ANTH 572 | F&ES 869: Disaster, Degradation, Dystopia: Social Science Approaches to Environmental Perturbation and Change

ANTH 572 | F&ES 869
Disaster, Degradation, Dystopia: Social Science Approaches to Environmental Perturbation and Change

Brief Outline of Class

An advanced seminar on the long tradition of social science scholarship on environmental perturbation and natural disasters, the relevance of which has been heightened by the current global attention to climate change. Topics covered include the academic literature on the social dimension of natural disasters, illustrated with a case study of volcanic hazard; the discursive dimensions of environmental degradation, focusing on deforestation and other case studies; climate change, including discursive dimensions at the global level; the current debate about the relationship between resource wealth and political conflict, focusing on the "green war" thesis, and the case of tropical forest commodities; and alternative perspectives on sustainable environmental relations, based on interdisciplinary work and work in the humanities.

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