Université d’Ottawa
University of Ottawa
Faculté des sciences sociales
Sociologie et anthropologie
Faculty of Social Sciences
Sociology and Anthropology
55 Laurier St., East, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
Tél. | Tel.: 613-562-5720 Téléc. | Fax: 613-562-5906
SYLLABUS
SOC 7132A – Environment and Conflict
Winter 2009
Professor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Class Time:
Classroom:
Nathan Young
Desmarais, 8152
613-562-5800, ext. 1446
nyoung@uottawa.ca
Tues, 12:00-1:00; Thurs, 12:00-1:00
Tues, 8:30-11:30am
Desmarais, room 8143
This seminar will examine contemporary cases and theories of environmental conflict. While
environmental problems are often discussed using the language of the natural sciences, they
invariably have strong social dimensions. Environmental conflicts are key expression points for
competing interests, imbalances in power, different values, and different ways of knowing the
world. The seminar will examine each of these dimensions. It will look at the social
construction of environmental values, theories of human-nature interactions (social and political
ecology, actor-network theory), framing and communication conflicts, Aboriginal issues,
environmental governance, and knowledge conflicts.
Requirement of Attendance and Reading:
SOC 7132 is a seminar class. Completion of the assigned readings prior to the seminar is
mandatory. Class attendance is also mandatory.
Evaluation:
As a graduate-level seminar, evaluation will be based on class participation, critical thinking, and
strong research. Students will complete of an original research paper of 25-30 pages in length
(topics and guidelines to be given in class).
Outline of research paper
Class participation
Research paper
10 %
20 %
70 %
Required Texts
Hannigan, J. 2006. Environmental Sociology, 2nd edition. Routlege (available at UO Bookstore)
Coursepack. SOC 7132A. Available at Reprography services
When permitted by copyright laws, some readings have been posted to the Virtual Campus
website for the course. These are available free of charge for you to print.
http://www.tlss.uottawa.ca/index.php?lang=en
Late Assignments
Late assignments will be penalized 10% per day. Hard copies only will be accepted.
Assignments cannot be submitted electronically.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is taking another person's words, ideas, or research (data, statistics, etc.) and passing
them off as your own. The complete or partial paraphrasing of text written by someone else also
constitutes plagiarism if you do not acknowledge your source.
Weekly topics and readings:
Week 1: Introduction
No readings
Week 2: Sociology and the Environment
Hannigan, chapters 1 and 2
Bryson, B. 2004. “Good-Bye” A Short History of Nearly Everything. Anchor. 469-478.
Murphy, R. 1997. “Sociology as if nature did not matter” Sociology and Nature. Westview. 319.
Cronon, W. 1995. “The Trouble with Wilderness” in W. Cronon (Ed) Uncommon Ground.
Norton. 69-.90
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Week 3: The Social Construction of Nature and of Environmental Issues
Hannigan, chapter 5
Hacking, I. 1999. “Why ask What?” The Social Construction of What? Harvard University Press.
1-34. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Macnaghten, P., and Urry, J. 1998. “Sensing Nature” in Contested Natures. Sage
Demeritt, D. 2002. “What is the social construction of nature?” Progress in Human Geography.
26(2): 767-790 (Available on Virtual Campus)
Week 4: Sites of Conflict I: framing, discourse, values, moral regulation
Hannigan, chapter 3
Gamson, W., and A. Modigliani. 1989. “Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: a
constructionist approach” The American Journal of Sociology. 95(1): 1-37 (Available on
Virtual Campus)
Jasanoff, S. 2004. “Heaven and Earth: the politics of environmental images” in S. Jasanoff and
M. Martello (eds) Earthly Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 31-52.
Week 5: Sites of Conflict II: scarcity, power, and violence
Harding, G. 1968. “The tragedy of the commons” Science. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Homer-Dixon, T. 1999. “Environmental scarcity” Scarcity and Violence. Princeton University
Press. 47-72.
Homer-Dixon, T. 1999. “Interactions and Social Effects” Scarcity and Violence. Princeton
University Press. 73-106.
Diamond, J. 2005. “Malthus in Africa” Collapse. Penguin. 311-328.
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Week 6: Sites of Conflict III: political economy, social ecology, political ecology, and justice
Hannigan, chapter 4
Schnaiberg, A., and K. Gould. 1994. Environment and Society: the enduring conflict (Item on
order; article will be distributed in Week 5)
Forsyth, T. 2003. “Political ecology and the politics of environmental science” Critical Political
Ecology. Routledge. 1-23.
Wenz, P. 2007. “Does environmentalism promote injustice for the poor?” in R. Sandler and P.
Pezzullo (eds) Environmental Justice and Environmentalism. MIT Press. 57-83.
Week 7: Governing Nature: sustainability, precautionary principle, neoliberalism
Irwin, A. 2001. “Sustainability as Social Challenge” Sociology and the Environment. Malden:
Polity. 31-49.
Kriebel, D. et al. 2001. “The precautionary principle in environmental science” Environmental
Health Perspectives. 109(9): 871-6. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Perrow, C. 2006. “Culture, structure, and risk” in I. Richter et al. (eds) Risk Society and the
Culture of Precaution. Palgrave MacMillan. 47-58.
Young, N. 2008. “Radical neoliberalism in British Columbia: remaking rural geographies”
Canadian Journal of Sociology. 33(1): 1-35. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Week 8: Sites of Conflict IV: Aboriginal rights
Ignatieff, M. 2000. “The pool table or the patchwork quilt?” The Rights Revolution. Anansi. 5584.
Martello, M. 2004. “Neogtiating global nature and local culture: the case of Makah whaling” in
S. Jasanoff and M. Martello (eds) Earthly Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 263-284.
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Woolford, A. 2005. “Introduction” Between Justice and Certainty: treaty making in British
Columbia. UBC Press. 1-14.
Matthews, R., and N. Young. 2005. “Development on the margin” Journal of Aboriginal
Economic Development. 4(2): 99-108. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Week 9: Risk Societies
Hannigan, chapter 8
Beck, U. 1992. “On the logic of wealth distribution and risk distribution” Risk Society. Sage. 1950.
Jasanoff, S. 2006. “Risk in Hindsight” in I. Richter et al. (eds) Risk Society and the Culture of
Precaution. Palgrave MacMillan. 28-46.
Week 10: Trust, Knowledge, and Science
Hannigan, chapter 7
Fischer, Frank. 2000. “Democratic Prospects in an Age of Expertise” in Citizens, Experts, and
the Environment. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 5-28.
Atran, S. and D. Medin. 1997. “Knowledge and Action: cultural models of nature and resource
management in Mesoamerica” in Bazerman et al. Environment, Ethics & Behaviour Lexington:
New Press. 171-208.
Nadasdy, Paul. 1999. “The Politics of TEK: Power and the “Integration” of Knowledge” Arctic
Anthropology. 36(1-2): 1-18. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Week 11: Postmodern Perspectives: subpolitics, reflexivity, and ecological modernization
Szerszynski, B. 1996. “On knowing what to do: environmentalism and the modern problematic”
in S. Lash et al. (eds) Risk, Environment, and Modernity. Sage. 104-119.
Beck, U., Bonss, W., Lau, C. 2003. “The theory of reflexive modernization” Theory, Culture &
Society. 20(1): 1-33. (Available on Virtual Campus)
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Spaargaren, G. “Ecological modernization theory and the changing discourse on environment
and modernity” Environment and Global Modernity. Sage. 40-66.
Mol, A., Spaargaren, G. 2006 “Towards a sociology of environmental flows” International
Conference on Governning Environmental Flows. (Available on Virtual Campus)
Week 12: Actor-Network Approaches to the Environment
Latour, B. 2004. “Why political ecology has to let go of nature” Politics of Nature. Harvard
University Press. 9-52.
Murdoch, J. 2001. “Ecologizing Society” Sociology. 35(1): 111-133. (Available on Virtual
Campus)
Week 13: Shock: disruption, disaster, resiliency
Hannigan, chapter 10
Homer-Dixon, T. 2007. “Tectonic stresses” The Upside of Down. Vintage Canada. 9-30.
Bryson, B. 2004. “Ice Time” A Short History of Nearly Everything. Anchor. 419-433.
Adger, W. 2003. “Social capital, collective action, and adaptation to climate change” Economic
Geography. 79(4): 387-404. (Available on Virtual Campus)
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