Course Syllabus

Photo credit: AP Environment

Semester & Location:	Fall 2024 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Environmental Studies, Sustainability, International Relations
Prerequisite:	None
Faculty Member:	David Possen - contact via Canvas Inbox
Time & Place:	Mondays and Thursdays 13:15-14:35 in classroom N7-D10

 

Course Overview

This interdisciplinary course grapples with the ‘untold’ story of environmental degradation – especially in the Global South – noting how the destruction brought on by climate change and irresponsible development often takes place gradually, hidden from view.

Our main aim is to reflect constructively on the root causes of environmental degradation associated with human activity.  Drawing on insights from ecology, sociology, philosophy, psychology, economics, postcolonial theory, and political science, we consider how analysis of and reflection on these root causes can be used around the world, not only to improve policymaking in the public sector, but also to guide environmental activism and engagement in civil society and the private sector.

While the course does conclude with a look at emerging tools for environmental impact reporting and accountability, we do not provide formal training in these tools.  Instead, our goal is to understand both the ongoing challenge of environmental degradation and potential solutions from a cultural, social, and historical perspective, with a special critical focus on the role that Western conceptions of progress, development, economic growth, and human emancipation play in exacerbating - and, at times, concealing - the scope of the crisis.

• We will examine the broad conditions that shape why there are disproportionate burdens and risks to the environment and to society.
• We will discuss the civilization paradigms, ideologies, and perceptions that humans have constructed that have led to the current environmental crisis.
• We will also explore the nexus of human rights and the environment, with a focus on participation processes and decision-making.
• We will use a variety of case studies from around the world, learning about existing transnational and local activism, and studying a broad range of governmental, organizational, and community responses.

 

Faculty

David Possen, Ph.D. (Social Thought and Philosophy, University of Chicago, 2009). Postdoctoral fellow, Yale University, 2009-2011. Since 2013 external lecturer at the University of Copenhagen. With DIS since 2014.

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Analyze and understand how cultural beliefs and values shape our experience, understanding, and responses to the environment.

• Develop critical awareness of the dynamics and challenges of economic and social transformation from an environmental perspective.

• Reflect on and synthesize a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives on the causes and consequences of environmental risks and opportunities.

• Think critically about the multiple ways that social background, race, class, ethnicity, and gender affect one’s experience of and responses to environmental problems.

• Think critically about your own role in the larger picture, by assuming the perspective of others, and by discovering different world-views and lived experiences.

 

Readings

Selections from the following books will be provided online: 

Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958.

Capra, Fritjof and Pier Luigi Luisi. The Systems View of Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Catton, William R. Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. Illinois Press, 1980.

Bebbington, Jan et al., eds. Sustainability Accounting and Accountability. 2nd edition. London: Routledge, 2014. 

Goudie, Andrew S. The Human Impact on the Natural Environment: Past, Present, and Future. 7th edition. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley, 2013.

Latouche, Serge. Farewell to Growth. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.

Marcuse, Herbert. One-Dimensional Man. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964.

Marx, Karl. Capital. New York: International Publishers, 1959 [1894].

Meadows, Donella. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. London: Earthscan, 2009.

Ricardo, David. On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. London: John Murray, 1819.

Suárez-Krabbe, Julia. Race, Rights, and Rebels. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Sunderlin, William D. Ideology, Social Theory, and the Environment. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

Thomas, Vinod et al. The Quality of Growth. Oxford: The World Bank, 2000.

Walker, Brian Harrison and David Salt. Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006.

 

The following articles will be provided online:

Acosta, Alberto, "Extractivism and Neoextractivism: Two Sides of the Same Curse," in Lang, Miriam and Dunia Mokrani, eds. Beyond Development: Alternative Visions from Latin America, trans. Sara Shields and Rosemary Underhay (Amsterdam and Quito: Transnational Institute / Rosa Luxembourg Foundation, 2013).

Clark, John. "What is Eco-Anarchism?" The Ecological Citizen 3, Supplement C (2020): 9–14.

Esbjörn-Hargens, Sean and Michael Zimmerman. "An Overview of Integral Ecology." Integral Institute Resource Paper #2, 2009.

Hartmann, Betsy. "Rethinking Climate Refugees and Climate Conflict." Journal of International Development 22 (2010), pp. 233–246.

Latouche, Serge. "Degrowth Economics." Le Monde diplomatique, November 2004.

Macy, Joanna. "Working Through Environmental Despair," in Roszak, Gomes, & Kanner, eds., Ecopsychpology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind (Berkeley, CA: Sierra Club Books / The University of California Press, 1995), pp. 240–259.

Rodrik, Dani. "Growth Strategies." NBER Working Paper Series 10050 (2003).

Rostow, Walt Whitman. "The Stages of Economic Growth." The Economic History Review, Second Series 12 (1959) 1: 1–16.

Sonnerfeldt, Amanda, and Caroline Pontoppidan. "The Challenges of Assurance on Non-Financial Reporting." Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium 10 (2020) 2: 1–23.

Steffen, Will et al., "Planetary Boundaries: Guiding Human Development on a Changing Planet."  Science 347 (2015) 6223: 736f. (1259855). 

Steffen, Will et al. "Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene."  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 (2018) 33: 8252–8259.

White, Lynn Jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis." Science 155 (1967) 3767: 1203–1207.

Williamson, John. "The Strange History of the Washington Consensus." Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 27 (2004) 2: 195–206.

 

Other online resources

Impact Management Project, World Economic Forum and Deloitte on behalf of CDP, CDSP, GRI, IR, and SASB. "Reporting on Enterprise Value, Illustrated With a Prototype Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Standard."

Kingsnorth, Paul and Dougald Hine, "Uncivilization: The Dark Mountain Manifesto." https://dark-mountain.net/about/manifesto/

http://www.ejolt.org/maps/ : World mapping of environmental crisis (project)

https://ejatlas.org/ World mapping of environmental crisis (large map + information)

http://www.ejolt.org/section/blog/ World mapping of environmental crisis (blog + news)

https://www.oxfam.org NGO

http://bbop.forest-trends.org/ :biodiversity offsets

http://eia-global.org/ Environmental Investigation Agency. investigation of environmental crimes: many case studies

Action Aid Denmark

The transformation of environmental activism http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/40057_en.html

http://www.iucn.org/

http://www.sierraclub.org/

 

Field studies

More information will be provided at the beginning of the course. 

 

Approach to Teaching

The course includes a variety of teaching formats, where we balance discussion, debate, and formal lecturing, including prerecorded lectures.

In the first half of the course (Modules 1 and 2), the teaching material consists primarily of articles and book chapters.  In the second half (Modules 3 and 4), the focus shifts to current-day videos, reports, and media articles.  References to additional material are included for those who would like to explore our topics in greater detail.

It is the student's responsibility to do the required reading and other preparation, with a special focus on mind mapping.

 

Expectations of the Students

• Active and voluntary participation in class discussions

• Preparing thoroughly for every class, i.e. doing all of the required reading and research

• Being able to address the readings critically during class, thus displaying a good understanding of the subject matter

• Being analytical and concise in oral interventions, i.e. backing up arguments by facts and references rather than “feeling” this or that – Please note that monopolizing the floor with fluffy, unstructured, and redundant monologues will NOT be seen as a positive contribution.

• Being able to collaborate well with your assigned group

 

Grading

General participation (discussion, debate, questions, mind maps)	20%
Midterm - Part I (Exam)	12%
Midterm - Part II (Presentation)	28%
Final Project (individual or group), including presentation	40%

 

Final Project

Our final term assignment will involve investigating a case study of your choice concerning the environmental impact of human beings. You may work on the assignment as an individual or in a group. The outcome of your assignment includes both a presentation to the rest of the class and a report that includes - in some form - the following elements:

• an introductory appeal to the reader/viewer
• a description (can be visual) of a noteworthy case of human impact on the environment
• identification of the stakeholders involved (can be a visualization)
• an account (once more - this can be a visualization) of a way forward
• a reflective conclusion celebrating the transferable insight gained from considering this case.

You may create/use any type of media (essays, academic articles, reportage, videos, photos, interviews, blog posts, social media, digital conversation/interviews with key actors of an affected community, etc.). You are encouraged to be as creative as possible. 

 

Topics of successful past projects include: (non-exhaustive list!) links provided as a starting point

• Pipelines

• Waste issues in economically disadvantaged megacity suburbs
  

• Electronic waste

• Water projects

• Construction sites close to a closed landfill

• Projects in Europe (Toxic Sludge in Hungary, ...)

• 30 years after the Bhopal disaster: sequels from local communities

• 40 years after the Sevezo accident: impacts of vulnerable communities

• Mining projects (Rio Tinto Madagascar)

• The legacy of PCBs in the Arctic region

• Arctic regions squeezed between climate change and resource extraction

• Development theories

 

Academic Regulations

Late Papers: All papers are due to me by email before the start of class on the day that they are assigned. Late papers will be graded down by one letter grade, while papers that are more than one day late will not be accepted.

Computers and cell phones: Due to the tendency to distract and impact the atmosphere of the classroom, use of phones is not allowed. Laptop computers / tablets are tolerated for note-taking.

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org