Kofod, Frances. 2013. “The Role of Culture and Traditional Knowledge in Climate Change Adaptation: Insights from East Kimberley, Australia.” Global Environmental Change 23: 623–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, Jasmyn, Fell, David, and McIntyre-Tamwoy, Susan. 2010. “Incorporating Indigenous Values with ‘Western’ Conservation Values in Sustainable Biodiversity Management.” Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 17: 244–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maragia, Bosire. 2006. “Indigenous Sustainability Paradox and the Quest for Sustainability in Post-Colonial Societies: Is Indigenous Knowledge All That Is Needed?” Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 18: 197–248.Google Scholar
Meadows, Donella H., Meadows, Dennis L., Randers, Jørgen, and Behrens, William W. III. 1972. The Limits to Growth. New York: Universe Books.Google Scholar
Morphy, Howard. 1991. Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Munro, David A. 1995. “Sustainability: Rhetoric or Reality?” In A Sustainable World: Defining and Measuring Sustainable Development, edited by Trzyna, T. C. and Osborn, J. K., 27–35. Sacramento: California Institute of Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Myers, Fred R. 1986. Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place and Politics among Western Desert Aborigines. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.Google Scholar
Myers, Fred R. 1988. “Critical Trends in the Study of Hunter-Gatherers.” Annual Review of Anthropology 17: 261–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakashima, Douglas, and Roue, Marie. 2002. “Indigenous Knowledge, Peoples and Sustainable Practice.” Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change 5: 314–24.Google Scholar
Neumayer, Eric. 2010. Weak versus Strong Sustainability: Exploring the Limits of Two Opposing Paradigms, 3rd ed. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD. 2009. The Impact of Culture on Tourism. Paris: OECD.PubMed
Peacock, Alan. 1995. “A Future for the Past: the Political Economy of Heritage.” Proceedings of the British Academy 87: 187–243.Google Scholar
Peacock, Alan, and Rizzo, Ilde. 2008. The Heritage Game: Economics, Policy and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 2008. Report of the International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Languages. New York: United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Peterson, Nicolas. 1972. “Totemism Yesterday: Sentiment and Local Organisation among the Australian Aborigines.” Man 7: 12–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prentice, Malcolm. 2011. A Concise Companion to Aboriginal History, 2nd ed. Kenthurst, Australia: Rosenberg Publishing.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Henry, ed. 1972. Aborigines and Settlers: the Australian Experience 1788–1939. North Melbourne, Australia: Cassell.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Henry, ed. 1996. Frontier: Aborigines, Settlers and Land. St. Leonards: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Richards, Greg. 2011. “Creativity and Tourism: The State of the Art.” Annals of Tourism Research 38, no. 4: 1225–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rizzo, Ilde, and Mignosa, Anna, eds. 2013. Handbook on the Economics of Cultural Heritage. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rizzo, Ilde, and Throsby, David. 2006. “Cultural Heritage: Economic Analysis and Public Policy.” In Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, vol. 1, edited by Ginsburgh, V. A. and Throsby, D., 983–1016. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North-Holland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Deborah Bird. 1996. Nourishing Terrains: Australian Aboriginal Views of Landscape and Wilderness. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission.Google Scholar
Smith, Heather A., and Sharp, Karyn. 2012. “Indigenous Climate Knowledges.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 3: 467–76.Google Scholar
Soini, Katriina, and Birkeland, Inger. 2014. “Exploring the Scientific Discourse on Cultural Sustainability.” Geoforum 51: 213–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. 2012. Our Land Our Languages: Language Learning in Indigenous Communities. Inquiry into Language Learning in Indigenous Communities. Canberra: House of Representatives.
Sveiby, Karl-Erik. 2009. “Aboriginal Principles for Sustainable Development as Told in Traditional Law Stories.” Sustainable Development 17: 341–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sveiby, Karl-Erik, and Skuthorpe, Tex. 2006. Treading Lightly: The Hidden Wisdom of the World’s Oldest People. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Throsby, David. 1997. “Seven Questions in the Economics of Cultural Heritage.” In Economic Perspectives of Cultural Heritage, edited by Hutter, M. and Rizzo, I., 13–30. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, David. 1999. “Cultural Capital.” Journal of Cultural Economics 23: 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, David. 2008. “Linking Cultural and Ecological Sustainability.” International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations 8: 15–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, David. 2010. The Economics of Cultural Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, David. 2012a. “Article 13: Integration of Culture in Sustainable Development.” In The Unesco Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: Explanatory Notes, edited by Von Schorlemer, S. and Stoll, P. T., 361–70. Berlin: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, David. 2012b. “Sustainable Development and the Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.” In The UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: A Tale of Fragmentation in International Law, edited by Kono, T. and Van Uytsel, S., 353–61. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar
Tisdell, Clem. 2012. The Nature of Ecological and Environmental Economics and its Growing Importance. Working Paper No. 186. Brisbane: University of Queensland.Google Scholar
UNCHR. 1986. Study of the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations. Geneva: UNCHR.
UNCHR. 2001. Indigenous Peoples and their Relationship to Land: In Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Indigenous Peoples and Minorities. Final Working Paper prepared by the Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Erica-Irene A. Daes. New York: United Nations Economic and Social Council.
UNCTAD. 2008. The Creative Economy Report. Geneva: UNCTAD.PubMed
UNCTAD. 2010. The Creative Economy Report. Geneva: UNCTAD.PubMed
UNESCO. 1998a. Final Report of Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development: The Power of Culture. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. 1998b. World Culture Report: Culture, Creativity and Markets. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. 2000. World Culture Report: Cultural Diversity, Conflict and Pluralism. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. 2009. Learning and Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today, edited by Bates, P., Chiba, M., Kube, S., and Nakashima, D.. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
UNHRC. 2012. Role of Languages and Culture in the Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Identity of Indigenous Peoples: A Study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: UNHRC.
WCCD. 1995. Our Creative Diversity. Paris: WCCD.PubMed
WCED. 1987. Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press and WCED.PubMed

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Full text views reflects PDF downloads, PDFs sent to Google Drive, Dropbox and Kindle and HTML full text views.

Total number of HTML views: 1401
Total number of PDF views: 1284 *
View data table for this chart

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between September 2016 - 27th February 2021. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

6 Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Sustainability Concepts in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Cultures
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

Sustainability Concepts in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Cultures
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

Sustainability Concepts in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Cultures
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *