Brundtland report in Denmark

This paper revolves around the history of Danish environmental politics in the late twentieth century.It investigates how Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report was perceived, debated, and used politically in the wake of its publication in 1987.The analytical framework of the thesis is inspired by the British intellectual historian Quentin Skinner, and the Cambridge School of intellectual history.This entails the application of linguistic contextualism -the idea of placing a text in its historical context, to better understand the intention of the writer.The paper specifically argues that the concept of 'sustainable development', which is established in the report, has no intrinsic meaning, and is instead a way of merging ecology and economy.It then argues that this merging is the defining feature of the danish reception of the report.By investigating the reception in consideration of the 1970's growth debate, the paper argues that 'sustainable development' is used in the danish context as a way of promoting economic growth.Lastly it argues that the sustainability discourse that originated from the report, is a continuation and reproduction of the growth debate.