Global Environmental Politics

Subject 672-386 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2009.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: Thirty contact hours per semester. Two 1-hour lectures per week for 10 weeks and a 1-hour tutorial per week for 10 weeks. The lecture and tutorial programs are staggered and cover the 12 weeks of semester
Total Time Commitment: 3 contact hours/week , 5.5 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: Recommended: 12.5 points of Level 1 & Level 2 Politics and International Studies
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Contact

Prof. Robyn Eckersley
r.eckersley@unimelb.edu.au
Subject Overview: This subject provides a comprehensive and critical introduction to global environmental politics. It introduces the ethical, political and institutional challenges raised by the global environmental crisis and the key policy and institutional responses. The subject critically explores the environmental treaty system, the role of the United Nations, and the complex relationship between global environmental and economic governance. The role of key non-state actors will also be examined, including the diverse and often competing claims of the modern environment movement and its critics and the changing practices of corporations. Key global debates about sustainable development, environmental justice and ecological security will be explored through a range of topics and case studies, including the idea of the ‘ecological footprint’ and the problem of over-consumption, the global politics of climate change, the relationship between trade and environment, the precautionary principle and the politics of risk. Questions of gender and ethnicity are explicitly addressed in the syllabus.
Objectives:
  • demonstrate a broad understanding of the diverse ideological character and claims of the modern environment movement and the major lines of political contestation in the broader global environmental debate;
  • comprehend and distinguish between the competing frameworks for understanding global environmental politics within mainstream international relations theory and the more critical field of global political ecology;
  • recognise the major environment and development tensions and debates within the national, international and global communities, particularly the sustainable development debate and the tensions between environmental and economic global governance;
  • be able to identify the different ways in which new environmental issues, actors, interests and agendas have challenged the basic norms and institutions of global governance, particularly the system of sovereign states, environmental multilateralism, and the norms and institutions of global economic governance;
  • be able to evaluate critically the different global institutional responses to global ecological problems.
Assessment: An essay of 3000 words 75% (due in the week prior to the mid-semester break) and a 1-hour take-home exam 25% (due at the end of semester).
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available.
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays;
  • be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;
  • be able to communicate knowledge ideologically and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;
  • be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision;
  • be able to participate in teamwork through small group discussions.
Notes:

Formerly available as 166-212 and 672-386. Students who have completed 166-212 or 672-386 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Available as a Breadth subject
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Development Studies Major
International Studies Major
Political Science Major
Politics & International Studies
Politics and International Studies
Politics and International Studies

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