Economics plays a key role in the development dialogue. Sustainable Development is a partly new challenge and it is argued that exclusive reliance on mainstream neoclassical economics would represent an unwise strategy. Neoclassical economics is specific not only in scientific but also in ideological terms. In a democracy there should be openings also for other kinds of political economics. An institutional version of political economics based on Political Economic Person and Political Economic Organization assumptions is outlined. Individuals and organizations are regarded as actors interacting through markets and in other ways. Non-monetary impacts and ethical issues are illuminated to make the approach compatible with visions of sustainability. Traditional ideas of university research and education as being value-neutral and separate from politics are rejected. Just as society has to change direction, the same is true of activities at universities.
This book edited by Björn Frostell is the proceedings of the 1st VHU Conference on Science for Sustainable Development, Västerås, Sweden, 14-16 April 2005