Is it Possible to Connect “Development as Freedom” with Sustainability?: Re-thinking “Creative Reconstruction”

Abstract

This paper discusses environmental and societal sustainability from the perspective of peace studies. After the Great East Japan Earthquake and accompanying tsunami and nuclear disaster, Japan faces the difficult tasks of both reconstructing and providing relief measures for disaster victims. This massive disaster deprived a significant number of people their livelihoods, and the lingering effects of the incident continue to haunt communities. Moreover, thousands of tons of radioactive water have entered the Pacific Ocean, and estimates concerning air-bound radiation are, at best, unclear. In the face of ongoing threats from radiation, and attendant health and environmental effects, the Japanese government has adopted a plan for “creative reconstruction,” which aims to revitalize the Japanese economy and the Tohoku district particularly. Although the government’s plan is supported by the general economic malaise, under the present conditions, individual 3/11 victims do not stand to benefit as much as large companies. It begs questioning whether this triple disaster disproves the theory of “Paxeconomica,” especially given the limitations of a modern society pursuing high economic growth.

“Development as freedom” is one of the great contributions of Amartya Sen’s work with respect to the capabilities approach. However, the global environment poses natural limitations to the free competitive market and neo-liberal theory. Some face the loss of their ways of life; others’ freedoms have the potential to expand. Sen’s idea of “individual freedom as social commitment” thus proves instructive when reconsidering the paradigm of development from the standpoint of human dignity and reassessing the value of community.