This course examines
the background, genesis, and current formulations of
political ecology as an approach to studying
environmental change/degradation and the relations
between society and the environment. We will
examine the theoretical roots and the intellectual
development of political ecology over the last
several decades. Political
ecology, a large, complex, and sometimes contested
geographical subdiscipline, is an approach that
incorporates political and economic, as well as social,
causes of environmental change. Thus this
course provides an introduction the history of
development theory in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, economic globalization, studies in the
history of science (specifically environmental sciences
and ecology), issues of social justice, and critical
studies of environmental history (looking particularly
at the legacy of colonial environmental narratives). We will sample
a section of the current political ecology literature
dealing with environmental change/degradation; identity,
social movements, and resistance; gender, race and
class; and related topics in nature-society relations. We will read a
wide variety of case studies and research from Africa,
Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. This course
does not focus on North America. Short
overviews of topics for professional development will be
provided during the course (preparation of CVs, grant
proposals, etc.). Participants
will participate in discussions, write weekly response
papers, and a final paper that may be a grant proposal,
dissertation prospectus, literature review or research
paper on a political ecology topic.
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