LPINT7263 Political Theory in the Anthropocene

Course Overview

Many political theorists agree that the Anthropocene, which attempts to capture humanity’s increasing and diverse impacts on the environment (Crutzen 2006), is an ambiguous concept. It simultaneously humbles and exalts us; it calls into question but also reinforces the separation of the human and non-human; and it invokes an arguably problematic form of subjectivity – the undifferentiated ‘anthropos’ of the Anthropocene (Malm and Hornborg 2014) – that potentially undermines the pursuit of environmental justice. Humanity may be responsible for the Anthropocene, but which humans and why? This timely course examines ways in which the Anthropocene has been received and in turn shaped by the discipline of political theory. The first half explores complex debates surrounding Anthropocenic theory by drawing on various strands of critical posthumanism (Braidotti 2019), new materialism (Coole and Frost 2010), and post-anthropocentrism (Latour 2018). The second half follows the trajectories of green or environmental political theory in the wake of the Anthropocene. How should we rethink the environmental state, democracy, growth, justice, and international relations given our new geologic predicament? And what exactly separates a green or environmental from an Anthropocenic theory?

In addition to the Anthropocenic literature, students will draw on environmental history; the history of political thought; green political theory; political science; and theories and practices of international relations (IR) to understand the Anthropocene as both a domestic and international problem. They will explore ways in which the Anthropocene affects other political concepts and practices, from democracy and cosmopolitanism to regionalism and co-operation. They will think about the intersection between political theory and practice, as well as the methodological implications of doing so. Finally, they will hone the necessary critical, analytical, written, and oral skills with which to explore this timely and exciting field.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Professional Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage you in your studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Office hours

Students can expect to receive a minimum of 16.5 scheduled hours per 15-credit course.

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups.

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Employability Skills

• Work independently, creatively, and to deadlines
• Conduct specialised independent research and explore relevant existing knowledge
• Synthesise and evaluate information against a backdrop of uncertainty
• Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Present findings and opinions in a clear, structured manner, whether orally or in
• writing
• Engage in collaborative and constructive discussion

Assessment

Formative

Students will be formatively assessed during the course in seminar activities and by means of assignments that offer opportunities to develop, practice, and refine the same skills in research, writing, presentation and communication; these skills will inform the two summative assessments outlined below. The formative assessments have been designed to foster engagement with society and the world; an ability to intervene in political activities and the making of policy; and cooperation with relevant actors, institutions, organisations and industries. Formative assessments do not count towards the end of year results, but will provide students with regular developmental feedback.

Summative

These assessments, in addition to demonstrating academic proficiency, facilitate engagement with problems and policies in the real world (especially those pertaining to government, stakeholder alliances, civil society, and macroeconomic policy).

AE1 will typically be written in the form of an article review.

All assignments will be assessed in accordance with the assessment aims set out in the Programme Specification.

Feedback

Students will receive formal feedback in a variety of ways: written (including via email correspondence), oral (on an ad hoc basis) and indirectly through discussion during seminars.

Feedback is provided on summative written assignments which will be handed back to the students.

Indicative Reading

Note: comprehensive and current reading lists for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.

Books

Biermann, F. and Lövbrand, E. (eds.), Anthropocene Encounters. New Directions in Green Political Thinking (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Bonneuil, C. and Gemenne, F. and Hamilton, C., The Anthropocene and the Global Environmental Crisis: Rethinking Modernity in a New Epoch (London: Routledge, 2015).

Braidotti, R., ‘A Theoretical Framework for the Critical Posthumanities’, Theory, Culture, and Society 36.6 (2018), pp. 31-61.

Dryzek. J. and Pickering, J., The Politics of the Anthropocene (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).

Eckersley, R., The Green State: Rethinking Democracy and Sovereignty (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2004).

Fremaux, A. and Barry, J., ‘The “Good Anthropocene” and Green Political Theory: Rethinking Environmentalism, Resisting Ecomodernism’, in Biermann, F. and Lövbrand, E. (eds.), Anthropocene Encounters: New Directions in Green Political Thinking (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), pp. 171-190.

Kelly, D., Politics and the Anthropocene (Cambridge: Polity, 2019).

Forester, K. and Smith, S. (eds.), Nature, Action, and the Future. Political Thought and the Environment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Newell, P., Global Green Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Robbins, P., Political Ecology. A Critical Introduction (London: Wiley, 2020).

Soper, K., What is Nature? (London: Blackwell, 1995).

Vanderheiden, S., Environmental Political Theory (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2020).

Journals

Chakrabarty, D., ‘Anthropocene Time’, History and Theory 57.1 (2018), pp. 5-32.

Ferrando, F., ‘The Party of the Anthropocene: Posthumanism, Environmentalism, and the Post-Anthropocentric Paradigm Shift’, Relations Beyond Anthropocentrism 4.2 (2016), pp. 159-173.

Latour, B., ‘Agency at the Time of the Anthropocene’, New Literary History 45.1 (2014), pp. 1-18.

Lövbrand, E., Mobjörk, M. and Söder, R., ‘The Anthropocene and the Geo-political Imagination: Re-writing Earth as Political Space’, Earth System Governance 4 (2020), pp. 1-8.

Malm A. and Hornborg, A., ‘The Geology of Mankind? A Critique of the Anthropocene Narrative’, The Anthropocene Review 1.1 (2014), pp. 62-69.

McNeill, J.R., ‘Observations on the Nature and Culture of Environmental History’, History and Theory 42 (2003), pp. 5–43.

Electronic Resources

Additional resources will be available on the University’s VLE.

Indicative Topics

• Methods and concepts of environmentalism
• Green and Anthropocenic political thought
• Mainstream and critical International Relations (IR)
• Sustainability and development
• Activism and resistance
• Environmental history
• Democratic theory
• Green cosmopolitanism and global citizenship

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