Title: Socio-formative sustainability as an alternative conceptualisation to think about the devastation of socio-ecological systems

Authors: Josemanuel Luna-Nemecio; Sergio Tobón

Addresses: University Center CIFE, Tabachin Street, 524, Bellavista, 62140, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico ' Ekap University, Mount Dora, Florida, USA

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to present the conceptual cartography of the concept of sustainable development to show its limits and propose the socio-formative sustainability as a category that transcends it. This research applied the methodology of conceptual mapping based on the review of articles and documents from scientific databases, such as Scopus and Web of Science. The main results reveal the limitations and deficiencies that afflict the research that has used the concept of sustainable development in an attempt to establish a balance between the economy, ecology, and the human being. Likewise, the conceptual limits of continuing to carry out research trapped in the Sustainable Development Goals and the neo-Malthusian perspectives of the 2030 Agenda are shown. This study allowed presenting the main axes to address socio-formative sustainability as a way of thinking about the necessary ecological reform of the way of capitalist production.

Keywords: complex thought; environmental care; sustainability; sustainable development; sustainable social development; SSD.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSOC.2025.147002

International Journal of Sustainable Society, 2025 Vol.17 No.2, pp.89 - 112

Accepted: 26 Oct 2022
Published online: 10 Jul 2025 *

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