Admission requirements
NA
Description
What is the role of the environment in the global economy? What are the economic roots of environmental degredation, biodiversity loss and the climate crisis? What is the significance of environmental resources? This course focusses on these questions. It examines the way the environment is conceived by the main schools of political economy and offers frameworks that illuminate the relationship between the environment and capitalism. It focuses on the manner that environmental resources have played a central role in the capitalist system. In addition to their socio-political character, phases in the history of capitalism, such as colonialism, should also be understood as ecological regimes. Capital accumulation and growth have depended on the commodification of the environment, which has undergone radical transformation and reorganization as result. The course will also examine specific aspects such as oil, food, labour and the climate crisis. The course will examine these issues through a critical framework that comprises literature on political economy and political ecology. The course also examines policies that can address the environment such as green growth and degrowth.
The provisional topics are as follows:
1.Introduction
2. The environment and the history of capitalism
3. Theoretical approaches: Liberal political economy
4. Theoretical approaches: Critical political economy
5. Extractivism
6. Fossil fuels
7. The climate crisis
8. Climate adaptation and mitigation
9. Food and agriculture
10. The environment and labour
11. Environment, banking and finance
12. Green growth and Degrowth
Course objectives
Develop a conceptual framework that reveals the centrality of the ecology in the capitalist system.
Understand the history of the environment in the global economy.
Develop a critical response to normative approaches to environmental issues.
Discuss debates on sustainable development.
Gain in-depth knowledge of specific environmental issues in the global economy such as food security and the climate crisis.
Discuss potential future scenarios and radical alternatives
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment and weighing
Class exercise: 15%
Research proposal: 25%
Research paper (5000 words): 60%
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
TBA
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable.