PLT3990

Politics of Environmentalism ( 6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader: To be advised

Offered:
Not offered in 2006.

Synopsis: This unit provides a comprehensive introduction to environmental politics, focussing on the politicisation of environmental problems. Students will be introduced to the diverse spectrum of environmental values, the environmental ethics debate, the evolving sustainable development debate at the national and global levels, and the politics of environmental justice. Critical attention will be directed to the structural barriers to ecologically sustainable development, the continuing contradictory environment and development imperatives facing the state and to the different ways in which practices of environmental degradation intersects with different forms of social domination.

Assessment: Essay (2500 words): 50% + Examination (2 hours): 50% + Third-year students will be required to complete at least one question in the examination which is particularly conceptual in nature requiring sophistication not normally expected of second-year students.

Contact Hours: 2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week

Prerequisites: A first-year sequence in politics or permission.

Prohibitions: PLT2990