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This chapter will discuss understandings of forms of sustainable political economy within the context of sustainability in the community. Essentially, it will examine the issues which emerge when a community favours a green economic model within the context of the now largely discredited neo-liberal framework that never valued notions of sustainability, and is now largely in crisis due to the market decline and ‘credit crunch’. In addition, the section will outline the significance of community-based political economy for the development of sustainable forms of justice. A sustainable form of political economy incorporates particular concerns, such as ‘the geographical scope of production for local needs, and the exposing and combating the institutions and power structures that lead to poverty and lack of local control’ (Kennet & Heinemann, 2006, p. 78). Under the neo-liberal system, a dichotomy existed between community development and the dominant, yet ultimately unsustainable, growth-based form of political economy.

In this chapter, I focus on stigmatization exercised and experienced by local residents, comparing two socially-diverse areas in very different contexts: the Cabrini Green-Near North area in Chicago and the La Loma-La Florida area in Santiago de Chile.

Data for this study were drawn from 1 year of qualitative research, using interviews with residents and institutional actors, field notes from observation sessions of several inter-group spaces, and “spatial inventories” in which I located the traces of the symbolic presence of each group.

Despite contextual differences of type of social differentiation, type of social mix, type of housing tenure for the poor, and public visibility, I argue that there are important common problems: first, symbolic differences are stressed by identity changes; second, distrust against “the other” is spatially crystallized in any type and scale of social housing; third, stigmatization changes in form and scale; and fourth, there are persisting prejudiced depictions and patterns of avoidance.

Socially-mixed neighborhoods, as areas where at least two different social groups live in proximity, offer an interesting context for observing territorial stigmatization. They are strange creatures of urban development, due to the powerful symbolism of desegregation in contexts of growing inequalities.

The chapter contributes to a cross-national perspective with a comparison of global-north and global-south cities. And it also springs from a study of socially-mixed areas, in which the debate on concentrated/deconcentrated poverty is central, and in which the problem of “clearing places” appears in both material (e.g., displacement) and symbolic (e.g., stigmatization) terms.

The 2016 announcement of plans for a large new UK nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, just 250 miles from Ireland’s coast, was met with concern by many Irish people. Paradoxically, nuclear power was rejected in Ireland in 1979 with the development of the coal burning plant at Moneypoint in County Clare, and outlawed as an energy option in 1999, yet the country still utilises electricity from the UK’s power grid, which includes energy derived from nuclear power. Ireland’s interconnected energy grid includes Northern Ireland and the Republic. This chapter will examine the issues surrounding Ireland’s energy policy. In particular, it will focus on the debates that have occurred in Ireland in relation to the use of nuclear energy.

The United States today boasts of a complex and extensive set of public and private institutions and arrangements for managing its water resources. Today's system of watershed management is neither entirely top-down nor bottom-up. It is not entirely planned, nor is it entirely laissez-faire. Rather it is a hybrid. This chapter analyzes through a historical lens how American watershed management evolved to this state. It looks at two driving factors: technological change and trends in American political culture. Technology provided the reason for water resource and watershed management to evolve because of the conflicts provoked by its unintended and negative side effects, such as pollution. American political culture mediated the way that individuals and government reacted to these conflicts and spurred the evolution of new institutions.

Since the 2015 introduction of the United Nations Global Goals, also referred to as the sustainable development goals (SDGs), we have witnessed a movement toward inclusion of goal-related initiatives listed under CSR strategy and in CSR sustainability reports. At the time of writing this chapter, the United Nations were presented a speech by young activist Greta Thunberg and many other activists commenced riots in major cities. All are pointing toward, what they perceive, as a lack of effort to solve issues related to climate warming. At the same time new research has revealed that targets for the SDGs are falling behind levels expected for 2030. There has also been concern for the potential of “SDG washing,” reported in the academic literature. This would greatly decrease the credibility of the goals over time. For this reason, it is vitally important to measure the impact of initiatives introduced to fit each SDG category and label. This will also assist with funding SDG implementation at a much faster rate. This chapter commences with a brief introduction of the SDG framework and discusses the United Nations and OECD methodology and the development and implementation of key global goals. Various research reports are discussed alongside a tracking study on uptake of the SDGs, and the need for SDG metrics to create transparency and evaluation. The chapter ends with example case studies of CSR strategy implementing and measuring the SDGs, alongside a discussion of financial vehicles released to support further development. The chapter also makes suggestions for future research opportunities to assist SDG progression.