On Sustainability and Higher Education: Towards an Affirmative Ethics

Autor/inn/en	du Preez, Petro; Le Grange, Lesley; Maistry, Suriamurthee; Simmonds, Shan
Titel	On Sustainability and Higher Education: Towards an Affirmative Ethics
Quelle	In: Perspectives in Education, 40 (2022) 3, S.118-131 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (du Preez, Petro) ORCID (Le Grange, Lesley) ORCID (Maistry, Suriamurthee) ORCID (Simmonds, Shan)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0258-2236
DOI	10.18820/2519593X/pie.v40.i3.8
Schlagwörter	Sustainability; Higher Education; Ethics; Sustainable Development; Social Justice; Neoliberalism; Economics; Positive Attitudes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Nachhaltigkeit; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Ethik; Nachhaltige Entwicklung; Soziale Gerechtigkeit; Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Volkswirtschaftslehre
Abstract	Sustainable development has been the dominant focus in sustainability discourses over the past three decades. In 2015, the United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a blueprint for peace and prosperity. The agenda is to be driven by the now well-known 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The higher education sector has not been left unaffected by these developments. In 2021, we saw Times Higher Education (2021) for the first time introducing its impact rankings, which assess universities against the United Nation's SDGs. This new category of the university ranking system may see universities increasingly account for their contributions towards both ecological sustainability and social justice. Paradoxically, higher education would have to embrace SDG targets as a social justice imperative, but within a neoliberal performance architecture and by applying the ethics of neoliberal market fundamentalism. In this article, we trouble the underlying normative, economy first (instrumentalist) assumption and anthropocentric approach to sustainability and its relationship with (higher) education. We argue that sustainability is not a means to an end (instrumentalist), but a social and ethical process that is situated, open and forever in becoming. In doing so, we draw on Rosi Braidotti's (2019; 2013) critical, post-humanist perspective, which enables us to perform two methodological moves: 1) a critical philosophical exploration of the concept sustainability and 2) generating affirmative propositions for thinking about sustainability education. At the heart of Braidotti's (2019; 2013) postulations is the affirmation of hope to enable sustainable transformations and futures. In addition, she proposes an ethics of joy and affirmation that functions through transforming negativity into positivity. Through this affirmative ethical philosophy, we offer alternative imaginings of sustainability and generate six affirmative propositions for sustainability in higher education (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of the Free State Faculty of Education. P.O. Box 339, Bioemfontein 9300, South Africa. Tel: +27-51-401-2368; e-mail: PiE@ufs.ac.za; Web site: https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/index
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01