DEVELOPMENT AND INFINITY

This article examines the links between development and the infinite, suggesting that the idea of sustainable development is simply a means of extending the idea of development indefinitely. Western society is viewed as operating under the ''prime symbol'' or ''imaginary social s ignification'' of infinity and infinite development. The article then proposes an interpretation of perception through the use of metaphor, arguing that metaphors shape interpretations of development, and that contemporary ecological projects such as sustainable development are l argely metaphorical. The conclusions note that the mainstream concept of sustainable development is inherently conservative and therefore ad ds little to a clearer understanding of nature-society relations and d evelopment policy. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.