ASTK18485U The Politics of Nature. Mapping Political Theories of the Anthropocene

Volume 2025/2026
Education

BA in Political Science

MA in Political Science

Content

The politics of climate change is often depicted dichotomously as a matter of for or against climate action – as a matter of whether or not one believes in human caused global warming. But, as climate and environmental destructions continue to deteriorate, the map of political positions that grapple with the human relation to nature is becoming increasingly diverse. The Politics of Nature is a political theory course that explores these (re)emerging theories and lived experiences of the human relation to the climate, our environment, and more-than-human neighbours.


The course is divided into three parts. The first part sets the stage by theorising the political implications of climate destructions. Drawing on concepts such as ‘the Anthropocene’, this part invites students to critically reflect on how today’s planetary turmoil interrupts Western understandings of political and social life. The second part maps political and theoretical perspectives on the human relation to nature, engaging with ecomodernist, denialist, ecofascist, eco-Marxist, ecofeminist, and new materialist traditions. The third part engages with matters such as gender, belonging, and foodstuff to critically explore how they are negotiated by these different political and theoretical perspectives.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge:

  • Describe the studied theoretical approaches

Skills:

  • Present and analyze the arguments behind each of the theoretical approaches studied.
  • Apply the theories to discussions about concrete matters and lived experiences

Competences:

  • Combine and synthesize the ways in which each theoretical approach understands the human relation to nature as well as its political implications
  • Evaluate the validity of the various theoretical arguments

Indicative reading list (subject to change)
Anker, Elisabeth R. 2022. Ugly Freedoms. London and Durham: Duke University Press.

Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter. A Political Ecology of Things. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Benoist, Lise. 2023. “Far-right localism as an environmental strategy in France” Nordia geographical publications,

Biehl, Janet and Peter Staudenmaier. 2011. Ecofascism Revisited. Lessons from the German Experience. Porsgrunn: New Compass Press.

Daggett, Cara. 2018. “Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire,” Millennium, vol.47 :1,

Despret, Vinciane. 2022. “Politics of Terristories” in I. Bencke and J. Bruhn, eds., Multispecies Storytelling in Intermedial Practices. Goleta: punctum books,

Dichman, Anne-Sofie. “Sweaty bodies: a feminist approach to socioenvironmental politics”. Contemporary Political Theory. Forthcoming

Forchtner, Bernhard and Ana Tominc. 2017. “Kalashnikov and Cooking-spoon: Neo-Nazism, Veganism and a Lifestyle Cooking Show on YouTube,” Food, Culture & Society, vol. 20:3,

Hamilton, Clive. 2013. Earthmasters. The Dawn of the Age of Climate Engineering.

Irigaray, Luce. 1985. This Sex Which Is Not One. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press

Klein, Naomi. 2015. This Changes Everything. Capitalism vs. the Climate. London: Penguin Books

Latour, Bruno. 2018. Down to Earth. Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Malm, Andreas and the Zekin Collective. 2021. White Skin, Black Fuel. On the Danger of Fossil Fascism. London: Verso Books.

Mol, Annemarie. 2021. Eating in Theory. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Schmitt, Carl. 2015/1942. Land and Sea. A World-Historical Meditation. Candor: Telos Press Publishing.

The course is a political theory course and it therefore requires a curiosity about – sometimes complex – theoretical texts, however there are no prerequisites
The course will have a seminar format with small lectures, group work and presentations. Requires active participation.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 28
  • Preparation
  • 84
  • Exam Preparation
  • 56
  • Exam
  • 38
  • Total
  • 206
Written
Feedback by final exam (In addition to the grade)
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment, 8 pages
Type of assessment details
Free written assignment
1 student: max. 8 pages (19,200 keystrokes)
2 students: max. 10 pages (24,000 keystrokes)
3 students: max 12 pages (28,800 keystrokes)
Aid
All aids allowed except Generative AI
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Exam period

Summer 2026

Re-exam

Same exam form as the ordinary exam

Criteria for exam assesment

Please see Learning Objectives