Populism, Austerity and Governance for Sustainable Development in Troubled Times: Introduction to Special Issue

Abstract

The sustainable development imaginary was built on a belief in co-operation, collaboration and consensus building and requires governance approaches that rely upon the values of a liberal, pluralistic, tolerant, and democratic society. Much scholarship assumed that the European Post-War, welfare, democratic order, with its emerging educated classes, would steadily progress towards an ever more refined and articulated version of these governance values. However, that governance imaginary has become increasingly deradicalised, focused instead on economic efficiency and technocracy. Our current ‘troubled times’ have now seen the rise of right populism and the imposition of austerity policies in Europe. Against this background, six key characteristics of sustainable development are examined through a governance lens—limits to growth, equity, inclusion, reflexivity, participation, and international solidarity—showing how right populism and austerity have further reshaped ideas about how to govern for sustainable development. Right populism and austerity have constrained both the narratives and tools available, while shrinking the political space for co-operation, reflection, and learning, poorly reflecting the governance values thought necessary to achieve an equitable and environmentally sustainable future. This has been further seen in the contested governance of the COVID-19 pandemic and the strategies designed to ensure post-Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic economic recovery.