NIFK21000U Gender, Environment and Sustainable Development

^{Gender equity and so-called ‘sustainable development’ remain elusive. Despite decades of development efforts, environmental degradation is only escalating and inequality in wellbeing and autonomy persists. Critical scholars view gender inequalities and environmental problems as intimately connected. Both rest on forms of exploitation of nature and bodies which are argued to be rooted in patriarchal, colonial and capitalist relations, structures and worldviews. Gender – understood as something other than biological sex – operates in tandem with other markers of distinction such a class, caste, indigeneity, race and sexuality. This course operates from the premise that there is nothing natural about gender differences. It explores the theoretical underpinnings of this premise and its implications for how we as scholars, students and practitioners can think about sustainable development centered around commoning and care. To imagine a world without the gender gap requires that social movements, activists, and scholars join forces and share experiences and interpretations as well as analytical frameworks. With this course we aim to contribute to this productive cross-pollination.}

^{This overview course has a distinct approach to understanding how gender and ecological conditions are interrelated. Grounded in social theory, it is inherently critical of standard development and gender narratives and instead seeks explanatory power within historical and structural conditions. We explore different approaches to this. The course readings are selected as key contributions to broad debates on gender, environment, and development and are rooted in disciplinary fields such as critical geography, political economy, feminist political ecology, and critical social theory. Over eight weeks, structured around core themes including decoloniality, critiques of capitalism, globalization, performativity, care, and commoning, students will engage in primary readings of feminist and other critical scholars who have been at the forefront of conceptualizing gender and human/environment relations in different ways. Through this we aim to understand: i) how gender and ecological conditions are interrelated, ii) the dynamics behind the widespread ‘dual oppression’ of particular humans and the environment as well as the policy responses designed to redress these, iii) critical perspectives on buzzwords like ‘sustainability’, ‘sustainable development, and ‘gender’ that circulate in policy and project documents, global ‘development goals’, and social movements, and iv) a range of conceptual and analytical tools to both explain today’s realities and instigate change toward new future trajectories.}

^{The course offers students of environment and development, geography, global development, environmental science, food science, natural resources governance, or similar fields the opportunity to learn how to understand and analyze the relations between gender, environment, and sustainable development, and to engage in debates about different approaches to these issues. While experience with social sciences in general will be helpful, we welcome students with natural science backgrounds who are ready to immerse themselves. We combine a close reading and discussion of these texts with case studies, documentaries, and interactions with activists and social movements. By the end of the course, students have acquired the skills to formulate critical questions and clear methodologies around the entanglements between issues of gender and the environment and the challenges these pose to sustainable development. This will enable them to understand and engage in diverse gender and environment conflicts and debates across diverse topics, scales, and contexts.}