Unit name | Environmental policy and social justice |
---|---|
Unit code | SPOLM0041 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Sweeting |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School for Policy Studies |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit examines the intersection of environmental issues, social justice, and public policy. As evidence mounts that the climate crisis has been caused by humans, there has been a gradual but growing acceptance among national governments, supra-national organisations, and the general public of the need for more environmentally harmonious societies. At the same time, traditional development paths have come under question in the context of the continuing failure to meet a number of basic human needs. Additionally, many of the challenges posed by environmental risks relate to inequalities within societies between rich and poor, and also between societies between the global North and South.
This unit will help students to integrate thinking about social and environmental issues by exploring foundational concepts, values and perspectives as well as implications for policy. It explores topics such as the particular characteristics of environmental issues that face policy-makers in making environmental policy, and the nature of environmental goods that impact on behaviour relating to them. It will also make use of increased awareness of ethical issues relating to environmental sustainability and social well-being from a global perspective, exploring matters of social and environmental injustice and issues such as citizenship and human need. It therefore combines both ‘social policy’ and ‘public policy’ approaches to the environment.
The unit aims are:
By the end of the unit, students will be able to:
Interactive lectures, group discussions and exercises.
4,000 word written assignment which tests the learning outcomes of the unit.
Bell, K. (2014) Achieving environmental justice. Bristol: The Policy Press
Carter, N. (2007) The politics of the environment. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dryzek, J. and Schlosberg, D. (eds) Debating the earth. The environmental politics reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fitzpatrick, T. (ed.) (2011) Understanding the environment and social policy. Bristol: The Policy Press
Giddens, A (2009) The politics of climate change. Cambridge: Polity
Snell, C. and Haq, G. (2014) The short guide to environmental policy. Bristol: The Policy Press