This course explores the assumption that ecological change is always profoundly political. Political ecology at its core is about the interconnection between social and ecological change and the relations of power therein. Students consider central approaches to political ecology, including perspectives focusing on population, political economy, environmental racism and justice and feminist perspectives on gender and nature. The course examines defining environmental issues of our time, including the preservation of wilderness spaces, Indigenous movements regarding land, climate change and the Green New Deal and the prospects of urban agriculture.
Area of Focus: Nature, Society and Environmental Change