95931 - GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will show understanding of some of the global challenges the population of the planet has been facing since the second half of the XX century. Among these, the critical relation with the natural resources and with the concept of development and, above all, climate change, with its connections to territorial development, ecological risk, food security and the consumption of natural resources At the end of the course, the students will have acquired the theoretical and empirical tools to critically analyse the global strategies of climate resilience and cooperation and the relation between climate change and tourism. They will also have acquired the ability to work in groups and develop class discussions. They will be able to communicate both in experts and non experts groups the global dynamics connected to climate change, globalization, poverty, development and tourism.

Course contents

Climate change offers the opportunity for a multidisciplinary analysis and, during the course, we will discuss various aspects of the topic through a primarily geographical approach. The course is structured as follows:

• PART 1 (WEEK 1 and 2) will introduce climate change as a global phenomenon, with its natural and anthropogenic root causes. We will discuss and reflect on the socio-spatial inequalities inherent in the climate crisis.
• PART 2 (Weeks 3) will analyse climate governance, the Kyoto Protocol and the Post Kyoto adaptation and mitigation strategies. In addition to the policy-making process, we will critically examine theoretical frameworks of adaptation, notions of climate justice and intersectional approaches to addressing the climate crisis and its colonial roots.
• PART 3 (Weeks 4-5) Climate change and mobility: we will examine the complex interconnections between climate change and (im)mobility. Empirical examples will be drawn from the #ClimateOfChange [https://climateofchange.info/publications-press/] interdisciplinary research project to contextualise the climate crisis as it is manifested, resisted and understood from diverse locations across the globe.

Readings/Bibliography

The programme and assessment differs between attending and non-attending students, as follows:

PROGRAMME FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING CLASSES

Students attending classes are required to participate in at least 75% of all lessons, and to actively take part in class activities. Assessment is evaluated as follows:

1. Participation in class discussions and activities proposed by the lecturer (40% of final evaluation)
2. Oral exam assessing knowledge of:

1. the topics discussed in class (30%) both in respect to lectures given as well as class activities
2. 1 book (30%) selected from the below:

• Piguet, Etienne, Laczko, Frank (Eds.), People on the move in a Changing Climate, Springer, 2014
• Piguet E., Pecoud A., de Guchteneire P., Migration and climate change, Unesco Publishing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.
• Sheller, M. (2018). Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes. Verso Books.
• Baldwin, A. and Bettini, G. (eds) (2017) Life Adrift: Climate Change, Migration, Critique. London ; New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

  Climate change debate

• Hoffman A., How culture shapes the climate change debate, Stanford briefs, Stanford, 2015.
• Klein N., This changes everything, Penguin Books, 2014.
• Pelling M., Adaptation to Climate Change. From resilience to transformation, Routledge, London, 2010.
• Tokar B., Eiglad E., Toward Climate Justice: Perspectives on the Climate Crisis and Social Change, New Compass Press, 2014.

Pollution/ waste

• Liboiron, M. (2021) Pollution Is Colonialism. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Armiero, M. (2021) Wasteocene: stories from the global dump. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements. Elements in environmental humanities).

  Other books may be selected in accordance with the course lecturer.

  Assessment methods:

  For students attending classes, assessment is an oral exam that evaluates comprehension of the geographical, economic, social and cultural phenomena presented during the lessons both by the course lecturer and other students' presentations and discussed together. Participation in class discussion is a key element of evaluation, together with personal reflections on the issues studied. Students will also be evaluated on their communication skills.

  PROGRAMME FOR STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE CLASSES

  The evaluation for students not attending the classes consists in the production of an essay of maximum 3,500 words.

  The focus of the essay may be chosen from the below bibliography, with optional other references allowed. Submission is via email to the course lecturer nno later than 10 days before the Assessment session (there will be NO EXAM).

  1 book chosen from the following list (to analyse a specific aspect of the phenomenon):

  Climate change and migration

• Piguet, Etienne, Laczko, Frank (Eds.), People on the move in a Changing Climate, Springer, 2014
• Piguet E., Pecoud A., de Guchteneire P., Migration and climate change, Unesco Publishing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.
• Sheller, M. (2018). Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes. Verso Books.
• Baldwin, A. and Bettini, G. (eds) (2017) Life Adrift: Climate Change, Migration, Critique. London ; New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Climate change debate

• Hoffman A., How culture shapes the climate change debate, Stanford briefs, Stanford, 2015.
• Klein N., This changes everything, Penguin Books, 2014.
• Pelling M., Adaptation to Climate Change. From resilience to transformation, Routledge, London, 2010.
• Tokar B., Eiglad E., Toward Climate Justice: Perspectives on the Climate Crisis and Social Change, New Compass Press, 2014.

Pollution/ waste

• Liboiron, M. (2021) Pollution Is Colonialism. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Armiero, M. (2021) Wasteocene: stories from the global dump. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements. Elements in environmental humanities).

Articles

Boas I. et al., "Climate Migration Myths", in Nature ClimateChange 9, 2019, pp.901-903

Boas, I. et al. (2022) ‘Climate mobilities: migration, im/mobilities and mobility regimes in a changing climate’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 0(0), pp. 1–15.

Leonardi E., "Carbon trading dogma: Theoretical assumptions and practical implications of global carbon markets", in Ephemera: theory & politics in organization, volume 17(1), 2017, pp. 61-87

Malm, A. and Hornborg, A. (2014) ‘The geology of mankind? A critique of the Anthropocene narrative’, The Anthropocene Review, 1(1), pp. 62–69.

Felli Romain, Castree N., "Neoliberalising adaptation to environmental change: Foresight or foreclosure?", in Environment and Planning A 44, n.1, 2012, pp. 1-4

Joseph J., "Resilience as embedded neoliberalism: a governamentality approach", in International Policies, Practicesand Discourses 1, n.1, 2013, pp. 38-52

Bettini G., "Climate Barbarians at the Gate? A critique of apocalyptic narratives on ‘climate refugees’", in Geoforum, 45, 2013, pp. 63-72

Sultana, F. (2021) ‘Critical climate justice’, The Geographical Journal, n/a(n/a).

Sultana, F. (2022) ‘The unbearable heaviness of climate coloniality’, Political Geography, p. 102638.

Swyngedouw Erik, «Apocalypse Forever? Post-political Populism and the Spectre of Climate Change» in Theory, Culture & Society 27, n.2-3, 2010, pp. 213-232.

Zickgraf C., "Keeping People in Place: Political Factors of (Im)mobility and Climate Change", in Social Sciences 8, n.8, 2019, pp. 1-17

Assessment methods:

For students not attending the classes, the essay aims to test comprehension of the geographical, economic, social and cultural phenomena studied in the course. Students are invited to propose a personal reflection on the issues studied.

FOR BOTH ATTENDING AND NON ATTENDING STUDENTS ASSESSMENT EVALUATION IS AS FOLLOWS:

• Excellent: the student shows full comprehension of the phenomena studied and is able to connect them to the appropriate theoretical framework and to case studies, together with a correct use of terminology and excellent communication skills.
• Sufficient: the student shows a fair ability to discuss the topics of the course, with a fairly accurate use of appropriate terminology and moderate communication skills.
• Poor: the student shows poor communication skills, lack of understanding of the theoretical and empirical aspects of the topics discussed in class, is unable to fully connect the different aspects studied and adopts imprecise use of terminology.

To sit the exam/ register for the essay students need to register via the AlmaEsami website.

Teaching methods

The course will be supported by the use of power point presentations, together with class activities based on creative participatory methodologies.

Students are strongly encouraged to actively engage during lessons by participating in class/group discussions.

Assessment methods

The programme and assessment differs between attending and non-attending students, as follows:

PROGRAMME FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING CLASSES

Students attending classes are required to participate in at least 75% of all lessons, and to actively take part in class activities. Assessment is evaluated as follows:

1. Participation in class discussions and activities proposed by the lecturer (40% of final evaluation)
2. Oral exam assessing knowledge of:

1. the topics discussed in class (30%) both in respect to lectures given as well as class activities
2. 1 book (30%) selected from the below:

• Piguet, Etienne, Laczko, Frank (Eds.), People on the move in a Changing Climate, Springer, 2014
• Piguet E., Pecoud A., de Guchteneire P., Migration and climate change, Unesco Publishing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.
• Sheller, M. (2018). Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes. Verso Books.
• Baldwin, A. and Bettini, G. (eds) (2017) Life Adrift: Climate Change, Migration, Critique. London ; New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

  Climate change debate

• Hoffman A., How culture shapes the climate change debate, Stanford briefs, Stanford, 2015.
• Klein N., This changes everything, Penguin Books, 2014.
• Pelling M., Adaptation to Climate Change. From resilience to transformation, Routledge, London, 2010.
• Tokar B., Eiglad E., Toward Climate Justice: Perspectives on the Climate Crisis and Social Change, New Compass Press, 2014.

Pollution/ waste

• Liboiron, M. (2021) Pollution Is Colonialism. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Armiero, M. (2021) Wasteocene: stories from the global dump. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements. Elements in environmental humanities).

  Other books may be selected in accordance with the course lecturer.

  Assessment methods:

  For students attending classes, assessment is an oral exam that evaluates comprehension of the geographical, economic, social and cultural phenomena presented during the lessons both by the course lecturer and other students' presentations and discussed together. Participation in class discussion is a key element of evaluation, together with personal reflections on the issues studied. Students will also be evaluated on their communication skills.

  PROGRAMME FOR STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE CLASSES

  The evaluation for students not attending the classes consists in the production of an essay of maximum 3,500 words.

  The focus of the essay may be chosen from the below bibliography, with optional other references allowed. Submission is via email to the course lecturer no later than 10 days before the Assessment session (there will be NO EXAM).

  1 book chosen from the following list (to analyse a specific aspect of the phenomenon):

  Climate change and migration

• Piguet, Etienne, Laczko, Frank (Eds.), People on the move in a Changing Climate, Springer, 2014
• Piguet E., Pecoud A., de Guchteneire P., Migration and climate change, Unesco Publishing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.
• Sheller, M. (2018). Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes. Verso Books.
• Baldwin, A. and Bettini, G. (eds) (2017) Life Adrift: Climate Change, Migration, Critique. London ; New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Climate change debate

• Hoffman A., How culture shapes the climate change debate, Stanford briefs, Stanford, 2015.
• Klein N., This changes everything, Penguin Books, 2014.
• Pelling M., Adaptation to Climate Change. From resilience to transformation, Routledge, London, 2010.
• Tokar B., Eiglad E., Toward Climate Justice: Perspectives on the Climate Crisis and Social Change, New Compass Press, 2014.

Pollution/ waste

• Liboiron, M. (2021) Pollution Is Colonialism. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Armiero, M. (2021) Wasteocene: stories from the global dump. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements. Elements in environmental humanities).

Articles

Boas I. et al., "Climate Migration Myths", in Nature ClimateChange 9, 2019, pp.901-903

Boas, I. et al. (2022) ‘Climate mobilities: migration, im/mobilities and mobility regimes in a changing climate’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 0(0), pp. 1–15.

Leonardi E., "Carbon trading dogma: Theoretical assumptions and practical implications of global carbon markets", in Ephemera: theory & politics in organization, volume 17(1), 2017, pp. 61-87

Malm, A. and Hornborg, A. (2014) ‘The geology of mankind? A critique of the Anthropocene narrative’, The Anthropocene Review, 1(1), pp. 62–69.

Felli Romain, Castree N., "Neoliberalising adaptation to environmental change: Foresight or foreclosure?", in Environment and Planning A 44, n.1, 2012, pp. 1-4

Joseph J., "Resilience as embedded neoliberalism: a governamentality approach", in International Policies, Practicesand Discourses 1, n.1, 2013, pp. 38-52

Bettini G., "Climate Barbarians at the Gate? A critique of apocalyptic narratives on ‘climate refugees’", in Geoforum, 45, 2013, pp. 63-72

Sultana, F. (2021) ‘Critical climate justice’, The Geographical Journal, n/a(n/a).

Sultana, F. (2022) ‘The unbearable heaviness of climate coloniality’, Political Geography, p. 102638.

Swyngedouw Erik, «Apocalypse Forever? Post-political Populism and the Spectre of Climate Change» in Theory, Culture & Society 27, n.2-3, 2010, pp. 213-232.

Zickgraf C., "Keeping People in Place: Political Factors of (Im)mobility and Climate Change", in Social Sciences 8, n.8, 2019, pp. 1-17

Assessment methods:

For students not attending the classes, the essay aims to test comprehension of the geographical, economic, social and cultural phenomena studied in the course. Students are invited to propose a personal reflection on the issues studied.

FOR BOTH ATTENDING AND NON ATTENDING STUDENTS ASSESSMENT EVALUATION IS AS FOLLOWS:

• Excellent: the student shows full comprehension of the phenomena studied and is able to connect them to the appropriate theoretical framework and to case studies, together with a correct use of terminology and excellent communication skills.
• Sufficient: the student shows a fair ability to discuss the topics of the course, with a fairly accurate use of appropriate terminology and moderate communication skills.
• Poor: the student shows poor communication skills, lack of understanding of the theoretical and empirical aspects of the topics discussed in class, is unable to fully connect the different aspects studied and adopts imprecise use of terminology.

To sit the exam/ register for the essay students need to register via the AlmaEsami website.

Teaching tools

All Power Point presentations and other materials for attending students will be available via the "teaching materials" ("materiali didattici") downloadable from this website. Access is restricted to University of Bologna students.

The course outline and assessment methods will be fully described during the first lecture and published in detail on the power point "Presentation of the course".

Office hours

See the website of Sarah Walker