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ANTH 246-Political Ecology-Melinda Gurr
ANTH 246-Political Ecology-Melinda Gurr
ANTH 246-Political Ecology-Melinda Gurr
Course Basics
Credit Hours 4
Lecture(s) Nbr of Lec(s) Per 2 Duration 1h 50m
Week
Recitation/Lab (per Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
week) Week
Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
Week
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Our world is plagued by environmental problems. Thus far, resolving the deep basis of these crises has been
largely superficial and disorganized. As a result, since the 1970s and 1980s, political ecology has emerged as an
exciting, emergent field combining the insights of anthropologists, climate scientists, geographers, and many
others in the effort to understand and discover appropriate solutions to some of the world’s most urgent
problems. In this perspective, environmental problems are understood in fundamentally social terms. Political
ecologists link the dynamics of global capitalism with the production of a series of environmental disasters and
failed environmental policies—attempting to bridge micro and macro level analyses. Although we cannot do
justice to this subject in a single semester, this introductory course is organized into thematic sections, covering
diverse subjects such as: energy scarcity and abundance; global governance of health, bodies, and genomics; the
contradictions of the global food system; capital’s marginal products: slums, waste, and garbage; water as a
commodity, human rights, and power; the functions and dysfunctions of the global green economy; political
ecology of the global climate; and carbon emissions. We examine also contemporary social movements and civil
society actors as they struggle to protect the commons and take seriously their visions and blueprints for
building a more sustainable (and equitable) future.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course intends to offer a global overview of the current ecological crises in its multiple dimensions:
politico-economic, cultural and epistemological, and governmental. Students will learn about the
historical processes which led to the current crisis, as well as the diversity of implications that
environmental problems pose to different social groups in different geo-historical contexts (viz.
environmental inequalities), while also engaging with their trans-scalar nature and global implications.
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The ultimate scope of the course is for students to acquire the ability to develop new and imaginative
ways of conceptualizing nature/society relationships in different geo-political and cultural contexts, in
order to contribute to the formulation of more inclusive and socially just environmental policies.
The course will familiarize students with the key concepts and tools used by political ecologists and help
students conduct political ecological research.
COURSE READINGS
All readings will be made available at the course reader (available at the photocopier) and will also be uploaded
in our course folder on LMS.
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Class participation: 10%
Attendance: 10%
Group Research Project and Presentation: 20%
Midterm & Final Exam: 40%
2 Reflection Papers: 20%
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Attend the lectures
Be in class on time.
Do the readings: It is essential for you to do all the assigned readings. Careful, thoughtful reading will be
crucial to your course performance.
Hand in your reading when it is due. Late work is NOT accepted.
Do not use your mobile phone in class.
CLASS PARTICIPATION-10%
Your class participation score will largely be based on your participation in classroom discussions and on your
ability to answer any question posed to you. As a general rule, comments that illustrate your familiarity with
your readings, demonstrate your ability to link what you are learning to the world around you, are reflexive, etc.,
will earn you more points in comparison to comments that merely repeat things that others have already said
(which will not earn you any points). You may also occasionally be asked to do class work, based on the readings
for that day. The score you receive will be added to your CP points.
ATTENDANCE-10%
You will get an “absent” for a class if: you do not come to class at all, are more than ten minutes late, come back
late from your class break, or if you leave class before it is over.
Excused absences are ONLY given to students if they are ill and can provide a note from the LUMS doctor or if
they have represented LUMS in an activity and can provide the relevant official paperwork.
Please note that more than two unexcused absences will result in your losing your attendance points (3
unexcused absences means you end up with 4 points, 4 unexcused absences mean you end up with 2 points and
more than 4 means you get no attendance points).
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The two unexcused absences that are allowed with no penalty are for occasions such as weddings, family
emergencies, job interviews, transportation issues, coming to class late, etc. As students shall not be given
excused absences for such occasions, they are encouraged not to ‘waste’ the leeway they are given.
*Please note that exams cannot be re-taken unless permission is sought and obtained from the OSA.
REFLECTION PAPERS-20% %
During the semester, you will be asked to write 2 reflection papers based on course material. Your papers will be
evaluated for content, critical analysis, and the ability to analyze important concepts.
NOTES
It is the students responsibility to get in touch with the instructor if they find they are having any
problems in the course or if they are working under any special conditions—which may be physical (e.g.
hearing difficulties), academic (e.g. probation), etc—and require special or extra assistance. Providing
suitable assistance, be it extra coaching, a seating change and so forth, will not be a problem. But please
remember that problems are best resolved when they are shared in a timely manner (and that means not
towards the end of the semester).
Scores and final grades are never changed (barring a miscalculation). Each and every paper and exam
shall be carefully read and graded on the basis of a particular pre-set criterion. While students are
always welcome to come and discuss their work with the instructor to find out how they can improve,
requests to alter the final score shall not be addressed, no matter what the reason (please see the
previous bullet point in this context).
There are certain norms of behavior that students are expected to display in the classroom. Talking to
each other during class time and using cell phones are examples of a violation of these norms and the
instructor reserves the right to take appropriate action if such behavior is displayed.
PLAGIARISM
There is a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism and cheating in this course. Students caught engaging in these
behaviors will be immediately sent to the Disciplinary Committee.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Session 2 What’s so political about ecology? What’s so ecological about politics? Historic background and
contemporary debates.
Film: Home (2009)
Reading: Thomas J. Bassett, et al. (2015) “Political ecological perspectives of
socioecological relations.” Natures Sciences Societés, pp. 157-165.
Session 3 Thinking about the global political economy of resources; uneven development (part 1)
David Harvey, 2006. “A Theory of Uneven Geographic Development: Accumulation by
Dispossession” In Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven
Geographical Development, pp. 69-89
Session 5 Population Crisis, limits to growth, the political implications of the population-resources theory
David Harvey. 1974. “Population, Resources, and the Ideology of Science.” Economic
Geography, 50 (3): 256-277.
Extractive capital
Session 18. Fuelling capitalism: energy scarcity and abundance
Gavin Bridge. 2011. “Pask peak oil: political economy of energy crises.” In, Global
Political Ecology. Edited by Richard Peet, et al. pp. 305-325.
Film: The Devil’s Miner (2005)
Urban challenges
Session 20 Capital’s margins: the political ecology of “slums”
Sarah A. Moore. 2011. “Global garbage: waste, trash trading, and local garbage
politics.”
D. Asher Ghertner. 2011. “Green evictions: environmental discourses of a ‘slum-free’
Delhi.” In, Global Political Ecology. Edited by Richard Peet, et al. pp. 131-160.