LIMITS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

World Summit Paper #14, updated version; Limits to Sustainable Development? A case study of Thailand from a Cultural Perspective on Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia; by Karl H. Segschneider, published by the Asia Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation.

For the last two years the Heinrich Böll Foundation has played an active role in the preparatory process for the Johannesburg Summit in various regions of the world, including South East Asia. The publication reflects problems regarding development strategies and conflicting paradigms that were imposed to the region after World War II. Based on a specific case study, it considers the cultural dimension of Thailand’s development process and its impact.

We are directing this Paper and the concerns in it at our priority target group in Thailand and the South East Asia region. Nevertheless, we hope the Paper makes interesting reading for an international audience a s well. Many issues covered here are universal in their social patterns and the Paper’s conclusions and reflections may well r esonate with representatives from modernizing traditional societies. With this publication we also wish to reach out to the many“experts” and “specialists” from the mainly Northern-based development agencies, at least those working in Mainland South Ea st Asia where we find similar cultural and social patterns to those in Thailand. We hope that this paper will contribute to the emerging debate on the relevance of cultural factors in development and project planning. Additionally, we hope it will serve as a critical reflection of development goals based on our intention to contribute to true sustainable development in its many aspects.

[ pdf; 118 pages ]