Instructors:
Dr. Katrin Maria Singer
Displayed in timetable as:
Seminar Anthropo B
Language of instruction:
German
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 22
Learning objectives:
The first part of this course aims at introducing the students to current theories, approaches and debates in the field of political ecology. In the second part, students will actively learn to identify the principles of political ecology and to apply them to specific contexts and case studies. It is expected that students use political ecology approaches to bring to light different perspectives on environmental issues and identify their implications. Students should – at the end of the course – be able to recognize how underlying assumptions of nature/culture definitions shape the physical environment, the power relations nestling in it and their impact on management rationales.
Didactic concept:
While the first classes will provide an introduction to the basics of political ecology, in the rest of the course students will lead a critical discussion on different aspects of political ecology. Every week the class will focus on a different topic (for example; waste management, open cast mining, gender perspectives, political ecology of food…). To do so, every week texts and/or visual material will be provided. Students will be required to read and comment them in written form. Based on this, the group in charge of “the topic of the week” will lead the discussion and foster an in depth reflection among participants of the course.
The language of the course is officially English, but depending on the composition of the group, written notes and oral comments in German will also be accepted.
?Due to the format chosen, this seminar relies upon the participants´ effort and capacity to participate actively and constructively in the discussion. As explained above, every week students will have to hand in short comments and notes and once in the semester, they will lead in group a “discussion” on a chosen topic.
Literature:
Harcourt, W.; Nelson, W. (Eds.) (2015): Practicing Feminist Political Ecologies: Moving Beyond the ‘Green Economy’. London: Zed Books.
Peet, R. (Ed.) (2010): Global Political Ecology. London: Routledge.
Robbins, P. (2012): Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Robbins, P.; Hintz, J.; Moore, S. (2014): Environment and Society. A Critical Introduction. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Shiva, V. (2016): Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Food. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.
Walker, P. (2005) Political ecology: where is the ecology?, in: Progress in Human Geography 29, 73–82.
Zimmerer, K.S.; Bassett, T.J. (2003): Political ecology: An Integrative Approach to Geography and Environment – Development studies.
