Unraveling the veil of fuzziness: A thick description of sustainability economics

This article provides a thick description (Geertz, 1973) of sustainability economics. Baumgärtner and Quaas (2010a, b) have proposed as an alternative to ecological economics the new field of sustainability economics, which has triggered various replies. The purpose here is to order and to review these contributions. Building upon a literature review of sustainability economics, the paper argues that the concept currently has more of a fuzzy and declamatory character. The rhetoric (McCloskey, 1998) of sustainability economics contains general issues of sustainability economics, externalities and the capability approach. The article argues that it is currently not clear how the solutions for science and policy proposed by sustainability economics differ from those of ecological economics. Efforts should be directed towards further development of the theory and the operationalization of sustainability principles. The systemic view of co-evolutionary development, social learning and sustainability economics' normative underpinning merits more consideration in the debate about sustainability economics.