Tons, joules, and money: Modes of production and their sustainability problems

This article seeks to describe sustainable development in operational terms for three different modes of production. It provides two theoretical concepts to characterize each society's relationship with nature: societal metabolism and colonization. Metabolism is the mode in which societies organize the exchange of matter and energy with their natural environment. Colonization refers to the strategies employed to transform parts of the natural environment to render them more useful for societal needs. The first section offers an exploration of the sustainability problems within three modes of production and social organization: hunter-gatherer, agricultural, and industrial societies. Metabolism and colonization are then empirically described in detail for industrial societies. The final section discusses strategies for industrial societies to reduce and transform their metabolism toward more sustainable development.