Time Schedule:
Karen T Litfin
POL S 384
Seattle Campus
Examines the globalization of environmental problems, including climate change, ozone depletion, and loss of biodiversity, as well as the globalization of political responses to these problems within the framework of globalization as set of interlinked economic, technological, cultural, and political processes. Offered: jointly with ENVIR 384.
Class description
Description: The emergence of large-scale environmental problems, whose resolution calls for an unprecedented level of international cooperation, poses numerous challenges to existing political institutions. This course will take up several theoretical issues in light of international regimes for various environmental problems, including acid rain, ozone depletion, marine pollution, deforestation, and global warming. Do these "new" problems enhance the prospects for cooperation among nations, particularly between North and South? Can contemporary institutions respond adequately to the challenge of global ecological interdependence? To what extent can the empowerment of non-state actors be expected to stimulate changes in global political and cultural dynamics? What challenges does global ecological interdependence pose with respect to our understandings of personal identity and ethical responsibility? This course will address all of these questions and more.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Text: Hawken, Blessed Unrest; Conca, Green Planet Blues; Monbiot, Heat.
