Undergraduate Course: Frontiers in Human Geography: Geographies of Development and Socionature (GEGR10112)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course aims to enhance understanding of the multiple, multiscale interconnections between the process of development and socionatural (or socioecological) issues from a geographical perspective. It will examine different approaches to development, policy-making and contestation. Examples and case studies will be used to illustrate the contested basis of development, the plurality of alternatives and issues of culture, values and identity. |
| Course description |
Lecture 1 - Introduction: The landscape of development
Lecture 2 ¿ What is socionature?
Lecture 3 - Development, socionature and modernity
Lecture 4 - Neoliberal nature and neoliberal development: Case study, Industrial food production in Latin America
Lecture 5 - Policy-making in environment and development: Case study, biofuels in Kenya
Lecture 6 ¿ Contemporary politics of conservation and development 1: Case study, trans-frontier conservation, southern Africa
Lecture 7 ¿ Contemporary politics of conservation and development 2: Vulnerable life, the biopolitics of conserving animals
Lecture 8 - Contesting development and socionatural change 1: Case study, gas extraction and community activism, Mozambique
Lecture 9 - Contesting development and socionatural change 2: Green growth vs. de-growth, case study, radical alternatives in Europe
Lecture 10 - Group Presentation: Students to present in groups on subject of choice related to the course Lecture 11 - Review, conclusions, exam discussion and questions
Environmental degradation and poverty continue to increase around the world despite large international investment in the development and implementation of new laws and regulations, and improvements in governance and management practice. While many initiatives have brought positive local change, as a whole, these investments failed to produce the desired results or to offer a holistic approach to improving ecosystem management and reducing poverty. This course addresses questions of great relevance to contemporary dynamics in development, including resource politics, land contestation, food production, and biodiversity conservation. We will explore case studies and issues from around the world (with special reference to Africa), including high-intensity agriculture and radical alternatives in Latin America, biodiversity conservation and resource extraction in Mozambique, the biopolitics and bioethics of animal conservation, biofuels in Kenya, and de-growth politics in Europe. These are complex and difficult issues with no easy answers. Consequently, students are encouraged to take an active part in debate by investigating an issue for themselves through group presentations, and through contributing to weekly discussions based on readings.
The course builds explicitly on the socio-political connections between society and the rest of socionature. The course includes an initial conceptualisation and review of the evolution of development and the socio-cultural meaning of the environment. It contextualises development as part of Western modernity and part of the expansion of capitalist relations of production and reproduction. It then analyses the experience of development and its environmental consequences in the Post-War period, which coincided with the reconstruction and decolonisation of many countries. The next part of the course is a discussion of the continuities and differences between the Post-War phase and the more recent neoliberal reform of state and economy. Special attention will be given to the various groups and organisations (local, national and multilateral) involved in promoting development and associated policies, along with the violent environments which stem from the increasing intertwining of capitalism and the environment. The final part of the course will be an examination of the various forms of protest and contestation of development, as well as local and international alternatives to conventional and neoliberal forms of development. The final session will discuss the short- and long-term prospects of development and its interconnections with socionatural themes.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Social and Cultural or Economic and Political Geography |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- To understand the evolution of the theory and practice of development at the international, national and local contexts and its multiple connections with environmental (socionatural) issues;
- To develop geographical skills on the socionatural basis and repercussions of development, including issues of environmental justice, public participation, group identity and creativity;
- To examine the various ways that socionatural relations have shaped (and been shaped) by) social, political and economic processes;
- To apply critical thinking to case studies related to development in northern and southern countries;
- To practice wiring and comprehension of complex texts, linking up academic conversations with things happening in the contemporary world.
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Reading List
Detailed reading list will be informed during the course; core reading includes (prioritise **):
1. **Brockington, D., Duffy, R., & Igoe, J. (2008). Nature unbound: conservation, capitalism and the future of protected areas. Earthscan. (especially the introduction)
Brockington, D., & Duffy, R. (Eds.). (2011). Capitalism and conservation (Vol. 45). John Wiley & Sons. (especially chapter 1)
**Castree, N. and Braun, B. 2001. Social Nature: Theory, Practice and Politics. John Wiley and Sons: Oxford. (especially Chapters 1, 5, 7, 8).
2. Escobar, A. 2012. Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton, University Press. [electronic resource] (especially Chapters 2, 3 and 5)
3. Peet, R. and Hartwick, E. 2009. Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives. Guilford Press: New York. (especially chapters 1, 3 and 8)
4. **Peet, R. and Watts, M. (eds). 2004. Liberation Ecologies. 2nd Edition. Routledge: London. [electronic resource] (especially Chapters 1 and 2)
5. **Rist, G. 2008. The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith. 3rd edition. Zed Books: London. [electronic resource] (especially Chapters 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 13 and 14)
6. Williams, G., Meth, P. and Willis, K. 2009. Geographies of Developing Areas. Routledge: London and New York. (see chapter 5: Social and cultural change in the South)
7. Willis, K. 2011. Theories and Practices of Development. 2nd edition. Routledge: London and New York. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking about the theory and practice of national and international development with particular emphasis on environmental issues |
| Keywords | Development,environment,conflicts,socionature,political ecology,environmental justice,policy-m |
Contacts
| Course organiser | |
Course secretary | Miss Kirsty Allan
Tel: (0131 6)50 9847
Email: |
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