Environment and Development in World Pol (L2073AD)
Environment and Development in World Politics
Module L2073AD
Module details for 2021/22.
30 credits
FHEQ Level 6
Module Outline
The question of whether current forms of economic and political organisation in international society are capable of responding to the challenge of sustainable development is more pertinent than ever before. Questions are being asked about how development can be redefined to accommodate ecological challenges or whether we need to fundamentally rethink notions of growth and progress. This course takes a critical look at the actors and issues implicated in the emerging global debate on sustainable development. It engages with competing theoretical perspectives about the drivers of environmental change and how best to explain the nature of international cooperation on the environment and its limits, but also aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the defining issues and tensions that constitute the struggle to define future notions of development.
The course will address empirical case studies such as climate change, biodiversity and biotechnology and deforestation as well as the relationship between trade and the environment, finance and the environment and production and the environment in a context of globalisation. Students will gain an understanding of the key actors in these debates from governments and international institutions to civil society organisations and corporations and the ways their power and influence can best be understood.
The course begins with an overview of the shifting nature of the relationship between environment and development in world politics before looking at the key actors in global debates about sustainable development. From there it sets out a range of theoretical tools for understanding the global politics of these issues before focussing in on a range of issue areas, those listed above. It concludes with reflection on prospects for change and the viability of alternative proposals for better addressing the environment and development in world politics
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Semester | Seminar | 3 hours | 11111111111 |
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