History and Philosophy of Sustainable Development: Road-Mapping Interdisciplinarity for Wellbeing

Issues and problems of sustainable development continue to characterize and shape global discourse. Sustainable development finds mention in virtually every conceivable discipline and endeavour: medicine, literature, politics, community development, globalisation and deep ecology, among others. Just as the growing literature on sustainable development reflects interdisciplinarity, the embrace of sustainable development processes and practices across cultures reflects desirability. The recent interdisciplinary literature on sustainable development not only suggests its desirability but also reflects the desideratum for the development of a distinctive area of scholarship - History and Philosophy of Sustainable Development, - a discipline that neither comes up, simpliciter, a science, a social science, nor an art. It is the critical concern of this paper to discursively outline what may be considered the imperative contents of History and Philosophy of Sustainable Development with particular reference to the question of sustainable development in developing and less developed countries. Through the method of content analysis, the paper critically reflects on selected secondary sources on sustainable development. Against the background of its finding of a growing concern for sustainable development in the 21st century global society, the paper recommends measures for entrenching the teaching and learning of History and Philosophy of Sustainable Development as a veritable tool for sustainable wellbeing.