SUSTAINING PRODUCTION - MATERIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

The concept of 'sustaining production' is based on an integrated under standing of sustainability that recognizes the limits to the regenerat ive capacity of natural and social systems within which all economic a ctivity takes place. Sustaining production thus is defined as a quanti ty and quality of production that does not result in perturbations of natural and social systems that impede their assimilative and regenera tive capacities to a critical degree. This definition places productio n not only within the temporal and spatial context of biological and e cological processes and functions but also within the socio-cultural c ontext of social processes and functions. The knowledge demand of sust aining production is dramatically different from the standard concept of production put forth in mainline production theory. Sustaining prod uction requires knowledge particularly of the linkages between product ion processes and the social, biological, chemical and physical parame ters and functions that characterize their context. This contextual kn owledge cannot rely on the contributions of experts alone, but needs t o include the experience of those who provide essential social and env ironmental sustaining services, and of those most severely effected by their loss. In addition, the need to explicitly consider path-depende nt definitions of sustaining production scenarios points to the limits of markets as allocation mechanisms. The need for participatory disco urse in the public sphere between markets and macroeconomic institutio ns is offered as an institutional alternative. An example of narrative methodological expansions to standard economic assessment methods is presented to illustrate possibilities for a broad-based participatory assessment process based on discourse.