Environmental Politics

Transcription

1 Cours spécialisé, Bachelor, Sciences Po Grenoble, Spring Semester Environmental Politics Simon Persico, Professor of political science, Course s website : Overview Problems like air pollution, decreasing biodiversity and climate change have come to the forefront of political agendas in most Western democracies since the 1960s. This has led to the birth and rise of green movements and parties criticizing the ways in which industrial economies have developed, and provoked the establishment of a broad range of institutions and policies. Why are some countries better at protecting their environments than others? How do environmental policies spread among countries? What can individuals, consumers, and voters do in order to help preserve the environment? The objective of the course is to explore the articulation between environmental attitudes and worldviews and how they contribute to shape green political action in a context where the imminence of a global ecological crisis is no longer really in question. Having analysed how the industrial and productivist revolutions have transformed humans enjoyment, understanding and exploitation of nature in Western democracies, we will first shed light on the distinctive ideology namely, ecologism that developed in reaction to the ecological crisis. We will then reflect on the role of individuals in contemporary politics, from collective mobilisation in movements and the emergence of the citizen-consumer. The course will also contrast the parliamentary (green parties, greening the mainstream) and the extra-parliamentary strategies of environmental movements (associations, the rise of lobbying). The last sessions of the lecture will explore the challenges to environmentally friendly public policies at the national and international levels. Course objectives: Provide students with in-depth knowledge of the ways in which Western societies have reacted to the environmental crisis Identify political institutions, policy processes, and relations of power that account for outcomes observed in development and environmental policy Describe, analyze, and discuss challenges to sustainable development Compare environmental politics in different geographical and cultural contexts. 1

2 Format This course is mainly lecture-oriented. Yet, students are strongly invited to participate to and engage in collective discussion. Each class will start with a 30-minute collective debate on the readings handed out each week. These readings focus on a current topic related to the day s general theme. These are mostly non-academic readings and should help collective discussions. This discussion will be followed by a 90-minute lecture, during which questions, disagreements and collective debates are more than welcome! All readings and other teaching materials (including lecture s slides) can be downloaded on the course s website ( For any enquiries, feel free to contact the lecturer (simon.persico@iepg.fr), but please make sure you have read the syllabus thoroughly before asking an already answered question. Course work and grading and discussion (0%) As this CS requires no mandatory attendance, readings and discussion will not be graded. This does not mean that they do not matter. On the contrary, students are expected to come to class having completed the 5-10-page readings the lecturer will hand out each week. Keeping up to date with the readings is essential for understanding the lectures and engaging in class discussions. This class will indeed provide the opportunity to raise questions and deepen your understanding of concepts covered in lectures. Final exam (100 %) International students will be graded after an oral exam at the end of the term. Each student will have 1 hour to prepare for an oral answer to a randomly assigned question on the content of the lecture. Then, each student will present her answer orally (10 minutes) and have a 5- minute discussion with the lecturer. Sciences Po Students will be graded after a written exam at the end of the term. Each student will have 2 hours to answer an essay question (among 2) on the content of the lecture. General bibliography Carter, Neil (2007) The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dalton, Russell (1994) The Green Rainbow: Environmental Groups in Western Europe, New Haven: Yale University Press. Dobson, Andrew and Eckersley, Robyn (eds.) (2006) Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doyle, Timothy and McEachern, Doug (2001) Environment and Politics, 2nd edn, London: Routledge. Dryzek, John and Schlosberg, David (eds.) (2005) Debating the Earth: The Environmental Politics Reader, 2nd edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Inglehart, Ronald (1977) The Silent Revolution, Princeton University Press. O Riordan, Timothy (1981) Environmentalism, 2nd edn, London: Pion. Ostrom, Elinor (1990) Governing the Commons, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2

3 Outline Session 1: Introduction. The environment as a political issue (1 Februrary) Course presentation 1. The political nature of the environmental issues 3. Environmentalism, conservationnism, ecologism 4. Ecology vs. Productivity as a new cleavage? Session 2: The productivist revolution and the ecological crises (8 February) 1. An unprecedented economic modernisation 2. Human-induced ecological crises 3. The productivist consensus : Adam Vaughan, Human impact has pushed Earth into the Anthropocene, scientists say, The Guardian, 7 Jan Excerpts from: Robert J. Gordon, IS US Economic Growth Over? Faltering Innovation Confronts the Six Headwinds, NBER Working Paper Series, National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 18315, Aug 2012 Session 3: Green philosophy and political thought (15 February) 1. The three worlds of environmental philosophy 2. Rethinking the relationship between Humans and Nature 3. Traditional political ideologies and the green challenge : George Monbiot, I ve converted to veganism to reduce my impact on the living world, The Guardian, 9 Aug Michael Paul Nelson, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, John A. Vusetich, Does nature have value beyond what it provides humans?, The Conversation, 2 Oct 2015 Session 4: Individuals, citizens, and the environment (1 March) Value change in Western democracies The contrasted greening of public opinion New lifestyles and green jobs Julia Pyper, Why Conservative White Males Are More Likely to Be Climate Skeptics, The New York Times, 5 Oct

4 James Dong, Why individual action matters for the environment, Medium, Dec Annie Leonard, Individual Actions Just Don t Add Up to Environmental Change, The New York Times, 14 Dec 2012 Session 5: Green movements and green activism (8 March) 1. A typology of environmental groups 2. The institutionalisation of the environmental movement 3. The resurgence of grassroots environmentalism Kim Wilshner, End of la ZAD? France s utopian anti-airport community faces bitter last stand, The Guardian, 28 Dec 2017 Excerpts from: Jason Mark, Naomi Klein: 'Big green groups are more damaging than climate deniers', The Guardian, 10 Sep 2013 Session 6: Green parties (15 March) 1. Green parties Doing new politics since A diverse party family 3. Green parties performance: an overview Julia Sahlenberg, The paling of Austrian Greens, Der Standard, 29 Oct Rupert Read, Bennet Francis, Green Parties, Green Future: lessons from history for Green politics, The Ecologist, 8 Dec 2015 Excerpts from: Simon Persico, «Un clivage, des enjeux. Une étude comparée de la reaction des grands partis de gouvernement face à l écologie en France et au Royaume-Uni», Session 7: Greening mainstream parties (29 March) 1. The uptake of environmental issues by mainstream parties 2. Contrasted and conflicting positions on the environment 3. The fate of electoral pledges on the environment : George Jones, and Charles Clover, Cameron turns blue to prove green credentials, The Telegraph, 21 Apr 2006 James Randerson: Cameron: I want coalition to be the 'greenest government ever', The Guardian, 14 May 2010 Rowena Mason, David Cameron at centre of 'get rid of all the green crap' storm, The Guardian, 21 Nov

5 Session 8: Environmental policies (5 April) 1. Ideas and interests of environmental policies 2. Institutions and instruments of environmental policies 3. Obstacles to policy change Lucas David, Why aren t environmentalists supporting a carbon tax in Washington state?, The Conversation, 30 Oct Tim Smedley, Goodbye nuclear power: Germany's renewable energy revolution, The Guardian, 10 May 2013 Session 9: Global environmental politics (12 April) 1. Globalization and the environment 2. Building global environmental regimes 3. The paradox of international cooperation Jonathan Pickering, The US quitting the Paris climate agreement will only make things worse, The Conversation, 30 May Robert Kopp, How bad could Trump s Paris Agreement withdrawal be? A scientist s perspective, The Conversation, 1 June Robert H. Scott III, Why Trump s withdrawal from Paris doesn t matter as much as you think, The Conversation,