Sustainism Is the New Modernism: A Cultural Manifesto for the Sustainist Era

Sustainism Is the New Modernism: A Cultural Manifesto for the Sustainist Era
Michiel Schwarz and Joost Elffers
Distributed Art Publishers
155 Sixth Avenue, Second Floor,
New York, NY 10013; www.artbook.com.
2010. 240 pages. $24.95, paperback.

Sustainism Is the New Modernism is more than a book’s title. It is intended as a manifesto for the current, ever-evolving era of “a change in cultural perspective, a new mindset, a worldwide remaking. . . . Moving beyond ideas of modernism and postmodernism, this shared outlook promises a networked, globalized, sustainable future. . . . The world has entered the Sustainist age.” So say the authors, who believe that with this book their movement will be launched into a 3-D or 4G collective consciousness.

Authors Michiel Schwarz and Joost Elffers provide nouveau terminology, but as those of us old enough to have lived through the 1960s know, this is not a new idea. To the authors’ credit, they cite time and again those who have come before and told us over and over that if we do not change our wasteful ways, there will be hell to pay.

The plea for sustainability has been unfolding since Marshall McLuhan, Canadian scholar and communications theorist, developed the philosophy that the world would evolve into a global village much like the one in which we live, connected by what we today know as the internet. McLuhan’s predictions and theories were published in the early to mid-1960s. While it is not certain what McLuhan would have to say about Sustainism is the New Modernism, he might wonder why—in this age of sustainability awareness and information technology that feels faster than the speed of light—its authors offer the message as a glossy trade paperback. This is not exactly “the medium is the message” material or, as innovation goes, ahead of the pack.

Why is a new word needed for what is continually evolving into a global collective consciousness? Perhaps it is because “sustainable-ism” (sounds a little like cannibalism) or “sustainability-ism” do not roll off the tongue with grace or panache. Wikipedia defines sustainability in many ways, the most concise and reasonable being “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems.” Apparently, this definition does not encompass as much as the authors think necessary to live as a sustainist.

“Sustainism marks a shift not only in thinking and doing,” the authors write, “but in collective perception—of how we live, do business, feed ourselves, build our communities and communicate, as much as how we deal with nature.” This is essentially the same definition of sustainability as that provided by Wikipedia, but presented in marketing jargon to convince us that living sustainably is the way to save ourselves from annihilation. Schwarz and Elffers point out that sustainism must be integrated into every aspect of our lives—from time and space to food and religion. Yes, religion can be sustainist in nature, the authors write, depending on the open mindedness of one’s spiritual leader: doing well by Earth is what God would have us do. This is not revelatory information, but it may comfort some readers.

There are hundreds of bold declarations in Sustainism. In fact, the authors assert that sustainism is “a cultural manifesto for the sustainist era.” It seems that manifestos by their very nature are to be shouted. This book is full of shout-outs to those who talk the talk and walk the walk: environmentalists, sustainability advocates, and spiritual leaders around the globe—environmental advocates Van Jones and Bill McKibben, and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches. The book directs readers to many relevant resources for deeper study, but is not a deep study itself. Its main objective seems to be to excite the reader to join the clan—to become a sustainist—through its use of colorful text, unusual typography, graphics, and symbols.

Self-described authors/producers, Schwarz and Elffers present themselves as wearing many hats. Schwarz introduces himself as an independent cultural thinker, an innovator, and a consultant with a PhD in the sociology of technology who initiates a wide variety of projects exploring global issues, design, technology, and progress. (Past projects are not specified.)

Elffers describes himself as a designer, cultural initiator, and a symbol maker who cocreated a number of innovative books. He proves his skill as symbol maker in Sustainism: symbols adorn nearly all pages of the book. Early on, the reader is “culturally initiated” to the trefoil knot, the assigned symbol of sustainist culture. The knot’s prominent quality is the infinite loop, implying the nature of sustainism. Trefoil knots appear throughout the book—large knots, small knots, textured knots, simple knots, blue knots, and so on. Other sustainist symbols follow to enhance the reader’s comprehension of sustainism, but the knot is by far the most widely used. We are one, we are infinite, we are sustainists.

Apparently intended to instill energetic motivation to adopt the lifestyle of the sustainist, this work is at best a condensation of the written and visual ideology and practice of credible others without whose works, cited throughout the book, Schwarz and Elffers would have no sustainist and cultural ideas to “initiate.” In Understanding Media, McLuhan differentiates between what he calls hot and cool media: “Any hot medium allows for less participation than a cool one, as a lecture makes for less participation than a seminar, and a book for less than a dialogue.” On a scale of hot to cool, this one left me cold. Dialogue will cement the foundation of sustainability.