GY328 Half Unit
Political Ecology of Development
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Kasia Paprocki
Availability
This course is available on the BA in Geography, BSc in Economic History and Geography, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development with Economics, BSc in Environmental Policy with Economics, BSc in Geography with Economics, Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course is freely available to General Course students. It does not require permission.
This course is capped. Places will be assigned on a first come first served basis
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
9 hours of classes and 11 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.
In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.
Formative assessment
Students will be expected to produce one formative essay plan in the Autumn Term.
Indicative reading
Li, T (2007) The Will to Improve, Durham: Duke University Press.
Robbins, P (2012) Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
West, P (2006) Conservation is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea. Durham: Duke University Press.
Curley, A (2021) "Resources is just another word for colonialism." In M. Himley, E. Havice, & G. Valdivia (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Critical Resource Geography (pp. 79-89). London: Routledge.
Sealey-Huggins, L. (2018) "'The Climate Crisis is a Racist Crisis': Structural Racism, Inequality and Climate Change." In A. Johnson, R. Joseph-Salisbury, & B. Kamunge (Eds.), The Fire Now: Anti-Racist Scholarship in Times of Explicit Racial Violence (pp. 99-113). London: Zed Books.
Assessment
Essay (100%, 3000 words)
Key facts
Department: Geography and Environment
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 6
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 57
Average class size 2024/25: 19
Capped 2024/25: Yes(60)Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Specialist skills