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Why is sustainable development so difficult to achieve? Sustainability actually seems to elude humanity at least as rapidly as scientific knowledge of the world around us increases. One possible explanation, according to the author, has to do with the nature of our various knowledges. This essay challenges the authenticity and legitimacy of our mainstream knowledge production institutions and enterprises. It forces readers to ask themselves whether they really know the world they live in as well as they think they do or are they in fact confined to a world of historically determined illusion. This essay should appeal to anyone interested in linking social and ecological systems for greater social, cultural, ecological and economic resillience. It is particularly relevant to a western subruban context.

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Peter Graham is a former shadow cabinet Finance critic for the Green Party of Canada. He teaches economics at the School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

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