SUSTAINABLITY AND SURVIVAL
Ignoring the concept of sustainable development, i.e., the neglect of demography of environment will be perilous to society. In this framework some new issues are:
Recognition of “differences”, i.e., the condition that there are no simple and universal solutions to problems faced by people in different settings; Linking local with global as one cannot anymore ignore the effects of global developments on local conditions or of local initiatives on global climate ; Learning from local communities how they have dealt with climatic changes in the past; Need to combine demographic values with survival and progress, separately at micro, meso and macro levels; A strong commitment for empowerment and emancipation of the vulnerable groups; and Exploring the subjective meanings, favourable to or against sustainability, in the context of ethical and moral changes.
Socio-economic, cultural and demographic systems in India are highly diversified (Bose, 1991). In this milieu, the perceptions of the effects of population growth on people are as much linked with culture as with natural resources. Studies have also shown that experts and lay persons do not share the same value systems or ideas about good life. The way lay persons define their problems is not the same as the way programme managers and NGOs define them. There are people in the country for whom survival is of the highest value: even housing or shelter is of secondary importance to them. Among them the goal of intervention should be their emancipation and empowerment, not the reduction in family size or vaccination alone. Globalization and the resulting marginalization of classes, castes, tribes, and communities are producing uncertainties in demographic trends. In this milieu, sustainability and survival are the key issue to the understanding of demographic and social action. |
