PSCI 3064: Environmental Political Theory

Fall semester 2010 • Tu & Th 3:30-4:45 pm • KTCH 234

 

Instructor: Steve Vanderheiden

Office: Ketchum 21 • Office Hours: T & Th, 2-3 pm and by appointment

E-mail: vanders@colorado.edu • Phone: 303-492-7440

 

Course description:

 

This is a course in environmental political theory, which examines the roles of ethical, social, and political norms in the understanding and evaluation of contemporary environmental issues and the conceptual framing of those issues within a variety of environmental discourses.  Over the course of the summer term, we shall examine how the construction of environmental goals or problems in terms of ecological limits, economic rationalism, and democratic pragmatism (among other discourses) affects the terms of their assessment, shaping the way that persons and social or political institutions are thought to properly address them.  We shall also apply normative concepts such as justice, democracy, and citizenship to issues in environmental politics, considering the potential and limits of theorizing them in these terms, and examine several major schools of environmental political thought (including social ecology, radical environmentalism, and bioregionalism) in terms of their normative claims and potential to critically assess or reform environmental politics.  Finally, we shall examine the roles that ethical, social, and political values play in major contemporary social movements, including those for environmental justice, North-South equity, and green consumerism.

 

The goals of the course are to better understand the normative bases of major contemporary environmental issues and movements, to critically assess the role of discourses in shaping environmental politics, and to appreciate how environmental problems and goals rest on a wide variety of ethical, social, and political norms, without which they cannot be properly understood.  The course critical assesses the range of normative theories and discourses in current environmental politics, but does not advocate any particular view or value system.

 

Course requirements and grading:

 

There are three main categories of graded components to the course:

 

  1. Exams (60 points) – Three exams will be given during the course: two midterms and a final.  Each exam will include short answer questions an essay, and is worth 20 percent of the course grade.  A study guide will be distributed in class one week prior to each exam.
  2. Simulation (20 points) – Students will prepare a report for an in-class policy simulation and participate in that simulation (on global climate policy development) on December 7 and 9, with the report and presentation together worth 20 percent of the course grade.  Further instructions for this assignment will be provided the week prior to the simulation.
  3. Attendance and preparation (20 points) – Students will periodically be required to complete short in-class exercises, based on assigned course material and/or daily topics.  Exercises will be a mix of short reading quizzes, group exercises and/or presentations, and/or short writing assignments.  Combined with an attendance score (with penalty after first two unexcused absences), these elements comprise 20 percent of the course grade.

 

Texts:

 

There are two required texts for this course; both are available for purchase in the CU bookstore.

 

            J. Dryzek & D. Schlosberg, eds., Debating the Earth, 2nd edition (Oxford, 2005)

            Peter Dauvergne, The Shadows of Consumption (MIT Press, 2008)

 

Reading assignments from Debating the Earth are denoted DTE; those from The Shadows of Consumption are SOC; and those available online are CUL; in the reading schedule, below.

 

University and course policies:

 

Disability accommodations: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on students’ documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, http://www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices

 

Religious observances: Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance.  Students needing to miss class or exams for religious observances must inform the instructor during the first two weeks of the term. See http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html

 

Classroom behavior: Students and faculty share responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the professional responsibility to treat all students with understanding, dignity and respect, to guide classroom discussion and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which they and their students express opinions.  Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities.  Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records.  See polices at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code

 

Discrimination and harassment: The CU Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment, the University of Colorado policy on Sexual Harassment and the University of Colorado policy on Amorous Relationships apply to all students, staff and faculty.  Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550.  Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh

 

Honor code: All students of CU Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, and threatening behavior.  All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-725-2273). Students found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). More information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/

 

Excused absences: At the instructor’s discretion, students may be given opportunities to make up points missed as the result of documented illnesses (with a dated note from a health care provider) or other emergencies, religious observances, or official university activities.  Wherever possible, students should inform the instructor in advance of such absences in order to make necessary arrangements.  Absences resulting from discretionary events (such as non-emergency health care, non-essential travel, etc.) cannot qualify as excused, and make-ups are not available.  The instructor reserves the right to distinguish excusable from non-excusable reasons for missing class or exams.  Make-up exams or other assignments may be different in format than those missed as a consequence of excused absences.  Attendance at the scheduled final exam is mandatory, except as allowed by the university’s final exam policy.

Attendance: To qualify for attendance points, students must be present at the beginning and end of the scheduled class period.  The instructor reserves the right to count as absent students missing at the beginning or end of class.

 

Final exam policy: When students have three or more final examinations on the same day, they are entitled to arrange an alternative examination time for the last exam or exams scheduled on that day. Such arrangements must be made no later than the end of the sixth week of the semester. Students are expected to provide evidence that they have three or more examinations to qualify for exceptions. See: http://www.colorado.edu/policies/final_exam.html

 

Reading, lecture and exam schedule:

 

August 24: Introduction (no reading assignment)

 

August 26: Environmental political theory: a discourse approach

            Dryzek & Schlosberg, “Introduction,” in DTE

            Dryzek, “Political and Ecological Communication,” in DTE

Cronon, “The Trouble with Wilderness,” in CUL

 

August 31: Ecological limits: survivalism

Meadows, et al, “The Limits to Growth,” in DTE

Arrow, et al, “Economic Growth, Carrying Capacity, and the Environment,” in CUL

Brown, “A Planet Under Stress,” in DTE

 

September 1: Vanderheiden @ APSA (no class meeting)

 

September 7: The tragedy of the commons?

Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” in DTE

            Ostrum, “The Nature of Common Pool Resource Problems,” in CUL

 

September 9: The Promethean response

Simon & Kahn, “Introduction to That Resourceful Earth,” in DTE

Lomborg, “The Truth About the Environment,” in DTE

Burke, “Ten Pinches of Salt,” in DTE

           

September 14: Administrative rationalism

Bartlett, “Rationality and the Logic of the NEPA,” in DTE

Lee, “Appraising Adaptive Management,” in DTE

Sabel, Fung & Karkkainen, “Beyond Backyard Environmentalism,” in DTE

O’Brien, “Goal: Replace Risk Assessment with Alternatives Assessment,” in DTE

 

September 16: Democratic pragmatism

Sagoff, “The Allocation and Distribution of Resources,” in DTE

Paehlke, “Democracy and Environmentalism,” in DTE

Wissenburg, “Sustainability and the Limits of Liberalism,” in DTE

Ophuls & Boyan, “The Non-Politics of Laissez Faire,” in DTE

 

September 21: Economic rationalism

Anderson & Leal, “Rethinking the Way We Think,” in DTE

Stavins & Whitehead, “Market-Based Environmental Policies,” in DTE

Goodin, “Selling Environmental Indulgences,” in DTE

 

September 23: So, how do we solve environmental problems? (no reading assignment)

 

September 28: First exam (in class)

 

September 30: Sustainable development

WCED, “From One Earth to One World,” in DTE

Meadowcroft, “Sustainable Development: A New(ish) Idea for a New Century?” in DTE

Carruthers, “From Opposition to Orthodoxy,” in DTE

Daly, “Sustainable Growth: An Impossibility Theorem,” in CUL

 

October 5: Ecological modernization

Hawken, Lovins & Lovins, “The Next Industrial Revolution,” in DTE

Barry, “Ecological Modernization,” in DTE

Shellenberger & Nordhaus, from Break Through, in CUL

 

October 7: Environmental security

            Buzan, et al, from Security: A New Framework for Analysis, in CUL

            Deudney, “The Case Against Linking Degradation and Security,” in CUL

Eckersley, “Ecological Intervention: Prospects and Limits,” in CUL

 

October 12: Deep Ecology and Bioregionalism

Naess, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement,” in DTE

Foreman, “Putting the Earth First,” in DTE

Dodge, “Living by Life: Some Bioregional Theory and Practice,” in DTE

Eckersley, “Problems and Future Prospects for Nature Advocacy,” in DTE

 

October 14: Deep ecology II (no reading assignment)

           

October 19: Social and socialist ecology

            Bookchin, “Society and Ecology,” in DTE

            King, “Toward and Ecological Feminism and a Feminist Ecology,” in DTE

            Kovel, “Ecosocialism,” in DTE

            Athanasiou, from A Divided Planet, in CUL

 

October 21: Environmental justice

            FNPCELS, “Principles of Environmental Justice,” in DTE

            Bullard, “Environmental Justice in the 21st century,” in DTE

            Krauss, “Women of Color on the Front Line,” in DTE

 

October 26: Southern and indigenous perspectives

            Guha & Alier, “Environmentalism of the Poor,” in DTE

            Shiva, “On Poverty and Globalization,” in DTE

            LaDuke, “Introduction and Conclusion to All My Relations,” in DTE

            Bayet, “Overturning the Doctrine: Indigenous People and Wilderness,” in DTE

October 28: The green movement

Torgerson, “Political Action and the Green Public Sphere,” in DTE

            Schlosberg, “Networks and Mobile Arrangements,” in DTE

            Wapner, “Politics Beyond the State,” in DTE

            Poguntke, “Green Parties in National Governments,” in DTE

 

November 2: Ecological democracy

            Beck, “The Politics of the Risk Society,” in DTE

            Dobson, “Ecological Citizenship,” in DTE

            Plumwood, “Inequality, Ecojustice, and Ecological Rationality,” in DTE

 

November 4: Second exam (in class)

 

November 9: Is Consumption the problem?

            Dauvergne, chs. 1-2, in SOC

Schor, from The Overspent American, in CUL

 

November 11: Cars and gasoline

            Dauvergne, chs. 3-10, in SOC

            Film: Who Killed the Electric Car?

 

November 16: Fur seals and fridges

            Dauvergne, chs. 11-14, 19-22, in SOC


November 18: Food

            Dauvergne, chs. 15-18, in SOC

            Pollan, from The Omnivore’s Dilemma, in CUL

            Film: Food, Inc.

 

November 22-26: Fall and Thanksgiving breaks (no class meetings)

 

November 30: Reform consumers/consumption, save the world?

            Dauvergne, chs. 23-24, in SOC

Maniates, “Individuation: Plant a Tree, Ride a Bike, Save the World,” in CUL

Lasn, from Culture Jam, in CUL

 

December 2: Introduction to climate policy simulation (readings TBA)

 

December 7: Climate policy simulation I

 

December 9: Climate policy simulation II

 

December 16 (Thursday), 7:30-10 am: Final exam