Economistic discourses of sustainability: determining moments and the question of alternatives

Abstract

The dissemination of sustainability has worldwide increased significantly in discourses and politics since the UN-resolution of the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ in 2015. Nevertheless, the meanings of the concept vary in different linguistic communities and cultures. The present article comprises a meta-analytic revision of discourse-analytic work and a own discourse analysis of sustainability concepts in an intercultural orientation. The results show hegemonic discourses of economistic conceptualizations as well as alternatives, which are constituted in different linguistic communities. The article wants to contribute to an exchange and a profound discussion between the linguistic groups as well as to a methodological reflection on discourse analysis from an intercultural perspective.

Keywords

• sustainability sciences. transdisciplinary. discourse analysis. hegemonic discourses. intercultural.