Agriculture, society and environment: discourses on sustainability

SUMMARY The discourse on sustainability is marked by widely differing interpretations of the concept. It is generally acknowledged, though, that sustainability concerns the interplay amongst social, economic and environmental dimensions. The emphasis on the respective components of this triumvirate differs amongst the various literatures, however, leading to alternative conceptions of the ‘sustainability problem’ and of the trajectory into the future. This paper seeks to elucidate a range of perspectives on sustainability, focusing particularly on interpretations in the context of agriculture and rural systems. The discussion is structured around six literatures: environmentalism and ecology, resource science, neoclassical—economic, ecological economics, political—economic and postmodernist. Closing remarks refer to the perceived need for an improved conceptualization of spatiality in the analysis of sustainability.