29512 - Global History: Economy, Environment and Society (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The student at the end of the module acquires the methodological principles of historiography on the world economy system and is introduced to the latest trends in research on the global profile of the circuits of material culture and environmental changes.

Course contents

Environment, development and sustainability in the long, global 20th century

The second module of the course on Global history will deal with the development of world capitalism along the two main waves of globalization since so-called II industrial revolution. On the background of the world economic developments attention will be devoted to the rise of issues concerning ecology, development and sustainabiligy. Linked to this question will be considered the rise of environemtalist movements as well as, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, of transnational movements challenging ideologies of growth, the prevailing development models and, claiming social justice and sustainable policies at a global scale.

Readings/Bibliography

Following list does include readings used in class. It intends to give some references upon which students can draft their final paper:

Kevin H. O'Rourke, Jeffrey G. Williamson, Globalizzazione e storia. L'evoluzione dell'economia atlantica nell'Ottocento, Bologna : Il mulino, [2005]

John R. McNeill, Qualcosa di nuovo sotto il sole : storia dell'ambiente nel 20. secolo, Torino: Einaudi, 2002

John R. McNeill, P. Engelke, L'Antropocene. I popoli e il loro pianeta, in A. Iriye (a cura di), Storia del mondo. Vol. 6: Il mondo globalizzato. Dal 1945 a oggi, Torino : Einaudi, 2014, pp. 367-586.

David Harvey, La crisi della modernità, Milano : il Saggiatore, 2010

David Harvey, Marx e la follia del capitale, Milano : Feltrinelli, 2018

Simone Neri Serneri, Incorporare la natura. Storie ambientali del Novecento, Carocci, Roma 2005

J. R. McNeill, Corinna R. Unger (eds.), Environmental histories of the cold war, Washington, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010

Luciano Gallino, Globalizzazione e disuguaglianze, 4. ed
Roma, Laterza, 2009

Giorgio Nebbia, Le merci e i valori. Per una critica ecologica del capitalismo, Milano: Jaca book, 2002

Niall Ferguson et al (eds), The shock of the global. The 1970s in perspective, Cambridge ; London : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010

Christopher Rootes (ed), Environmental protest in Western Europe, Oxford : Oxford university press, 2007

Heinrich Hartmann and Corinna R. Unger (eds), A world of populations. Transnational perspectives on demography in the twentieth century, New York Berghahn2014

Geoffrey Pleyers, Alter-globalization : becoming actors in the global age, Cambridge : Polity, 2010

Alain Touraine, Noi, soggetti umani : diritti e nuovi movimenti nell'epoca postsociale, Milano : Il saggiatore, 2017

Ramachandra Guha, Ambientalismi. Una storia globale dei movimenti, Roma, Linaria 2016

Teaching methods

The module (6 cfu) is organized in two different ways: introductory lectures on conceptual issues and historical problems will be alternated seminar-lessons where students will be asked to present and discuss texts assigned during the course to deepen specific issues.

Assessment methods

Students will be asked to produce a written final paper on one of the topics addressed during the two modules of the course.
For an essay of 12 cfu a total of about 15-18 pages (about 40,000 characters, all included) are required.

In addition to the final paper, not-attending students have to take a written exam on following books (the exam refers also to the first module of the course on Public sphere):

John R. McNeill, Qualcosa di nuovo sotto il sole. Storia dell'ambiente nel 20. secolo, Torino: Einaudi, 2002

Sebastian Conrad, Storia globale. Un'introduzione, Roma 2015

The exam consist of 6 open questions (3 questions for each book) to which students have to answer in 90'.

Teaching tools

For a full participation in the course activities the knowledge of English is required.

Office hours

See the website of Marica Tolomelli