intro class

Question 1

environmental politics - what

Answer 1

= really broad field
- no disciplinary stipulation, doesn’t draw disciplinary boundaries in the sand

Multi-sub-disciplinary within Political Science
(can look into it from all sub-disciplines of polsci)

▪ International relations
▪ Comparative politics
▪ Political theory

Multi-disciplinary beyond Political Science
(other social science fields also work on this topic)

▪ History
▪ Geography
▪ Sociology

-> can only do a small portion of env politics class

class on how politics and environment intersect

Question 2

our focus

Answer 2

how the env interacts/exacerbates long standing political concerns about power, freedom, equality and justice

POWER and environment

• How does power shape the environment?
• What makes some ways of conceptualizing environmental concerns more dominant than others?

EQUALITY and environment

• How do material inequities track social, political, and economic inequality?
• How are environmental inequities linked to the legacies of colonial hierarchy?

JUSTICE and environment

• How do calls for environmental justice try to rectify these inequalities?
• How do environmental social movements try to realize eco-justice?

FREEDOM and environment
= foundational questions of the course

• E.g., To what extent can we adequately respond to environmental degradation without giving up on political freedom?
• Can robust environmental repair be accomplished without sacrificing liberty? - or will it be domination?

answer these questions through diff paradigms of thought

Question 3

paradigms of thought

Answer 3

How we look at the relationship between the environment and politics

Shapes how we understand eco political challenges

• it shapes what we see

And informs what we think can, should, or must be done about those challenges

• what we see determines what we think can and should be done
• different suggestions how challenges ought to be navigated
• lot of the politics in env is about how to see climate
• crucial to know what effects diff way of looking have

Question 4

practicalities

Answer 4

grades = final exam

• reading and lecture material
• 70% MC, 30% short answer

communication

• before email, check syllabus, brightspace etc.
• if it is remotely complicated, go to office hours (e.g. on readings)
• office hours on zoom on Wednesdays

Weblectures are published immediately

course reading

1. accessible via brightspace
2. complete them before class
   - many readings are conceptually complex -> to really understand them you need to read slowly or multiple times -> get the most out of lectures
   - lectures go beyond material -> minimal understanding is prerequisite of lecture

new/diff on this course

• focus on critical thinking and concepts
• class about ideas
• goal to think critically and independently
• competing/diff ways of looking at env politics -> we have to think for ourselves what makes the most sense
• tough questions without clear answers
• scripted lectures: bc complicated material in short period of time
• actively listening important: don’t copy down everything she says (its recorded) - listen for key ideas to make note of them in your own words in terms that makes sense to you -> identify important questions and complications

Question 5

overview class

Answer 5

1. power = political ecology
2. ecological modernity?
3. environmental authoritarianism
4. eco-socialism
5. colonialism, racism and environmental justice
6. climate-related migration, mobility and movement
7. politics of eco-grief, -guilt and -anxiety (impact on responding to env degradation)
8. climate (in)action and (dis)engagement
9. review with sample questions