Sustainability in the Political and Socio-Economic Spheres of Development in Zimbabwe

Sustainability is often just looked into as found at the
intersection between economic, environmental and equity (3Es) variables,
also referred to as production, planet and people (3Ps). However, the
major determinants of global environmental change are the human species
themselves. While they are part of the three Es, they go further to
create a fourth pillar, the institutions, partly to manage complexity as
they cause it. The complexity of people as the key definer of
sustainability lies in the fact that Homo Sapiens are animals of
politics and socio-economic reasoning. As they wrestle in the
rationality and decision-making space, natural resources, and any other
resources (human, capital, financial and social relations) are
configured and reconfigured in such a way that sustainability becomes
the major goal under threat. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, the
contributors in this volume dissect development as an endangered species
needing the key actors involved to rethink their decisions and actions
in the interest of more sustainable and desirable futures.