POL 373: Global Ecological Politics (rev. 2007-03-19) Prof. Alex Montgomery [email protected] (503) 517-7395
Class Office Tu 6:10-9:00 PM TuTh 4:00-5:30 PM or by appointment LIB 203 Eliot 204B https://moodle.reed.edu/course/view.php?id=32 http://www.reed.edu/∼ahm
Course Description and Goals
Full course for one semester. What conceptual framework can we use to analyze ecological issues in today’s world? Do we as human beings have responsibility toward the environment? What impact does globalization have on the environment? How do political and economic development of societies influence and how are they influenced by the changes in the environment? How do ecological issues affect conflict and cooperation between and within states? In an attempt to shed light on these questions, the course analyzes structures, agents, and processes affecting global ecological politics in the first half. The second half focuses on examining contemporary issue areas including food, fish, forests, biodiversity; water, pollution, chemicals, and waste; energy, climate change, and ozone depletion; and potential future problems. Prerequisite: one upper division course in social sciences or history or consent of the instructor. Conference.
Students will learn to perform basic research and analysis through writing and thinking about events in world politics from multiple different perspectives. Readings are drawn from historic and contemporary scholars of international relations, cover a wide variety of issues, and are grouped together in conflicting pairs where possible. Assignments are a mixture of analysis, research, and experiential learning.
Requirements
Class Participation Students will have the opportunity participate in the class both during and outside of classroom hours. Each student will be assigned to two days during the semester in which they will co-author a short memo comparing and contrasting that day’s readings and posing questions for discussion. These memos should be posted in the forums on the course website by 8 PM the day before the readings are to be discussed. The posters will also start off the next day’s session with a short presentation and will open up discussion. ALL students are required to read the memos and be prepared to answer the questions the next day in class; they are also encouraged to respond to the memos in the forum as part of their participation.
In addition, each student will find an outside article, book chapter, or report relevant to that week’s readings and individually write a short memo (about 500 words or so, longer is fine) discussing how that additional reading relates theoretically or empirically to the other materials. Please post the additional piece on Moodle (if electronic) or put it in my box (if not) by noon the day before class. Since the readings are usually divided up among the presenting students, a very good strategy is to pick a piece that is cited by, or cites, the reading that you are doing for the group memo so that you can bring that outside reading into the discussion. For example, it could be a piece discussing data that contradicts or updates some data presented in that week; a piece that discusses more in-depth particular aspects of a problem; or a piece that introduces a new perspective’s take (e.g., ecofeminism, deep ecology) on an issue or subject. If you are having trouble finding a piece, please contact me and I’ll be happy to assist. Your assigned weeks and your fellow presenters will be posted on Moodle.
Readings Readings for the course are drawn from books available at the bookstore as well as E-Readings, which can be downloaded off the course website. For the lazy, the E-Readings can even be downloaded directly from the links on the syllabus. Readings marked “Further” are other relevant articles and book chapters; neither are required for class.
1 Six books are for sale at the bookstore and are also on reserve at the library; one book (Taking Sides) is only on reserve, and the last book (International Politics) is neither. The first five are required and will be used extensively throughout the course; the sixth (Environmental Peacemaking) is used for one class and therefore is recommended rather than required; the last two are optional since one (Taking Sides) is only for further reading and all of the relevant readings in the other (Art and Jervis) are available via E-Readings. Required • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Global environmental politics. 4th edition. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, Dilemmas in world politics, ISBN 0813343321;9780813343327 • Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko, editors (2004) Green Planet Blues: Environmental Politics from Stockholm to Johannesburg. 3rd edition. Westview Press, ISBN 0813342007 • Ronnie D. Lipschutz (2004) Global Environmental Politics: Power, Perspectives, and Practice. Washington, D.C: CQ Press, ISBN 1568027494 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) The skeptical environmentalist : measuring the real state of the world. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521010683 • Dennis Pirages and Theresa Manley DeGeest (2004) Ecological Security: An Evolutionary Perspective on Globalization. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, ISBN 0847695018 Recommended • Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko (2002) Environmental Peacemaking. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 080187193X Optional • Thomas A Easton, editor (2007) Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Environmental Issues. 12th edition. McGraw-Hill, ISBN 007351442X • Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis (2005) International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues. 7th edition. New York: Pearson/Longman, ISBN 0321209478
Course Website Frequent reading of the course website will be helpful for success in the class. Discussion and collaboration with your peers is available to you through the website as well as in class; supplemental and core readings will be made available there; and assignments will be turned in electronically using the site.
Assignments and Quals There is one formal assignment for this course. More details regarding the assignment will be available later. If you intend to qual in this course, you must let me know the first day.
• The assignment (due the end of week 14) will be a longish (3000-3500 word) essay; non-seniors will present their assignments during the last class.
Citation and Plagiarism A major goal of this course is to encourage good reading, research, and citation habits. Good research requires good documentation of sources and the ability to put one’s own analysis and thoughts into a paper rather than relying on others. Plagiarism and cheating are violations of academic integrity and thus violations of Reed’s Honor Principle. As specified by Reed’s academic conduct policy, such violations will result in disciplinary actions, including suspension or permanent dismissal from the College. For the purposes of this class, plagiarism is submitting a piece of work which in part or in whole is not entirely the student’s own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source. For more information see:
2 If you’d like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Assistant Dean of Student Services, Adrienne Wolf-Lockett, Eliot 109, (503)777-7534. If you have a letter from Student Services, please let me know so we can discuss those accommodations.
Schedule
Week 1 01/23/07 Global Politics Part I: Structures, Agents, and Processes Week 2 01/30/07 Overview Week 3 02/06/07 Paradigms Week 4 02/13/07 Agents Week 5 02/20/07 Regimes Week 6 02/27/07 Globalization Week 7 03/06/07 Development Week 8 Spring Break No Class Part II: Issue Areas Week 9 03/20/07 Population Week 10 03/27/07 Food, Fish, Forests + Biodiversity Week 11 04/03/07 Water, Pollution, Chemicals, + Waste Week 12 04/10/07 Energy, Climate Change, + Ozone Week 13 04/17/07 The Future Week 14 04/24/07 Conclusions
3 01.Global Politics (26 Pages) • J. David Singer (1960) International Conflict: Three Levels of Analysis. World Politics: A Quarterly Journal of International Relations. 12(3), 453–461
4 03.Paradigms (141 Pages) • Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko (2004) The Debate At Stockholm (Introduction). In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 15–23 • Donella H. Meadows et al. (2004) The Limits to Growth. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 24–28 • Garrett Hardin (2004) The Tragedy of the Commons. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 37–44 • Susan J. Buck (2004) No Tragedy on the Commons. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 45–53 • William Ophuls (2004) The Scarcity Society. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 54–60 • Sheila Jasanoff (2004) Skinning Scientific Cats. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 179–182 • Ronnie D. Lipschutz (2004) Deconstructing ”Global Environment”. In Lipschutz Global Environmental Politics, 33–86 • Ronnie D. Lipschutz (2004) Civic Politics and Social Power: Environmental Politics ”On the Ground”. In Lipschutz Global Environmental Politics, 132–176 Further • Nancy Myers and John D. Graham (2007) Is the Precautionary Principle a Sound Basis for International Policy? In Easton, 2–19
5 • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Effective Environmental Regimes: Obstacles and Opportunities. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 197–232 • Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko (2004) The Prospects For International Environmental Cooperation (Introduction). In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 141–146 • United Nations Environment Programme (2004) Multilateral Environmental Agreements: A Summary. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 147–155 • James Gustav Speth (2004) Perspective on the Johannesburg Summit. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 156–163 • Richard E. Bissell (2004) A Participatory Approach to Strategic Planning. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 164–170 • World Summit on Sustainable Development (2004) Excerpt from The Jo’Burg Memo: Fairness in a Fragile World. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 171–178 • David John Frank, Ann Hironaka, and Evan Schofer (2000) Environmentalism as a Global Institution: Reply to Buttel. American Sociological Review. 65(1), 122–127
6 07.Development (113 Pages) • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Environment and Development. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 261–270 • Joao Augusto de Araujo Castro (2004) Environment and Development: The Case of the Developing Countries. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 29–36 • Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko (2004) The Sustainability Debate (Introduction). In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 227–233 • World Commission on Environment and Development (2004) Towards Sustainable Development. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 234–245 • Larry Lohmann (2004) Whose Common Future? In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 246–251 • Sharachchandra M. Lel´ e´ (2004) Sustainable Development: A Critical Review. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 252–264 • Bjorn¨ Stigson (2004) Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 265–274 • Alan Durning (2004) How Much Is Enough? In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 275–282 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Prosperity. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 70–86 • Dennis Pirages and Theresa Manley DeGeest (2004) Ecologically Secure Development. In Pirages and DeGeest Ecological Security, 189–210 Further • Jeremy Rifkin and Ronald Bailey (2007) Is Sustainable Development Compatible With Human Welfare? In Easton, 20–33 09.Population (143 Pages) • Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko (2004) From Ecological Conflict To Environmental Security? (Introduction). In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 283–289 • Thomas F. Homer-Dixon (2004) Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 290–302 • Daniel Deudney (2004) The Case against Linking Environmental Degradation and National Security. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 303–313 • Adil Najam (2004) The Human Dimensions of Environmental Insecurity. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 314–324 • Somaya Saad (2004) For Whose Benefit? Redefining Security. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 325–327 • Balakrishnan Rajagopal (2004) The Violence of Development. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 328–330 • Gita Sen (2004) Women, Poverty, and Population: Issues for the Concerned Environmentalist. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 358–367 • United Nations Population Fund (2004) Footprints and Milestones: Population and Environmental Change. In Conca and Dabelko Green Planet Blues, 368–372 • Robert D. Kaplan (1994) The Coming Anarchy. Atlantic Monthly. 273(2), 44–76
7 • John Bongaarts (2002) Population: Ignoring its Impact. In Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg’s comments, 20–25
8 11.Water, Pollution, Chemicals, + Waste (176 Pages) • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Transboundary Air Pollution. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 101–105 • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) International Toxic Waste Trade. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 128–133 • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Toxic Chemicals. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 134–142 • Erika Weinthal (2002) The Promises and Pitfalls of Environmental Peacemaking in the Aral Sea Basin. In Conca and Dabelko Environmental Peacemaking, 86–119 • Pamela M. Doughman (2002) Water Cooperation in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region. In Conca and Dabelko Environmental Peacemaking, 190–219 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Water. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 149–158 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Air pollution. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 163–177 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Indoor air pollution. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 182–184 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Allergies and asthma. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 185–188 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Water pollution. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 189–205 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Waste: running out of space? In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 206–209 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Conclusion. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 210–214 • Bjørn Lomborg (2001) Our chemical fears. In Lomborg The skeptical environmentalist, 215–248 Further • Charles W. Schmidt and Brian Tokar (2007) Can Pollution Rights Trading Effectively Control Environmental Problems? In Easton, 92–107 • Anne Platt McGinn and Donald R. Roberts (2007) Should DDT Be Banned Worldwide? In Easton, 280–301 • Michele L. Trankina and Michael Gough (2007) Do Environmental Hormone Mimics Pose a Potentially Serious Health Threat? In Easton, 302–318 • Robert H. Harris and Margot Roosevelt (2007) Is the Superfund Program Successfully Protecting the Environment from Hazardous Wastes? In Easton, 319–330 12.Energy, Climate Change, + Ozone (214 Pages) • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Ozone Depletion. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 106–114 • Pamela S. Chasek, David Leonard Downie, and Janet Welsh Brown (2005) Climate Change. In Chasek, Downie and Brown Global environmental politics, 115–127 • Emma Duncan (2006) The Heat is On: a Survey of Climate Change. Economist. 380(8494), 1–16
9 • John P. Holdren (2002) Energy: Asking the Wrong Question. In Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg’s comments, 15–19
10