GY328      Half Unit
Political Ecology of Development

This information is for the 2018/19 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Kasia Paprocki STC 4.21B

Availability

This course is available on the BA in Geography, BSc in Economic History and Geography, BSc in Environment and Development, BSc in Environmental Policy with Economics and BSc in Geography with Economics. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Course content

This course explores the complex relationships between development, poverty and the environment. It covers a range of important natural resource and environmental issues, and provides students with the necessary tools to critically evaluate how these issues have been addressed by different stakeholders and at different levels of governance. Using concepts and analytical tools grounded in political ecology and critical development studies, the course examines several topics, including: the politics of sustainable development; environmental governance and tenure; and critical resource issues.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the MT.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce one formative essay plan in the Michaelmas Term.

Indicative reading

Li, T (2007), The Will to Improve, Durham: Duke University Press; Scott, J (1991) Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, Yale University Press; West, P (2006) Conservation is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea. Durham: Duke University Press.

Assessment

Essay (100%, 4000 words) in the LT.

Key facts

Department: Geography & Environment

Total students 2017/18: Unavailable

Average class size 2017/18: Unavailable

Capped 2017/18: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Communication
  • Specialist skills