THE POLITICS OF NATURE:
CRITICAL POLITICAL ECOLOGY & THE GLOBAL SOUTH
(ANG 6930)
Instructor: M. Heckenberger, Anthropology
Fall 2013; Turlington 2341; TH 4-6 (10:40-1:40)
Contact: mheck@ufl.edu
This course is an advanced survey of critical political ecology. Classic
monographs and perspectives set the agenda, in the early 21st century, particularly the
critical theory that emerged from the Frankfurt School and Chicago School of urban
ecology. The focus is on the “new ecologies,” addressing symbolic, historical and
political aspects of ecology, focusing on the Global South and Latin America,
particularly, Brazil.
Primary readings will be complemented with current (2000-2013) readings to be
selected based on the specific composition of the course. Six books are recommended.
Evaluation is based on attendance and participation (10%), a class power-point overview
presentation (30%) and a final product (60%).
Recommended Books:
1. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction (2004); Paul Robbins; Blackwell.
2. Critical Political Ecology: The Politics of Environmental Science (2003)
Tim Forsyth; Routledge,
3. Critical Ecologies: The Frankfurt School and Contemporary Environmental Crisis
(2011); Andrew Biro; University of Toronto.
4. The Politics of Nature (2004); Bruno Latour; Harvard.
5. Environmentality: Technologies of Government and the Making of Subjects (2005);
Arun Agrawal; Duke.
6. Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection (2004); Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing;
Princeton.
Weekly Course Outline:
1. Course themes and objectives (WSF3; proposal or other publishable);
Initial Topic Selection
2. Introduction (Biersack 1999; Latour 1998, 2009; Gibbons 2003):
Final Topic Selection; Selection of First Presentation Schedule
PART I: THE NEW ECOLOGIES
3. Historical Ecology: Domesticated Landscapes & Cultural Heritage (Alemán;
Whitehead et al. 2010); [preparation of first presentation]
4. Symbolic Ecology and Indigenous Knowledge (Athayde; UN Charter; Posey 2001;
Kohn/Descola 2010, Tipiti); [preparation of first presentation]
5. Political Ecology: Ecology, Power, and Governmentality (Schmink & Woods,
Robbins, Forsyth) [final frst presentations schedule]
PART II: CRITICAL POLITICAL ECOLOGY
6. Critical Perspectives: An Introduction (Robbins; Forsyth; Latin America):
First Presentations 1
7. Critical Ecologies (Biro)
First Presentations 2
8. Tools of Political Ecology: Scale and Perspective (Robbins; Forsyth: Brazilian
Amazon)
First Presentations 3
9. Political Ecology in Action: States, Stakeholders, and Voice (Robbins; Forsyth;
Brazilian Amazon): [prep of final product]
10. Ecology as Critique: Alternative Modernities & Advanced Marginality (Forsyth;
Urban Brazil): [prep of final product]
11. The Politics of Nature (Latour)
PART III: KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH
12. Environmentality & Governmentality (Agrawal)
Final Presentations 1
13. Friction & Globalization (Tsing)
Final Presentations 2
14. Grass-roots Participation (selected readings from Pound et al. 2003, Managing
Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting Science and
Participation, Earthscan; Urban Brazil)
Final Presentations 3
15. The New Dynamics of Knowledge Production & Emergent Brazil & Latin America
(Chapin 2005; Gibbons et al. 1994; Nowotny et al. 2001; Heckenberger 2007, 2009;
Emergent Brazil) &
Final Presentations 4