Goeminne, GertParedis, Erik2019-09-252019-09-252010-11-082008-07http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/175918This article discusses how the concept of ecological debt has the potential of enriching the sustainability paradigm by provoking a real “gestalt-switch”: once the idea of ecological debt is adopted, a commodity can no longer be seen without simultaneously realizing the network of environmental and social links, often non-sustainable and non-equitable, that were needed to produce it. It thus reinforces the recent calls for radical transitions and system innovations in industrialized countries. Furthermore, its origins as a grassroots concept position it on the interface between politics and science, in that way providing an example of the need for more reflexivity and openness towards the political dimension in sustainability science.engWith permission of the license/copyright holderclimate ethicssustainabilitysustainable developmentdebtnatural resourcesdevelopment ethicsecologyscientific ethicsPoliticsgenerationPolitical ethicsEnvironmental ethicsConference proceedings