MA International Political Economy (Standard) / Course details

This course will discuss the dynamics of climate change politics. Climate change is both one of the most significant consequences of and challenges for contemporary politics. We explore climate politics primarily through a political economy lens, focused on the dynamics of capitalism, but explore the limits of this lens in relation to questions of culture and everyday life, the role of the state, and international cooperation. The course is organised to get you to think about the political-economic origins of climate change, the political economy of responses to climate change, and the sorts of transformational politics that thinking about the future in a climate-changed world entail.

The course unit aims to:

1. Explore the politics of climate change, at multiple scales and through a range of perspectives.
2. Develop students' research skills.
3. Develop students' capacities for collaborative work and group learning.

The course is delivered through ten weekly one-hour lectures and ten weekly seminars. The lectures provide context and highlight a range of theoretical approaches. The seminars involve discussion of academic texts that are often linked to a specific country’s circumstances.

Understand the key perspectives on climate change politics, and have detailed empirical knowledge of the patterns of climate change governance.

Understand the importance of conceptual framing for how the politics of climate change are shaped.

Develop further their research and argumentation skills through the development of a group presentation and a research paper.

Participate in the research for and presentation of a substantial group project.

Research paper of 2000 words (75%)
Group-based production of country reports of 1000 words (25%)
 

• Willis, Rebecca (2020) Too Hot to Handle? The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
• Evans, Kate (2006) Funny Weather: Everything You Didn;t Want to Know About Climate Change But Probably Should Find Out. London: Myriad Press. This is an excellent cartoon book. It is in the library but an e-book is available for around US$4.99 which is extremely good value. You will get as good an introduction from this as from any dry academic text.  http://store.sequential.cc/catalogue/book/funny_weather_by_kate_evans/479 
• Dessler, Andrew and Edward Parson (2010) The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Newell, Peter, and Matthew Paterson (2010) Climate Capitalism: Global Warming and the Transformation of the Global Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.