GYM5040

Environment and development

Dr Damian Kingsbury

12 points -2 hours per week -Second semester -Clayton -Prerequisites: Major sequence in geography or permission of head of department

Objectives On successful completion of this subject, students should have an understanding of the complex interrelations between economic development and environmental change in the Third World in the last fifty years; be informed about the difficult policy choices that governments in poor countries are being forced to make as they attempt to balance the necessity for growth against the need to protect the environment; and be aware of the difficulties in designing programmes to achieve sustainable development.

Synopsis The report of the World Commission on Environment and Development and the majority opinion at the recent Earth Summit suggests that unless major changes take place in the lifestyles of both the developed and developing countries, large parts of the globe will become uninhabitable within the next three decades. This subject examines the causes of environmental degradation in the Third World and considers the prospects for more sustainable forms of development.

Assessment Report (3000 words): 30% -Research essay (6000 words): 70%

Recommended texts

Adams WM Green development 1992
Brown NJ and Quiblier P Moral implications of a global consensus: Ethics and Agenda 21 United Nations Environment Program, 1994
Falloux F Crisis and opportunity: Environment and development in Africa Earthscan, 1993
Grubb M The earth summit agreements Earthscan, 1993
Hanisch E Climate change and the agenda for research 1994
Hardoy JE et al. Environmental problems in third world cities 1992
Paehlke R Environmentalism and the future of progressive politics Yale U P, 1989
Quarrie J Earth summit 92: The UN conference in environment and development 1992
Redclift M Sustainable development: Exploring the contradictions Methuen, 1987
Redcliff M and Benton T (eds) Social theory and the global environment Routledge, 1994
Sachs W Global ecology: A new arena of political conflict 1993
World Bank Facing the global environmental challenge 1994
World Bank World development report 1992 OUP, 1992
World Commission on Environment and Development Our common future OUP, 1987

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