Proceedings of 11th Asian Business Research Conference
26-27 December, 2014, BIAM Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, ISBN: 978-1-922069-68-9
Energy Crisis and Poverty in Bangladesh Culture: Sustainability
Accounting Perspectives
Mahmood Hasan Khan, Amzad Hossain* and Dora Marinova
The paper interprets the rhetoric of energy crisis and poverty phenomena in rural Bangladesh linking them to the
Green Revolution, natural resources, cultural heritage and traditional sustainability accounting management. Field
research and literary sources suggest that in the case of rural Bangladesh the lack of energy is largely unrelated
to poverty, which is rather linked to social, geo-environmental and cultural norms. The paper finds that fossil fuel
based electrification is geo-environmentally, ecologically and culturally unsustainable in rural areas, and so is the
case with socio-economic development resembling the west. The sustainability of Bangladesh largely depends on
its natural resource-base and ecological conservation. Hence, the age-long practice of sustainability accounting
for maintaining the culture of self-reliance, simple living and ecological conservation deserves policy support.
The Baul-philosophers of Bangladesh play an important role in upholding people’s socio-spiritual resilience and
sustainability accounting practices for sustainable living. They also advocate for renewable energy and simple
living as the two sides of the sustainability icon. The paper concludes that abundantly available free-flowing
renewables can produce needful renewable energy for most of its people to live comfortably.
Keywords: Bauls, Culture, Energy, Green Revolution, Poverty, Spirituality
_________________________________________________________________________
Mahmood Hasan Khan, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Australia.
Amzad Hossain*, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Australia. *Email: A.Hossain@curtin.edu.au
Dora Marinova, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Australia.