SP50333: The politics and practice of sustainability
[Page last updated: 01 August 2022]
| Academic Year: | 2022/23 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Social & Policy Sciences |
| Credits: | 12 [equivalent to 24 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 240 |
| Level: | Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | CW 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | |
| Learning Outcomes: | By the end of the unit students will:
* Demonstrate critical understanding of the politics of different framings of sustainability at global to local levels; * Be able to discuss critically key conceptual approaches, analytical debates, and methodological issues concerning the politics and practice of sustainability; * Be able to interrogate effectively different forms of evidence claims; * Be able to apply this knowledge to the empirical analysis of specific contexts and issues; * Be able to work effectively in a team and present research in a visual form. |
| Aims: | To generate critical awareness of the ideological and practical politics of sustainability
To equip students to undertake critical enquiry in the political economy and social analysis of sustainability To enable students to interrogate effectively evidence claims regarding the achievement of sustainability To enable students to operate in a cross-disciplinary context, to understand interconnections between human and environmental issues at a range of scales and to be able to communicate these effectively. |
| Skills: | * Ability to read and discuss critically key texts (Taught/Facilitated) * Ability to integrate theory and apply this in discussion of practical cases (T/F/A) * Ability to manage one's own and others' work effectively as part of a team (T/F) * Ability to reflect critically on one's own experience and learning (T/F) * Effective oral and visual communication (poster presentations) (T/F/A) * Ability to select, summarise & synthesise information across different disciplines(T/F/A) |
| Content: | This unit critically explores the ideological and practical politics of sustainability. We investigate different perspectives on: the underlying causes of the sustainability issues we are currently confronting, what can be done about them, and who is responsible for doing it. We will explore the range of methods used to advance evidence about sustainability. We will probe issues related to the political economy of production and consumption, including the actors that drive it and the approaches to channelling it.
Indicative content: Varieties of environmentalism State regulation and international institutions Civil society, NGOs, and transnational environmental activism Market solutions and business power Climate change and climate governance Individual preferences and collective action Governing the Anthropocene Assessment - Class presentation of team project posters; Individual essay Issues covered may include: roads and infrastructure, energy, GMOs, climate change, mining and extractive industries, forest rights, green transitions, conservation and development, community based resource management, sustainable consumption and wellbeing, corporate social responsibility, and the Anthropocene. Learning approach The unit will take an active learning approach, involving work in pairs and small groups, participatory activities and a team project. Teamwork will be supported by course convenors. |
| Programme availability: |
SP50333 is a Designated Essential Unit on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
SP50333 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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Notes:
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