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@ARTICLE{Konold:891167,
      author       = {Konold, Dieter and Schwietring, Thomas},
      title        = {{T}he {G}reat {D}iscrepancy: {P}olitical {A}ction,
                      {S}ustainable {D}evelopment and {E}cological
                      {C}ommunication},
      journal      = {Politics and governance},
      volume       = {9},
      number       = {1},
      issn         = {2183-2463},
      address      = {Lisbon},
      publisher    = {Cogitatio Press},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2021-01405},
      pages        = {131 - 140},
      year         = {2021},
      abstract     = {The term ‘sustainable development’ was coined to denote
                      a political goal some 40 years ago; debates about
                      sustainability date back considerably further. These debates
                      reflect the growing awareness of the destructive effects of
                      human activities on the natural foundations of life.
                      Numerous initiatives have been launched to trigger a
                      turnaround, with the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs being the
                      latest attempt. However, substantial progress has been
                      rather limited thus far. This discrepancy is the subject of
                      the article. Starting from a historical overview of
                      sustainability politics, the argument develops in three
                      steps. First, it is shown that conventional conceptions to
                      promote environmental change fall short in depicting the
                      broader societal context. To provide a comprehensive picture
                      of the challenges related to transformation processes, a
                      theory of the functional differentiation of societies is
                      presented in a second step. A systems theory perspective
                      offers a convincing theoretical explication of the problem.
                      Third, this approach is scrutinized with regard to the
                      political system and the politics of sustainability. The key
                      finding is that the specific functional logics of the
                      different social subsystems must be taken into account when
                      analysing sustainable development and the discrepancy
                      between the aims and ambitions of (global) environmental
                      policy and the visible consequences. On the one hand, the
                      functional differentiation of modern society guarantees its
                      high degree of effectiveness and flexibility. On the other
                      hand, implementing fundamental change, such as a transition
                      towards sustainability, is not simply a question of strategy
                      or of political willingness and steering. Rather, there is a
                      need for more elaborate explanatory instruments. As a
                      result, we argue for a linking of theories of sustainable
                      development and advanced social theory.},
      cin          = {PTJ-BIO},
      ddc          = {320},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)PTJ-BIO-20090406},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
      UT           = {WOS:000635669500005},
      doi          = {10.17645/pag.v9i1.3631},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/891167},
}