ASOA15110U The Sociology of green transition
Courses with oral exams will be held offline. If the case of Covid-19 restrictions, oral exams will be held online. You will be notified of this in Absalon no later than 4 weeks prior to the exam time – with the option of shorter deadline if Covid-19 restrictions are introduced at shorter notice.
Courses with written exams will not experience any changes in relation to the normal exam form.
Elective course
Course package (MSc 2015):
Knowledge, organisation and politics
This course provides students with the conceptual tools needed
to understand, analyze, as well as critically and constructively
engage with ongoing societal transformations induced by climate
change, biodiversity and other ecological crises, colloquially
known as green transition.
It builds on scholarship and meso-level theories founded in
environmental and climate sociology, branching also into other
literatures to ask foundational questions about society-wide change
towards sustainability: how much of it is currently happening
across societal sectors, domains, and levels; how has it or is it
currently being brought about; what shapes, conditions, or hampers
more of it?
To pose these questions in macro-sociologically adequate terms, the
course starts by reviewing debates on two contrasting diagnoses:
the risk society diagnosis of Ulrich Beck and the ecological
modernization diagnosis of Maarten Hajer, John Dryzek and others.
At stake here is the questions of the place of environmental
concern, policy, and practice in reworking (late) modernity.
From here, the course delves into the main institutional vectors of
green social change, covering in turn questions of:
a) socio-technical change (green technological innovation, changing
infrastructures);
b) political-economic change (shifting modes of governance and
politics, new circular market models);
c) mobilization-driven change (environmental social movements,
urban green communities);
d) changing North-South relations (new globalized inequalities,
climate justice activism);
e) everyday practice change (emerging consumptions habits, new
social distinctions and divisions); and
f) cultural value change (continuity and change in moral valuations
of ‘nature’ in the Anthropocene).
Throughout, focus is on understanding present-day green social
change in light of historical experience and meso-level
sociological theory, with a view to taking stock of what
near-future changes lie ahead.
Alongside examining the various substantive dimensions of green
transition, we will also discuss adequate methodological strategies
affiliated with the different problem complexes and vectors of
social change. Throughout, students work on aligning analytical and
methodological strategies via case analyses.
On successful completion of the course, the student should be
able to:
- account for the core concepts and theories covered in the
curriculum and how they relate to each other (including where they
stand in mutual tension or contradiction),
- identify and discuss strengths and weaknesses in how the
approaches introduced in the curriculum facilitate analysis of
different social aspects of past, present, and on-coming green
transition processes
- apply the analytical and empirical perspectives introduced in
the course to present and analyse concrete empirical phenomena
(cases) of past, present, and on-coming green transition
More specifically, the student should have acquired:
Knowledge:
making the student able to account for the central concepts,
theories, and empirical tendencies and analyses regarding social
aspects of green transition, as covered in the course syllabus,
Skills:
making the student able to select appropriate concepts, theories,
and empirical insights pertaining to uncertain and contested
aspects of green transition; to describe and analyse concrete
empirical phenomena (cases) in contemporary societies; and to
assess the strength and weaknesses of the different approached
covered in the course syllabus in relation to concrete dimensions
of the green transition,
Competences:
making the student able to convincingly present sociological
concepts, theories, and analyses related to green transition in an
appropriate format, via concrete case studies, as well as engage in
a discussion of strengths and weaknesses of his or her own work on
topics related to the green transition, starting from the content
of the course syllabus.
A reading package consisting of introductory texts and research papers will be provided for the course, including John Dryzek et al. (2003), Green States and Social Movements.
- Category
- Hours
- Class Instruction
- 56
- Preparation
- 296
- Exam Preparation
- 60
- Total
- 412
Registration deadline for courses is:
June 1st for Autumn semester
December 1st for Spring semester.
When registered you will be signed up for exam.
Sociology- and anthropology Student:
Registration online at KUnet
International exchange students:
You must sign up by filling in an application form. Find it at
www.sociology.ku.dk.
Credit students:
Find more information at
www.soc.ku.dk under Uddannelse -
Meritstuderende.
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Portfolio, -Individual or group (max. 4 students).
A portfolio assignment is defined as a series of short assignments during the course that address one or more set questions and feedback is offered during the course.
All of the assignments are submitted together for assessment at the end of the course. The portfolio assignments must be no longer than 20 pages. For group assignments, an extra 10 pages is added per additional student.
Further details for this exam form can be found in the Curriculum and in The General Guide to Examinations at KUnet. - Exam registration requirements
You need to be signed up for the course to attend the exam
- Aid
- All aids allowed
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
- Exam period
Find more information on your study page at KUnet.
Exchange students and Danish full degree guest students please see the homepage of Sociology;
www.sociology.ku.dk under Education --> Exams- Re-exam
Written take-home essay with NEW formulated questions
Individual/group.
An elective subject is usually offered regularly, but we cannot guarantee it will be offered more than once. Please be aware that the exam for this course is only offered 3 exam terms after the course has ended.
Criteria for exam assesment
Please see the learning outcome.
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- ASOA15110U
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Level
- BachelorBachelor choice,Full Degree Master,Full Degree Master choice
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Spring
- Schedule
- See Timetable
- Course capacity
- Vejl. 40 personer
- Study board
- Department of Sociology, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Sociology
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinators
- Janus Hansen (2-78764e817d713c79833c7279)
- Anders Blok (3-70717b4f827e723d7a843d737a)
Lecturers
Janus Hansen, e-mail: jh@soc.ku.dk
Anders Blok, e-mail: abl@soc.ku.dk