This is the first introductory course of Political Ecology within the Master's of Environmental Humanities. Political Ecology is a highly interdisciplinary area of research and knowledge that looks at and acts upon uneven power relations and their consequences over the environment(s). This includes the study of socio-ecological (or socio-environmental) conflicts over megaprojects, extractivist activities, ecological disruptions, and ecocide. It has been defined as both an academic field and a way of inhabiting the world, being knowledge and research inseparable from the way we treat ourselves and the environment, or territory, that supports us. The strong focus of Political Ecology on power relations, political engagement, and transformative efforts makes this course an important addition to the Environmental Humanities program. The course offers a space for learning through unconventional tools and practices grounded in engaged pedagogy. It is designed to overcome and deconstruct conventional hierarchical roles between instructors and students, as well as among students.
The course opens up to a variety of perspectives and approaches, both academic and not strictly academic, to the study and analysis of contemporary socioenvironmental issues. It adopts a global perspective and includes literature and debates from European and Anglo-Saxon academia as well as from Indian and Latin American academia in particular. It goes beyond binary language that usually separates nature and society as disparate variables of analysis, but rather understands them as mutually constitutive notions and experiences. A strong component of this course is the human and non-human pluriverse, including the diversity of Indigenous environmental theories and practices.
No prior knowledge is required for this course. However, openness to new angles and perspectives, which help us confront our own biases, is required.