UT-403 Political Ecology (Autumn 2026)

English

On completion of the course the students should:

• have a thorough knowledge of political ecology as a field, its emergence, theories and concepts
• have an understanding of actors involved and be able to critically analyse how they act and relate to each other
• be able to recognise and critically analyse environmental discourses and their practical consequences in relation to society and culture
• be able to discuss the connection and interaction of local, national and global process through case studies

The aim of this course is to provide the students with a good understanding of the complex human-environment relationship and how understandings of ecology and relationship of people to their environment also vary cross-culturally. Through the lens of political ecology, the students will through a variety of case studies and literature explore how environmental management is a field vested with power and powerful actors. This course will consist of several modules which will highlight the complex intersections of power, economy and ecology, and provide knowledge about the variety of actors at the local and the global level. Empirical examples from climate change mitigation and adaptation, land, forests, energy & extractive industries, and smart cities, will be given, linking this to poverty and social and economic inequalities. Moreover, the course will discuss what dominant discourses of sustainable development may entail, and how power relations are reinforced or contested through such discourses. As such the course will also discuss how certain common frameworks, discourses and narratives influence the field of environmental governance and management, e.g. through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Netbased teaching through Canvas. Estimated workload is 27 hours per credit.

Mandatory group discussions.

Portfolio assessment counting 30%. Group essay graded A-F, ECTS grading scale.

Individual oral examination counting 70%. Graded A-F, ECTS grading scale.

The person responsible for the course decides, in cooperation with student representative, the form of student evaluation and whether the course is to have a midway or end of course evaluation in accordance with the quality system for education, chapter 4.1.