An introduction to A Research Agenda for Sustainability and Business

In this chapter, we set the context for the book as a whole. Following explanation of key terminology, we introduce a broad history of the development of sustainability and business. This section includes analysis of sustainability and business, and corporate and social responsibility related publications over time. We then describe four broad perspectives, or understandings, that dominate the literature in the field of sustainability, ranging in a spectrum from instrumental to value-driven perspectives. In the next section, we outline three broad levels of analysis that feature throughout the book - the individual, organisational, and systemic - and briefly examine differing perspectives at each level. The final section of the chapter sets the stage for a future research agenda of sustainability and business by giving an outline of each of the chapters and situating them within their dominant levels of analysis and dominant perspectives.