Postgraduate Course: Political Ecology (GEGR11001)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | How can we understand the relationships between culture, nature and capital? How do questions of nature become questions of power? Where and how is the material of nature made? The multiple scales and seeming intractability of current environmental crises has prompted a number of critiques of mainstream environmentalism and sustainability. The first weeks of the course are devoted to exploring the theories of political ecology, eco-Marxism and relational natureculture. These ideas are then worked through to understand a range of environmental problems: common property resources, biodiversity conservation, multinational food production, climate change politics, bioengineering, and a topic to be determined by the class; each of these includes case studies drawn from the global South and North. Class sessions are split between traditional lectures and hands-on activities. The course will also encourage students to reflect on their own position and develop their own ways of thinking about the politics of the environment.
Indicative outline of class meetings:
1. Introduction: Political ecology
2. Theory: Relational natures and eco-Marxism
3. Fence: conservation and the end of nature
4. Fish: enclosing the global commons
5. Chicken: externalising H5N1
6. Oil: securing fluid geographies
7. Atmosphere: geo-engineering and the post-politics of climate change
8. Student¿s choice: the class selects a topic for the session
9. Symposium
10. Conclusion
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Critical understanding of the problems with mainstream environmentalism.
2. Synthesize current theoretical debates and bring them into critical dialogue with real-world examples.
3. Explain how environmental problems are produced through capitalism and intersect with social justice, including gender, race, class.
4. Enable students to develop their own voice and way of thinking about the politics of environmentalism. |
Assessment Information
One reflective position statement (10%)
One 3,000 word essay (90%)
|
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Indicative outline of class meetings:
1. Introduction: Political ecology
2. Theory: Relational natures and eco-Marxism
3. Fence: conservation and the end of nature
4. Fish: enclosing the global commons
5. Chicken: externalising H5N1
6. Oil: securing fluid geographies
7. Atmosphere: geo-engineering and the post-politics of climate change
8. Student¿s choice: the class selects a topic for the session
9. Symposium
10. Conclusion
|
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Castree N (2004) Nature, Routledge, London
Castree N (2013) Making sense of nature, Routledge
Demeritt, Rhoads, Castree, Liverman eds (2008) A Companion to Environmental Geography, Blackwell
Hinchliffe (2007) Geographies of Nature, Sage, London
Peet, Robbins & Watts (2011) Global Political Ecology, Routledge, London & New York
Smith M (2011) Against green sovereignty, Minnesota
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | GEGR11001, Nature, environmentalism, eco-Marxism, relational, climate change, capitalism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr William Ginn
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Susan Orr
Tel: (0131 6)50 2543
Email: |
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