The environment is a relatively recent topic of political interest and academic study. This survey-course discusses how the issue became a major popular concern and explores how a phenomenon that is experienced at the individual and local level has impacted the dynamics of international politics. After identifying today’s major environmental threats, the course will examine how diverse actors, including local activists, nongovernmental organisations, advocacy networks, scientific communities, governments, private companies and international organisations contribute to international responses to contemporary environmental issues. Topics to be covered include demography, climate politics, food security, biodiversity, environmental justice, and renewable resource management.
Syllabus :
Week 1: September 22
Intro: International Environmentalism, a brief history
Week 2: September 29
Is there a problem?
Graham M. Turner (2008) “A Comparison of The Limits to Growth with 30 Years of Reality,” Global Environmental Change 18(3): 397-411.
Julian Simon (1980) “Resources, Population, Environment: An Oversupply of False Bad News,” Science, June 27, pp. 1431-1437.
Bjorn Lomborg (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, pp. 3-33. [in polycopié]
(2002) “Misleading Math About the Earth - Science Defends Itself Against The Skeptical Environmentalist,” Scientific American. January
Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren (1971) “Impacts of Population Growth,” Science 171 (3977): 1212-1217.
Sen, Amartya (1994) “Population: Delusion and Reality.” New York Times Review of Books, September 22, 62-71.
Week 3: October 6
Defining the Problem: Concepts
Garrett Hardin (1968) “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162(3859): 1243-1248.
Susan J. Buck Cox (1985) “No Tragedy of the Commons,” Environmental Ethics 7:49-61.
Elinor Ostrom (1999) “Coping With Tragedies of the Commons,” Annual Review of Political Science 2:493-535.
J. Samuel Barkin and George E. Shambaugh (1999) “Hypotheses on the International Politics of Common Pool Resources” in Anarchy and the Environment: the International Relations of Common Pool Resources, pp. 1-25. [in polycopié]
Thomas Princen (2002) “Consumption and its Externalities,” in Confronting Consumption [in polycopié]
Week 4: October 13
Defining the Problem: Science/Knowledge/Authority
Roger Pielke Jr. (2004) “When Scientists Politicize Science: Making Sense of Controversy over the Skeptical Environmentalist,” Environmental Science and Policy 7: 405-417.
Michael Thompson and Steve Rayner (1998) “Risk and Governance Part I: The Discourses of Climate Change,” Government and Opposition 33: 139-166.
Peter Haas (1990) “Obtaining International Environmental Protection Through Epistemic Consensus,” Millennium 19: 347-364.
Karen Litfin (1995) “Framing Science: Precautionary Discourse and the Ozone Treaties,” Millennium 24: 251-277.
Marybeth Long Martello (2001) “A Paradox of Virtue? ‘Other’ Knowledges and Environment-Development Politics,” Global Environmental Politics 1(3): 114-141.
Week 5: October 20
Solving Environmental Problems: International Institutions
Ken Conca (1994) “Rethinking the Ecology-Sovereignty Debate,” Millenium 23(3).
Marvin S. Soroos (2011) “Global Institutions and the Environment: an Evolutionary Perspective” Chapter 2 in The Global Environment, pp. 24-47. [in polycopié]
Gail Osherenko and Oran R. Young (1993) “The Formation of International Regimes: Hypotheses and Cases” in Polar Politics. [in polycopié]
Steven Bernstein (2000) “Ideas, Social Structure, and the Compromise of Liberal Environmentalism,” European Journal of International Relations 6.
Peter M. Haas (2002) “UN Conferences and Constructivist Governance of the Environment,” Global Governance 8(1): 73–91.
Week 6: October 27
Solving Environmental Problems: States
Detlef Sprinz and Tapani Vaahtoranta (1994) “The Interest-Based Explanation of International Environmental Policy,” International Organization 48: 77-105.
Kal Raustiala (1997) “Domestic Institutions and International Regulatory Cooperation: Comparative Responses to the Convention on Biological Diversity,” World Politics 49(4): 482-509.
Regina Axelrod, et. al. (2011) “Environmental Policy Making in the European Union,” Chapter 11 in The Global Environment, pp. 213-238. [in polycopié]
Najam, Adil (2005) “Developing Countries and Global Environmental Governance: From Contestation to Participation to Engagement,” International Environmental Agreements 5: 303-321.
Nancy Peluso (1993) “Coercing Conservation: the Politics of State Resource Control” Global Environmental Change 3(2): 199-217.
Week 7: November 3
Solving Environmental Problems: Effectiveness
Ronald Mitchell (1994) “Regime Design Matters: International Oil Pollution and Treaty Compliance,” International Organization 48: 425-458.
Oran Young and Marc Levy (1999) “The Effectiveness of International Environmental Regimes,” in The Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements, pp. 1-32. [in polycopié]
Thomas Bernauer (1995) “The Effect of International Environmental Institutions: How We Might Learn More,” International Organization 49(2): 351-77.
Edith Brown Weiss and Harold K. Jacobson (1999) “Getting Countries to Comply with International Agreements,” Environment 41(6): 16-20, 37-45.
Ambuj D. Sagar and Stacy D. VanDeveer (2005) “Capacity Development for the Environment: Broadening the Scope,” Global Environmental Politics 5(3): 14-22.
Week 8: November 10
Solving Environmental Problems: Civil Society
Kal Raustiala (1997) “States, NGOs, and International Environmental Institutions,” International Studies Quarterly 41: 719-740.
Paul Wapner (1995) “Politics Beyond the State: Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics,” World Politics 47: 311-340.
Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink (1999) “Transnational Advocacy Networks in International and Regional Politics,” a UNESCO report, pp. 89-101.
Ann Marie Clark, et. al. (1998) “The Sovereign Limits of Global Civil Society: A Comparison of NGO Participation in UN World Conferences on the Environment, Human Rights, and Women,” World Politics 51(1): 1-35.
Ranjit Dwivedi (2001) “Environmental Movements in the Global South: Issues of Livelihood and Beyond,” International Sociology 16(1): 11-31.
Week 9: November 17
Solving Environmental Problems: Corporate Actors
Robert Falkner (2003) “Private Environmental Governance and International Relations: Exploring the Links,” Global Environmental Politics 3(2): 72-87.
Matthias Finger and James Kilcoyne (1997) “Why Transnational Corporations are Organizing to ‘Save the Global Environment’,” The Ecologist 27 (4).
David Levy (1997) “Business and International Environmental Treaties: Ozone Depletion and Climate Change,” California Management Review 39 (3): 54-71.
Jennifer Clapp (1998) “The Privatization of Global Environmental Governance: ISO 14000 and the Developing World,” Global Governance 4(3): 295–316.
Philipp H. Pattberg (2005) “The Forest Stewardship Council: Risk and Potential of Private Forest Governance,” The Journal of Environmental Development, 14: 356-374.
Week 10: November 24
Tensions in Environmental Politics: Trade
Daniel C. Esty (2011) “Economic Integration and Environmental Protection,” Chapter 8 in The Global Environment, pp. 155-171. [in polycopié]
David Vogel (1997) “Trading Up and Governing Across: Transnational Governance and Environmental Protection,” Journal of European Public Policy 4(4): 556-571.
Elizabeth DeSombre and Samuel J. Barkin (2002) “Turtles and Trade: The WTO’s Acceptance of Environmental Trade Restriction,” Global Environmental Politics 2(1): 12-18.
Robyn Eckersley (2004) “The Big Chill: The WTO and Multilateral Environmental Agreements,” Global Environmental Politics 4(2): 24-50.
Ken Conca (2001) “Consumption and Environment in a Global Economy,” Global Environmental Politics 1(3): 53-71.
Week 11: December 1
Tensions in Environmental Politics: Sustainable Development
Robert M. Solow (1992) “Sustainability: an Economist’s Perspective,” National Geographic Research and Exploration 8(1): 3-9.
Sharachchandra M. Lélé (1991) “Sustainable Development: a Critical Review” World Development 19(9): 607-621.
Gabriela Kutting (2003) “Globalization, Poverty and the Environment in West Africa: Too Poor to Pollute?” Global Environmental Politics 3(4): 42-60.
Bruce Rich (1990) “The Emperor’s New Clothes: The World Bank and Environmental Reform,” World Policy Journal 7: 305-329.
J. Timmons Roberts et. al. (2009) “Has Foreign Aid Been Greened?” Environment: 51(1): 8-21.
Week 12: December 8
Moving Forward?
Frank Biermann (2000) “The Case for a World Environmental Organization,” Environment 42(9): 22-31.
Adil Najam (2003) “The Case against a New Environmental Organization,” Global Governance 9(3): 367-384.
Richard E. Bissell (2001) “A Participatory Approach to Strategic Planning, Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making,” Environment 43(7): 37-40.
Paul Wapner (2003) “World Summit on Sustainable Development: Toward a Post-Jo’burg Environmentalism,” Global Environmental Politics, 3 (1): 1-10.
Michael F. Maniates (2001) “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Ride a Bike, Save the World?” Global Environmental Politics 1(3): 31-52.
