Political Ecology

Department of Politics and Government, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Lecturers: Nanang Indra Kurniawan, Devi Dhian C., Muhammad Djindan

Course Description
Political ecology explores and discusses the political dynamics surrounding material and
discursive struggles over the environment (Bryant, 1998). This course introduces key
concepts and theoretical frameworks of multidisciplinary field of political ecology. We seek
to understand interrelations between environmental change and social, political, and
economic factors; particularly how socio-environmental processes affect control, access and
use to resources vice versa. The outcome of this course is not only to develop student’s
analytical skills to understand about the role of power and politics in shaping the relations
between human and their environments, but also to gain insight about problems,
challenges, and potential solutions related to environmental struggles. To achieve these
objectives, this course will be divided into six main topics: first, core concepts and key
debates in political ecology; second, economic system and commodification of nature; third,
governing nature: the role of environmental knowledge, discourse, and ideology in struggles
over resources; fourth, space and scale in political ecology; fifth, resource ownership, access,
and use; sixth, everyday struggles within communities. Learning methods will combine both
in class and field trip.

Objective
This course is aimed to give basic understanding to students about the interlink between
ecology and politics. The basic assumption of this course is that ecological changes are both
the results and causes of social and political changes. To understand the interlink this course
focuses on the roles of identity, knowledge, materiality, political economy, and power
relations in shaping ecological change and vice versa.

Sessions

Main Themes Session Topics and Questions Method Literatures

Introduction 1 Introduction of the course: Lecturing Sylabus
missions, objectives, methods,
and evaluations.
Core concepts 2, 3 Defining Political Ecology: Group Watts (2000);
and key debates Linking nature, power discussion Bryant (1998)
in political relations, and political
ecology economy
a. What is political
ecology?
b. How do we
understand the
relations between
 human and nature?
c. How are the
interrelations between
politics and ecology?
3 What are key main approaches Robbins (2012)
in Political Ecology? Chapter 1;
 Degradation and Blaikie&Brookfield
marginalization (2015) Chapter 2
 Conservation and control
 Environmental conflict
and exclusion
 Environmental subjects
and identity
 Political objects and
actors

Economic 4,5 How do capitalism transform Castree (2003)

system and nature?
commodification  Commodification of
of nature nature: from use value
to exchange value
 Neoliberalism:
governance,
privatisation,
enclosure, and
valuation of nature
Governing 6, 7  How do knowledge, Escobar (1996);
Nature: Nature discourses and Nygren (1998);
and Subjectivity ideologies shape nature Kurniawan (2012)
(Practices and and struggles over
social discourse resources?
by which an  How does environmental
individual is governance shape
shaped as a subjectivity?
subject within
historical
context)

Space and scale 8,9  Where does ecological Rangan and Kull
in political changes take place? (2009), Neumann
ecology - Rural and agrarian (2009)
political economy and
rural livelihoods;
urban political ecology
- Local, regional,
national, global.
 How do local, regional,
national, global are socially
constructed?
  How does scale plays a
role in making ecological
change ‘political’?

Resource 10,11 Ownership, use of, and access Ribot& Peluso

ownership, to resources (2003)
access, and use
12 Field trip

Everyday 13 Struggle over access to and Nygren (2004);

struggles within control over resources Escobar (2006)
communities  How does communities
claim rights and demand
for policy changes related
to control, access, and use
of resources?

Wrapping up 14 Wrapping up

Grading
 Engagement in the class: 75 percent
 Final assigntment: 25 percent

Literatures
Escobar, A. (2006). Difference and conflict in the struggle over natural resources: a political ecology
framework. Development, 49(3), 6-13.
Nygren, A. (2004). Contested lands and incompatible images: the political ecology of struggles over
resources in Nicaragua's Indio-Maíz Reserve. Society and Natural Resources, 17(3), 189-205.
Bryant, R. L. (1998). Power, knowledge and political ecology in the third world: a review. Progress in
physical geography, 22(1), 79-94.
Watts, M. (2000). Political ecology. A companion to economic geography, 257, 274.
Robbins, P. (2012). Political ecology: A critical introduction(Vol. 16). John Wiley & Sons.
Ribot, J. C., & Peluso, N. L. (2003). A theory of access. Rural sociology, 68(2), 153-181.
Rangan, H., & Kull, C. A. (2009). What makes ecology political'?: Rethinking scale in political
ecology. Progress in Human Geography, 33(1), 28-45.
Neumann, R. P. (2009). Political ecology: theorizing scale. Progress in human geography, 33(3), 398-
406.
Castree, N. (2003). Commodifying what nature?. Progress in human geography, 27(3), 273-297.
Blaikie, P., & Brookfield, H. (2015). Land degradation and society. Routledge.
Escobar, A. (1996). Construction nature: Elements for a post-structuralist political
ecology. Futures, 28(4), 325-343.
Nygren, A. (1998). Environment as discourse: searching for sustainable development in Costa
Rica. Environmental Values, 201-222.
Kurniawan, N. I. (2012). Wacana Lingkungan dan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan dalam Lembaga
Swadaya Masyarakat di Indonesia. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, 16(1), 1-15.