International development

Political Ecology and Environmental Justice

Module code: 013IDS
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

On this module, you’ll be introduced to the concepts of environmental justice and political ecology, a set of approaches to understanding the relationship between environmental change and social justice.

The module encourages you to approach political ecology as a ‘public-facing’ discipline, engaging with activism and social movements. This includes the assessments, which are designed around public communication. This will provide you with opportunities to build employability skills and to engage with real-world struggles.

The module is split into three sections:

1. theoretical insights of political ecology and environmental justice
2. workshops on communications techniques and groupwork on your assessments
3. series of case studies and guest speakers drawing on issues of political ecological concern.

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of key theoretical perspectives on political ecology and environmental justice
• Critically reflect on the ideas, theories and assumptions underpinning contemporary policies and movements for addressing environmental (in)justice
• Critically analyse cases of environmental (in)justice in a range of geographical contexts, drawing on approaches from political ecology
• Independently identify and explore appropriate case studies, and communicate environmental (in)justice concerns to a public audience
• Critically apply knowledge of political ecology analysis to make judgements and recommendations in relation to contemporary case studies of environmental (in)justice