Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

The course explores ways in which power relations shape environmental change and  governance from a critical environmental social science perspective. In this course, we  will discuss how the environments in which we live have been produced by major  forces such as capitalism, as well as how race, class, and gender are relevant categories  for analysing environmental change and conflict, and how those categories intersect.  We will also consider the relevance and limits of the concept of environmental justice  for analysing environmental change and conflict.  

The classes draw on knowledge from the interdisciplinary fields of political ecology,  environmental history, and ecological economics, which use varied conceptual devices  and methodological tools to study how environmental change is produced and what are  its social implications.  

The aim of the course is to help students develop a critical understanding of  environmental change and of the relevance of power and politics for producing or  shaping nature. After the end of the course, students should be in a position to mobilise  specific concepts and analytical tools presented in the class in order to analyse 

environmental transformation, and embark on mini-projects (e.g. for their final year dissertations) in the area of environmental social science. 

Associated skills

This course is part of the optional courses itinerary “citizenship and government” that  together, develops the following competencies: 

BASIC SKILLS: 

CB2. That students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a  professional manner and have competences typically demonstrated through devising  and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study.

1 

CB3. That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within  their field of study) to inform judgments that include reflection on relevant social,  scientific or ethical. 

CB4. That students can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both  specialist and non-specialist audiences. 

CB5. That students have developed those skills needed to undertake further studies with  a high degree of autonomy. 

GENERAL SKILLS: 

CG1. Capacity for analysis and synthesis. 

CG3. Knowledge of a second language. 

CG4. Basic computer skills. 

CG6. Interpersonal skills. 

CG7. Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team. 

CG10. Research skills. 

CG12. Ability to generate new ideas (creativity). 

CG13. Leadership. 

CG15. Project design and management. 

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS: 

CT1. Identify and analyze critically gender inequality and its intersection with other  axes of inequality. 

SPECIFIC SKILLS: 

CE2. Analyze the structure and functioning of political systems. 

CE6. Identify citizen behavior and democratic values. 

CE7. Analyze the functioning of electoral processes. 

CE17. Apply the methods and techniques of political and social research. CE18. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data. 

CE19. Examine the techniques of political communication. 

CE20. Categorize information and communication technologies (ICT) and analyze their  impact on the political system. 

Sustainable Development Goals

ODS 5: Igualtat de gènere / Gender equality

ODS 7: Energia assequible i no contaminant / Affordable and clean energy

ODS 10: Reducció de les desigualtats / Reduced inequalities

ODS 11: Ciutats i comunitats sostenibles / Sustainable cities and communities

ODS 12: Consum i producció responsables / Responsible consumption and production

ODS 13: Acció climàtica / Climate action

ODS 15: Vida Terrestre / Life on land

ODS 16: Pau, Justícia i institucions sòlides / Peace, justice and strong institutions

Contents

Section 1: Introduction: Linking environment, society and politics  

• Environmental governance 

• Politics and power 

• Political economy  

Section 2: Racialised natures 

• Environmental racism 

• Environmental justice 

• Critical environmental justice 

Section 3: Capitalist natures 

• Capital accumulation and environmental degradation 

• Second contradiction of capitalism 

• Commodity frontiers

2 

Section 4: Feminist natures  

• Gendered environments 

• Feminist political ecology  

• Intersectionality 

Section 5: Environmental conflict and justice 

• Material flows 

• Extractivism 

• Commodity chain and conflicts 

Section 6: Health and nature 

• Homeostasis 

• Diversity (immunological, biological, microbiome…) 

• Socio-exposome 

Section 7: Low-carbon transitions 

• Ecological transition 

• Green sacrifice 

5. Seminars 

This course includes three seminars; performance in the first seminar will be evaluated,  while the other two seminars will serve to provide students with feedback for their Final  Essay assignment. 

Attendance to all seminar sessions is compulsory. Students failing to attend a seminar  without providing a (written) proof of serious (e.g. medical) reasons why they did not  show up, will get a “0” (zero) mark for that seminar, and will be automatically  suspended from the course, i.e. will get a “Fail” mark for the whole of the course. 

Seminar 1 involves the screening of a movie related to socio-environmental issues.  Students are required to do a set of readings before that seminar. After the screening,  students will get into groups (of 3-5 students, depending on the size of the class) to  answer a set of questions, which they will then present in the class. Presentations will be  followed by a class discussion. Performance in this seminar will be evaluated (see next  section of this syllabus). 

For Seminars 2 and 3, students will send a draft of their group’s final essay (EJ Index  Card) showing their progress in collecting material and advancing their final essay  assignment. They will then be provided with feedback from course tutors on their  progress and ways of improving their work. Student performance in this seminar will  not be evaluated. 

9 

Teaching Methods

This course combines lectures, flipped classrooms, and seminars. All formats require  active student participation. Some lectures are given by invited lecturers, specialists in  the topics of those classes. 

All sessions require students to do preparation before the class, in the form of reading  academic articles or book chapters, watching videos, or listening to a pre-recorded  lecture (for flipped classrooms only). Some sessions require students to answer a 5 question related to readings before the class, upload their answers at UPF’s intranet  system (Aula Global) or send them by email (for classes with invited lecturers), and  then discuss their answers in class. Classroom activities are used to go deeper into  course concepts, and further clarify complex points.  

One seminar is used for student evaluation purposes. Another seminar is used to provide  feedback to students about their final essay. The final class is a revision class in which  students are required to prepare explaining one key course concept through a classroom  activity.  

You many find details about those requirements and formats, including which classes  involve a lecturing, flipped classroom, or seminar format in the course’s webpage at  UPF’s intranet system (Aula Global).  

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated via three types of evaluation tools: 

• Classroom participation and performance  

• Performance on a seminar 

• Performance on a final course essay  

In order to get a mark for this course, students must participate in the seminars and write the final essay.  

The following table outlines the contribution of each evaluation to student final mark. 

Class readings and weekly assignments 

Class 1 is an introductory class; students are not required to do any reading for that  class. For those classes that are lecture-based, i.e. all classes except seminars and the  revision class, students are required to read an academic article and answer a question  related to that article before the class. Students must upload their answers 48 hours  before the class at the university’s intranet system (Aula Global), using the link that  can be found in the relevant week of the course. Answers should not exceed 500 words.  Readings will be made available in the Aula Global university intranet. Student answers  will also be used for conducting classroom activities. In the class, performance will be  evaluated by assessing the quality of written answers and participation in classroom activities – specifically by how well students bring into their answers and participation  knowledge from the readings. The last class is a revision class.  

Seminar 

The first seminar will be used to conduct ongoing student evaluation. Students will form  groups and an overall mark will be given for performance to the whole of the group and  the same mark will be assigned as seminar performance to each student individually.  Student performance will be evaluated by how well students explain relevant concepts  and bring knowledge imparted during the course in their answers and presentations, and  by their participation in the discussion. 

Final Essay 

60% of the mark for this course is allocated to student performance in the Final Essay.  This is a group essay, which means that an overall mark will be given for performance  to the whole of the group and the same mark will be assigned to each student  individually. The essay will involve generating material necessary for mapping one 

environmental conflict, along the lines of the information used in the cases included in  the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (https://ejatlas.org/). Cases in the Atlas are  recorded through the use of an index card that documents certain aspects of a conflict,  such as conflict actors, forms of mobilisation, environmental impacts, conflict  outcomes, etc. Each team will choose a conflict of its own (from a list of cases that will  be provided by the course lecturer), and will then collect data used in the Atlas for  generating an index card for their conflict. Data will be collected primarily from online  resources (e.g. media news items, reports, government documents, published scientific 

4 

literature, etc.), and – depending on the conflict – through approaching NGOs, activists,  other actors in the conflict, etc. that could be contacted either in the form of a remote or  face-to-face interview, or via other means such as email, etc. The essay should be  between 7-10 pages. 

Students should form groups and decide which environmental conflict they will document for the Final Essay by registering their names before Class 5 in the link titled ‘Student groups for Environment, Society and Politics 2021-22’ at the top of  the webpage for this course in Aula Global. Students not registering their names will not  be evaluated.  

One session will involve a lecture by Dr Mariana Walter (Universitat Autònoma de  Barcelona), who is an expert in environmental conflicts and has coordinated research  for the Environmental Justice Atlas. Dr Walter will explain basic concepts related to  collecting data for the Environmental Justice Atlas and the challenges of documenting  environmental justice conflicts. 

Seminars 2 and 3 will be in the form of a tutorial, in which each group will present in  class (with a power point, Prezi, etc. presentation) their progress in collecting material  and advancing their Final Essay, and get feedback from course tutors.  

The deadline for submitting the Final Essay (i.e. the conflict index card) will be the  date of the final exam for the course, which will be set by the university. Students  failing to hand in the essay by the deadline without providing a (written) proof of  serious (e.g. medical) reasons why they did not keep with the deadline, will be given a  “0” (zero) mark for that essay, and will be automatically suspended from the course, i.e.  will get a “Fail” mark for the whole of the course without the possibility to take a resit  exam (retest).  

*Note on Final Essay material: Course tutors may propose to the students who have put  together the most highly marked essay, to include it as an index card in the actual Atlas  website. This will be done only if there is student interest and consent with doing this.  

Retest  

Those failing the course will be given a second (and final) chance to pass the course by  taking a resit exam (retest). Only those who have attended both seminars and have  handed in a final essay will be able to resit to pass the course. Resit will involve writing  a long essay that will require you to draw on knowledge from the whole of the course. 

Bibliography and information resources

Key readings 

Bakker, Karen, 2005. Neoliberalizing nature? Market environmentalism in water supply  in England and Wales. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 95(3),  pp.542-565. 

Blaikie, Piers. 1985. The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries.  London: Longman. 

Elmhirst, Rebecca. 2011. Introducing New Feminist Political  Ecologies. Geoforum, 42(2), 129-132 

Klein, Naomi. 2016. Let Them Drown. The Violence of Othering in a Warming World.  London Review of Books Vol. 38 No. 11 · 2 June 2016, pp: 11-14  

Martínez-Alier, Joan. 2003. The environmentalism of the poor: a study of ecological  conflicts and valuation. Edward Elgar Publishing 

McNeill, John R. 2010. Mosquito empires: ecology and war in the Greater Caribbean  1620-1914. New York: Cambridge University Press 

McNeill, John R., 2001. The world according to Jared Diamond. The History Teacher,  34(2), pp.165-174. 

Nash, Linda, 2005. The agency of nature or the nature of agency? Environmental  History, 10(1), pp.67-69. 

Nelson, Julie A., 2013. Ethics and the economist: What climate change demands of  us. Ecological Economics, 85, pp.145-154 

Paulson, Susan, and Geezon, Lisa. (eds.). 2005. Political Ecology across Spaces,  Scales, and Social Groups. New Jersey: Rutgers 

Peet, Richard, Robbins, Paul, and Watts, Michael (Eds.). 2011. Global political  ecology. London & New York: Routledge 

Robbins, Paul. 2007. Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who  We Are. Philadelphia: Temple University Press 

Robbins, Paul. 2012. Political Ecology (2nd edition). John Wiley & Sons 

6 

St. Martin, Kevin. 2006. The impact of “community” on fisheries management in the  US Northeast. Geoforum 37, pp. 227-245 

Temper Leah, Del Bene Daniela, Martinez-Alier Joan. 2015 Mapping the frontiers and  front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas. Journal of Political Ecology,  vol. 22, p. 255-278 

Recommended readings  

Agrawal, Arun. 2005. Environmentality: technologies of government and the making of  subjects. Durham, NC: Duke University Press 

Agarwal, Bina. 2001. Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An  Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Framework. World Development, 29(10),  1623-1648. 

Bennett, Jane. 2009. Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University  Press. 

Blaser, Mario, Feit, Harvey A, and McRae, Glenn. (Eds.) In the Way of Development:  Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects and Globalisation. London: Zed Books, pp. 26-44 

Escobar, Arturo. 1996. Construction nature: Elements for a post-structuralist political  ecology. Futures 28 (4), pp. 325-343 

Escobar, Arturo. 2011. Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the  Third World. Princeton University Press. 

Featherstone, David, and Korf, Benedikt. 2012. Introduction: Space, contestation and  the political. Geoforum, 43(4), 663-668 

Heywood, Andrew. 2002. Politics. 2nd edition. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. 

Kaika, Maria. 2005. City of flows. Modernity, nature and the city. Routledge, New  York/London 

Martinez-Alier, Joan, Kallis, Giorgos, Veuthey, Sandra, Walter, Mariana, and Temper,  Leah. (2010). Social metabolism, ecological distribution conflicts, and valuation  languages. Ecological Economics, 70(2), 153-158 

Peluso, Nancy L., and Watts, Michael, 2001. Violent environments. Cornell University  Press 

Riofrancos Thea. 2021. The rush to ‘go electric’ comes with a hidden cost: destructive  lithium mining. The Guardian, 14 June 2021 

Rodó-de-Zárate, Maria. 2014. Developing Geographies of Intersectionality with Relief  Maps: Reflections from Youth Research in Manresa, Catalonia. Gender, Place &  Culture, 21(8), 925- 944 

Schroeder, Richard A., St. Martin, Kevin, Albert, Katherine, E. 2006. Political ecology  in North America: discovering the Third World within? Geoforum 37, pp. 163-168 

Sharp, Joanne. 2009. Geographies of postcolonialism: spaces of power and  representation. Sage Publications 

Sultana, Farhana. 2011. Suffering For Water, Suffering From Water: Emotional  Geographies of Resource Access, Control and Conflict. Geoforum, 42(2), 163-172

7 

White, Sam. 2011. The climate of rebellion in the early modern Ottoman Empire.  Cambridge University Press. 

Zografos, Christos, and Martínez-Alier, Joan. 2009. The politics of landscape value: a  case study of wind farm conflict from rural Catalonia Environment & Planning A 41,  pp. 1726-1744 

Zografos, Christos, and Robbins, Paul, 2020. Green Sacrifice Zones, or Why a Green  New Deal Cannot Ignore the Cost Shifts of Just Transitions. One Earth, 3(5), pp.543- 546 

Other resources 

CNS Web: an online community of red-green activists. http://www.cnsjournal.org/ 

Edge Effects: a collaborative project of the Center for Culture, History, and the  Environment at The University of Wisconsin–Madison. http://edgeeffects.net/ 

EJ Atlas: Mapping Environmenal Justice. https://ejatlas.org/ 

ENTITLE Marie Curie Initial Training Network in Political Ecology.  http://www.politicalecology.eu/ 

Feminism(s) and Degrowth Alliance. https://www.degrowth.info/en/feminisms-and degrowth-alliance-fada/ 

POLLEN Political Ecology Network. https://politicalecologynetwork.com/ Revista de Ecología Política. http://www.ecologiapolitica.info/ 

Undisciplined Environments blog. https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/ 

Uneven Earth. Website seeking to provide clear and thoughtful discussions about  environmental and social justice conflicts. http://www.unevenearth.org 

University of Kentucky Political Ecology Working Group (DOPE).  https://www.facebook.com/ukpewg/

Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

The course explores ways in which power relations shape environmental change and  governance from a critical environmental social science perspective. In this course, we  will discuss how the environments in which we live have been produced by major  forces such as capitalism, as well as how race, class, and gender are relevant categories  for analysing environmental change and conflict, and how those categories intersect.  We will also consider the relevance and limits of the concept of environmental justice  for analysing environmental change and conflict.  

The classes draw on knowledge from the interdisciplinary fields of political ecology,  environmental history, and ecological economics, which use varied conceptual devices  and methodological tools to study how environmental change is produced and what are  its social implications.  

The aim of the course is to help students develop a critical understanding of  environmental change and of the relevance of power and politics for producing or  shaping nature. After the end of the course, students should be in a position to mobilise  specific concepts and analytical tools presented in the class in order to analyse 

environmental transformation, and embark on mini-projects (e.g. for their final year dissertations) in the area of environmental social science. 

Associated skills

This course is part of the optional courses itinerary “citizenship and government” that  together, develops the following competencies: 

BASIC SKILLS: 

CB2. That students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a  professional manner and have competences typically demonstrated through devising  and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study.

1 

CB3. That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within  their field of study) to inform judgments that include reflection on relevant social,  scientific or ethical. 

CB4. That students can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both  specialist and non-specialist audiences. 

CB5. That students have developed those skills needed to undertake further studies with  a high degree of autonomy. 

GENERAL SKILLS: 

CG1. Capacity for analysis and synthesis. 

CG3. Knowledge of a second language. 

CG4. Basic computer skills. 

CG6. Interpersonal skills. 

CG7. Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team. 

CG10. Research skills. 

CG12. Ability to generate new ideas (creativity). 

CG13. Leadership. 

CG15. Project design and management. 

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS: 

CT1. Identify and analyze critically gender inequality and its intersection with other  axes of inequality. 

SPECIFIC SKILLS: 

CE2. Analyze the structure and functioning of political systems. 

CE6. Identify citizen behavior and democratic values. 

CE7. Analyze the functioning of electoral processes. 

CE17. Apply the methods and techniques of political and social research. CE18. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data. 

CE19. Examine the techniques of political communication. 

CE20. Categorize information and communication technologies (ICT) and analyze their  impact on the political system. 

Sustainable Development Goals

ODS 5: Igualtat de gènere / Gender equality

ODS 7: Energia assequible i no contaminant / Affordable and clean energy

ODS 10: Reducció de les desigualtats / Reduced inequalities

ODS 11: Ciutats i comunitats sostenibles / Sustainable cities and communities

ODS 12: Consum i producció responsables / Responsible consumption and production

ODS 13: Acció climàtica / Climate action

ODS 15: Vida Terrestre / Life on land

ODS 16: Pau, Justícia i institucions sòlides / Peace, justice and strong institutions

Contents

Section 1: Introduction: Linking environment, society and politics  

• Environmental governance 

• Politics and power 

• Political economy  

Section 2: Racialised natures 

• Environmental racism 

• Environmental justice 

• Critical environmental justice 

Section 3: Capitalist natures 

• Capital accumulation and environmental degradation 

• Second contradiction of capitalism 

• Commodity frontiers

2 

Section 4: Feminist natures  

• Gendered environments 

• Feminist political ecology  

• Intersectionality 

Section 5: Environmental conflict and justice 

• Material flows 

• Extractivism 

• Commodity chain and conflicts 

Section 6: Health and nature 

• Homeostasis 

• Diversity (immunological, biological, microbiome…) 

• Socio-exposome 

Section 7: Low-carbon transitions 

• Ecological transition 

• Green sacrifice 

5. Seminars 

This course includes three seminars; performance in the first seminar will be evaluated,  while the other two seminars will serve to provide students with feedback for their Final  Essay assignment. 

Attendance to all seminar sessions is compulsory. Students failing to attend a seminar  without providing a (written) proof of serious (e.g. medical) reasons why they did not  show up, will get a “0” (zero) mark for that seminar, and will be automatically  suspended from the course, i.e. will get a “Fail” mark for the whole of the course. 

Seminar 1 involves the screening of a movie related to socio-environmental issues.  Students are required to do a set of readings before that seminar. After the screening,  students will get into groups (of 3-5 students, depending on the size of the class) to  answer a set of questions, which they will then present in the class. Presentations will be  followed by a class discussion. Performance in this seminar will be evaluated (see next  section of this syllabus). 

For Seminars 2 and 3, students will send a draft of their group’s final essay (EJ Index  Card) showing their progress in collecting material and advancing their final essay  assignment. They will then be provided with feedback from course tutors on their  progress and ways of improving their work. Student performance in this seminar will  not be evaluated. 

9 

Teaching Methods

This course combines lectures, flipped classrooms, and seminars. All formats require  active student participation. Some lectures are given by invited lecturers, specialists in  the topics of those classes. 

All sessions require students to do preparation before the class, in the form of reading  academic articles or book chapters, watching videos, or listening to a pre-recorded  lecture (for flipped classrooms only). Some sessions require students to answer a 5 question related to readings before the class, upload their answers at UPF’s intranet  system (Aula Global) or send them by email (for classes with invited lecturers), and  then discuss their answers in class. Classroom activities are used to go deeper into  course concepts, and further clarify complex points.  

One seminar is used for student evaluation purposes. Another seminar is used to provide  feedback to students about their final essay. The final class is a revision class in which  students are required to prepare explaining one key course concept through a classroom  activity.  

You many find details about those requirements and formats, including which classes  involve a lecturing, flipped classroom, or seminar format in the course’s webpage at  UPF’s intranet system (Aula Global).  

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated via three types of evaluation tools: 

• Classroom participation and performance  

• Performance on a seminar 

• Performance on a final course essay  

In order to get a mark for this course, students must participate in the seminars and write the final essay.  

The following table outlines the contribution of each evaluation to student final mark. 

Class readings and weekly assignments 

Class 1 is an introductory class; students are not required to do any reading for that  class. For those classes that are lecture-based, i.e. all classes except seminars and the  revision class, students are required to read an academic article and answer a question  related to that article before the class. Students must upload their answers 48 hours  before the class at the university’s intranet system (Aula Global), using the link that  can be found in the relevant week of the course. Answers should not exceed 500 words.  Readings will be made available in the Aula Global university intranet. Student answers  will also be used for conducting classroom activities. In the class, performance will be  evaluated by assessing the quality of written answers and participation in classroom activities – specifically by how well students bring into their answers and participation  knowledge from the readings. The last class is a revision class.  

Seminar 

The first seminar will be used to conduct ongoing student evaluation. Students will form  groups and an overall mark will be given for performance to the whole of the group and  the same mark will be assigned as seminar performance to each student individually.  Student performance will be evaluated by how well students explain relevant concepts  and bring knowledge imparted during the course in their answers and presentations, and  by their participation in the discussion. 

Final Essay 

60% of the mark for this course is allocated to student performance in the Final Essay.  This is a group essay, which means that an overall mark will be given for performance  to the whole of the group and the same mark will be assigned to each student  individually. The essay will involve generating material necessary for mapping one 

environmental conflict, along the lines of the information used in the cases included in  the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (https://ejatlas.org/). Cases in the Atlas are  recorded through the use of an index card that documents certain aspects of a conflict,  such as conflict actors, forms of mobilisation, environmental impacts, conflict  outcomes, etc. Each team will choose a conflict of its own (from a list of cases that will  be provided by the course lecturer), and will then collect data used in the Atlas for  generating an index card for their conflict. Data will be collected primarily from online  resources (e.g. media news items, reports, government documents, published scientific 

4 

literature, etc.), and – depending on the conflict – through approaching NGOs, activists,  other actors in the conflict, etc. that could be contacted either in the form of a remote or  face-to-face interview, or via other means such as email, etc. The essay should be  between 7-10 pages. 

Students should form groups and decide which environmental conflict they will document for the Final Essay by registering their names before Class 5 in the link titled ‘Student groups for Environment, Society and Politics 2021-22’ at the top of  the webpage for this course in Aula Global. Students not registering their names will not  be evaluated.  

One session will involve a lecture by Dr Mariana Walter (Universitat Autònoma de  Barcelona), who is an expert in environmental conflicts and has coordinated research  for the Environmental Justice Atlas. Dr Walter will explain basic concepts related to  collecting data for the Environmental Justice Atlas and the challenges of documenting  environmental justice conflicts. 

Seminars 2 and 3 will be in the form of a tutorial, in which each group will present in  class (with a power point, Prezi, etc. presentation) their progress in collecting material  and advancing their Final Essay, and get feedback from course tutors.  

The deadline for submitting the Final Essay (i.e. the conflict index card) will be the  date of the final exam for the course, which will be set by the university. Students  failing to hand in the essay by the deadline without providing a (written) proof of  serious (e.g. medical) reasons why they did not keep with the deadline, will be given a  “0” (zero) mark for that essay, and will be automatically suspended from the course, i.e.  will get a “Fail” mark for the whole of the course without the possibility to take a resit  exam (retest).  

*Note on Final Essay material: Course tutors may propose to the students who have put  together the most highly marked essay, to include it as an index card in the actual Atlas  website. This will be done only if there is student interest and consent with doing this.  

Retest  

Those failing the course will be given a second (and final) chance to pass the course by  taking a resit exam (retest). Only those who have attended both seminars and have  handed in a final essay will be able to resit to pass the course. Resit will involve writing  a long essay that will require you to draw on knowledge from the whole of the course. 

Bibliography and information resources

Key readings 

Bakker, Karen, 2005. Neoliberalizing nature? Market environmentalism in water supply  in England and Wales. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 95(3),  pp.542-565. 

Blaikie, Piers. 1985. The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries.  London: Longman. 

Elmhirst, Rebecca. 2011. Introducing New Feminist Political  Ecologies. Geoforum, 42(2), 129-132 

Klein, Naomi. 2016. Let Them Drown. The Violence of Othering in a Warming World.  London Review of Books Vol. 38 No. 11 · 2 June 2016, pp: 11-14  

Martínez-Alier, Joan. 2003. The environmentalism of the poor: a study of ecological  conflicts and valuation. Edward Elgar Publishing 

McNeill, John R. 2010. Mosquito empires: ecology and war in the Greater Caribbean  1620-1914. New York: Cambridge University Press 

McNeill, John R., 2001. The world according to Jared Diamond. The History Teacher,  34(2), pp.165-174. 

Nash, Linda, 2005. The agency of nature or the nature of agency? Environmental  History, 10(1), pp.67-69. 

Nelson, Julie A., 2013. Ethics and the economist: What climate change demands of  us. Ecological Economics, 85, pp.145-154 

Paulson, Susan, and Geezon, Lisa. (eds.). 2005. Political Ecology across Spaces,  Scales, and Social Groups. New Jersey: Rutgers 

Peet, Richard, Robbins, Paul, and Watts, Michael (Eds.). 2011. Global political  ecology. London & New York: Routledge 

Robbins, Paul. 2007. Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who  We Are. Philadelphia: Temple University Press 

Robbins, Paul. 2012. Political Ecology (2nd edition). John Wiley & Sons 

6 

St. Martin, Kevin. 2006. The impact of “community” on fisheries management in the  US Northeast. Geoforum 37, pp. 227-245 

Temper Leah, Del Bene Daniela, Martinez-Alier Joan. 2015 Mapping the frontiers and  front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas. Journal of Political Ecology,  vol. 22, p. 255-278 

Recommended readings  

Agrawal, Arun. 2005. Environmentality: technologies of government and the making of  subjects. Durham, NC: Duke University Press 

Agarwal, Bina. 2001. Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An  Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Framework. World Development, 29(10),  1623-1648. 

Bennett, Jane. 2009. Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University  Press. 

Blaser, Mario, Feit, Harvey A, and McRae, Glenn. (Eds.) In the Way of Development:  Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects and Globalisation. London: Zed Books, pp. 26-44 

Escobar, Arturo. 1996. Construction nature: Elements for a post-structuralist political  ecology. Futures 28 (4), pp. 325-343 

Escobar, Arturo. 2011. Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the  Third World. Princeton University Press. 

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Riofrancos Thea. 2021. The rush to ‘go electric’ comes with a hidden cost: destructive  lithium mining. The Guardian, 14 June 2021 

Rodó-de-Zárate, Maria. 2014. Developing Geographies of Intersectionality with Relief  Maps: Reflections from Youth Research in Manresa, Catalonia. Gender, Place &  Culture, 21(8), 925- 944 

Schroeder, Richard A., St. Martin, Kevin, Albert, Katherine, E. 2006. Political ecology  in North America: discovering the Third World within? Geoforum 37, pp. 163-168 

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Sultana, Farhana. 2011. Suffering For Water, Suffering From Water: Emotional  Geographies of Resource Access, Control and Conflict. Geoforum, 42(2), 163-172

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White, Sam. 2011. The climate of rebellion in the early modern Ottoman Empire.  Cambridge University Press. 

Zografos, Christos, and Martínez-Alier, Joan. 2009. The politics of landscape value: a  case study of wind farm conflict from rural Catalonia Environment & Planning A 41,  pp. 1726-1744 

Zografos, Christos, and Robbins, Paul, 2020. Green Sacrifice Zones, or Why a Green  New Deal Cannot Ignore the Cost Shifts of Just Transitions. One Earth, 3(5), pp.543- 546 

Other resources 

CNS Web: an online community of red-green activists. http://www.cnsjournal.org/ 

Edge Effects: a collaborative project of the Center for Culture, History, and the  Environment at The University of Wisconsin–Madison. http://edgeeffects.net/ 

EJ Atlas: Mapping Environmenal Justice. https://ejatlas.org/ 

ENTITLE Marie Curie Initial Training Network in Political Ecology.  http://www.politicalecology.eu/ 

Feminism(s) and Degrowth Alliance. https://www.degrowth.info/en/feminisms-and degrowth-alliance-fada/ 

POLLEN Political Ecology Network. https://politicalecologynetwork.com/ Revista de Ecología Política. http://www.ecologiapolitica.info/ 

Undisciplined Environments blog. https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/ 

Uneven Earth. Website seeking to provide clear and thoughtful discussions about  environmental and social justice conflicts. http://www.unevenearth.org 

University of Kentucky Political Ecology Working Group (DOPE).  https://www.facebook.com/ukpewg/