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very same insistence on interconnections and interdependencies. Paradoxes arise from the

overarching goal of simultaneously attending to each realm of the socio-cultural,

environmental and economic complex. Many scholars have explored these challenges. Farrell

and Hart suggest that topic based sustainability indicators (e.g. transportation, economy)

make it difficult to see linkages among social, cultural, environmental and economic areas

(1998, p. 8). They focus on the practice of generating and reading sustainability indicators,

and argue that indicators differ greatly depending on what one wishes to know and the

intended use of information (Farrell & Hart 1998, p. 7). Gibson’s critique highlights the

failure of the integrated model some twenty years on from its creation (2006). He argues that

attention is placed on how different spheres can be balanced, which in reality means trade-

offs in the end decision making, rather than attending to the complex interconnection along

the entire process (Gibson 2006). The limited capacity to identify and to measure

interconnections is due to the habituations found in institutional structures, expertise and data

sets (Gibson 2006, p. 264). In the area of fisheries, Kate Barclay (2012b) points to a lack of

data illustrating social dimensions, the scarcity of recognition of the role of social factors, as

well as insufficient methods with which to analyse the social in relation to economic and

environmental. This leads to the situation where economic and environmental aspects have

tended to dominate sustainability agendas, leading to the side lining of social aspects (Barclay

2012b). While Barclay’s focus is the social, we can apply these same criticisms to the

addition of culture to the sustainability agenda.

One challenge in the integration of culture is being able to define culture in relation to

the other pillars. To address this we should inquire into concepts underpinning sustainability,

such as nature and culture, as well as the separation of the elements that a four-pillar model of

sustainability attempts to unite. This revives the familiar nature/culture binary debates.

Throughout this thesis I engage with these debates but my intention is not to seek out a neat

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