NSCPHD1195 Political Ecology

Volume 2013/2014
Education
Applied Economics (AECON)
Content
The course will provide an overview of the various Political Ecology theses of: degradation and marginalization; environmental conflict; conservation and control of and access to natural resources; and environmental identity and social movements. The course will explore these themes through both theoretical and empirical lenses, while also illustrating how Political Ecology relates to and is distinguished from other research areas that transcend the social and natural science disciplines.

Environmental conflict, land degradation, and environmental change are often defined in ‘apolitical’ terms such as ‘ecoscarcity’ or ‘modernisation’ and purported to be driven, among other things, by population growth; marginal people’s resource management; and lack of adoption and implementation of modern economic and scientific techniques. Political Ecology, however, asserts that these environmental issues are inherently political and intrinsically linked to the political, economic and social context. Scholars from various disciplines and from different regions of the world have used PE to frame studies on resource and management challenges in fields such as environment and development, climate change, land-use, and conservation. This course will examine how Political Ecology has been used to frame research into natural resource management, including research design and methodologies, and will challenge students to explore the various ways this frame can be applied to their own projects.

This course aims to provide students with a general understanding of the main arguments within the discipline of Political Ecology while also allowing students to delve more deeply into the context of their individual PhD projects.

The course centres around a 5-day course workshop that follows an interactive workshop style where lectures will be complemented with group discussions centred on the participants’ own research. During the first four days, mornings will be spent on lectures and discussions in plenum, while afw
Learning Outcome
This course aims to provide students with a general understanding of the main arguments within the discipline of Political Ecology while also allowing students to delve more deeply into the context of their individual PhD projects. Upon completion of the course, participants should have gained the following knowledge and competencies:
• Knowledge of how Political Ecology perspectives can inform the study of environmental and social challenges?
• Knowledge of how Political Ecology links to major ‘schools’ of social science, e.g. political economy, science studies, and critical theory
• Knowledge of the implications of Political Ecology for choice of theory, concepts, research design, and methods in empirical research
• Being able to position your own research in the larger body of Political Ecology research
Literature
A few of the readings:
Ostrom, E. 2009. A general framework for analysing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science 325: 419-422.
Arts, B. and I. Babili 2013. Global Forest Governance: Multiple Practices of Policy Performance. World Forests 14.
Benson, C. S. and A. Agrawal. Mimeo. More Power, Less Autonomy: Decentralization Reforms and their consequences.
Neimark, B. 2010. Subverting Regulatory Protection of ‘Natural Commodities’: The Prunus Africana in Madagascar. Development and Change 41(5): 929–954.
Mathews, A.S. 2011. Instituting Nature – Authority, Expertise, and Power in Mexican Forests. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Chapter 1.
 
Readings list will be provided upon admission to the course.
The course has pre-workshop activities and workshop activities. Pre-workshop activitites consist of literature readings, individual preparation of a course paper, and group preparation of a written review of and oral presentation of a book. The 5-day course workshop will follow an interactive workshop style where lectures will be complemented with group discussions centred on the participants’ own research. During the first four days, mornings will be spent on lectures and discussions in plenum, while afternoons will be spent on a combination of group discussions on participants’ papers and discussions on the basis of film displays. On the fifth day, students will present their reading of selected classic books in the field. The selection will be made by the organisers, and students will be placed in groups before the course.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 40
  • Preparation
  • 100
  • Project work
  • 100
  • Total
  • 240
Credit
8 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Course participation under invigilation
Participants must submit a course paper of no more than 3,000 words by May 1, 2013. Participants will be required to work in groups to prepare joint written reviews and oral presentations of a classic book within Political Ecology. The written review must be submitted by May 1, 2013. These two items as well as full participation in the five day course will earn the participant a course certificate.
Aid
All aids allowed
Censorship form
No external censorship