ASTK12134U Glocal Environmental Governance

Volume 2013/2014
Content

In 2010 James Lovelock, globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist, concluded that humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. The failures and successes of human attempts to govern accelerating environmental change is the political challenge of our era. The course will examine the theoretical, empirical and normative aspects of glocal environmental governance. The course will first consider the dominant paradigms, theories and concepts of glocal environmental  governance. Second, the analytical tools developed in the introduction will be used to examine a series of cases in glocal environmental governance, including lifestyle/consumption, pollution mitigation, biodiversity maintenance, and climate change. The course concludes by returning to Lovelock’s assertion and asking whether and how humans are able to engage in glocal environmental governance capable of averting ecotastrophe.

Preliminary plan:

Introduction

  1. Understanding glocal environmental governance

 

Consumption

  1. overview - Our Home
  2. cases in (over) consumption

 

Pollution

  1. overview - Wall-E’s World
  2. cases in pollution mitigation

 

Biodiversity

  1. overview - the Avatar of FernGully
  2. cases in biodiversity maintenance

 

Climate Change

  1. overview - Today is the Day After Tomorrow
  2. cases in climate change

 

The seminar begins by introducing the differing understandings of glocal environmental governance, in particular market liberal, institutional, bioenvironmental, and deep ecological views. The main emphasis of the course will be on four differing dimensions of glocal environmental governance – consumption, pollution, biodiversity, and climate change. In each of these areas the seminar will first explore the broad developments and discourses of glocal environmental governance. Second, in each area students will engage with selected case studies in order to explore both the theoretical and policy details.

Questions raised in the course include more empirical issues such as what are the predominant challenges of glocal environmental governance? How can we best understand different approaches to glocal environmental governance? How are the challenges of consumption, pollution, biodiversity, and climate change represented in popular culture?  What are the differing paths to a green world? Are humans too stupid to govern climate change?

Learning Outcome

The aim of the course is to enable the student to:

  • Describe how glocal, environmental, and governance are deeply interdependent
     
  • Present central theoretical perspectives of market liberalism, institutionalism, bioenvironmentalism, and deep ecology
     
  • Understand the role of consumption and sustainable lifestyles in glocal environmental governance
     
  • Understand the role of pollution and precautionary behaviour in glocal environmental governance
     
  • Understand the role of biodiversity and ecosystemservices in glocal environmental governance
     
  • Understand the role of climate change and precautionary behaviour in glocal environmental governance
 

What can it be used for?
The course will strengthen the ability to analyse and evaluate the glocal environmental governance in general, and more specifically in the areas of consumption, pollution, biodiversity, and climate change. By using analytical tools from political science, the course is relevant for employment in public policy and administration, international organisations, the EU, NGOs and journalism.


 

Literature

Preliminary list of literature

Bäckstrand, Karin, jamil Kahn, Annica Kronsell, and Eva Lövbrand (eds.) (2010) Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy (Edward Elgar).

Biermann, Frank, and Philip Pattberg (eds.) (2012) Global Environmental Governance Reconsidered (Boston: MIT Press).

Bouteligier, Sofie (2012) Cities, Networks, and Global Environmental Governance: Spaces of Innovation, Places of Leadership (London: Routledge).

Boykoff, Maxwell (ed.) (2009) The Politics of Climate Change (London: Routledge).

Bulkeley, Harriet, and Peter Newell (2010) Governing Climate Change (London: Routledge).

Chasek, Pamela and Lynn Wagner (2012) The Roads from Rio: Lessons Learned from Twenty Years of Multilateral Environmental Negotiations (Washington: RFF Press).

Chasek, Pamela, David Downie, Janet Brown (2013) Global Environmental Politics, 6th edn. (Boulder: Westview Press).

Christoff, Peter, and Robyn Eckersley (2013) Globalization and the Environment (Rowman and Littlefield).

Clapp, Jennifer, and Peter Dauvergne (2011) Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment, 2nd edn.  (Boston: MIT Press).

Conca, Ken, and Geoffrey Dabelko (eds.) (2010) Green Planet Blues: Four Decades of Global Environmental Politics, 4th edn. (Boulder: Westview Press).

Connelly,  James, Graham Smith, David Benson, and Clare Saunders (2012) Politics and the Environment: From Theory to Practice, 3rd edn. (London: Routledge).

Kutting, Gabriela (ed.) (2010) Global Environmental Politics: Concepts, Theories and Case Studies (London: Routledge).

Lovelock, James (2010) The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning (Basic Books).

Newell, Peter, and Mathew Paterson (2010) Climate Capitalism: Global Warming and the Transformation of the Global Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

 

A detailed list of core and required readings will be provided at the start of the course.

BA level in political science or similar competences and an interest in reflections on glocal environmental governance.
The classes will consist of seminars and discussions of both theoretical perspectives and case studies. Approximately 33% of the learning time will be in seminar, 33% in case study, and 33% in focussed discussion. Students are expected to make at least one case study analysis and presentation, while actively discussing the others.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 28
  • Exam
  • 79
  • Preparation
  • 168
  • Total
  • 275
Credit
10 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Written exam
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment
  • Grade 12 is given for an outstanding performance: the student lives up to the course’s goal description in an independent and convincing manner with no or few and minor shortcomings
     
  • Grade 7 given for a good performance: the student is confidently able to live up to the goal description, albeit with several shortcomings
     
  • Grade 02 is given for an adequate performance: the minimum acceptable performance in which the student is only able to live up to the goal description in an insecure and incomplete manner