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ENVS 461: “Hatchet and Seed” – Tools of Political Ecology (Rev. C2/C3) Report a Broken Link

We live in a world of rapid ecological decline and climate disaster, but these changes are anything but natural. This course begins from the premise that all environmental change is deeply political: rife with struggles about the ways that change is understood, how it unfolds, who benefits, and how we respond to it. Students will explore the ways in which ecological degradation and change are intertwined with systems of white supremacy, settler colonialism, capitalism, and other dominant social and political processes. By paying attention to underlying assumptions and worldviews, students will also critically examine a variety of responses to these problems, what they reproduce, and what they leave behind. This course aims to support students in directing their own learning by focusing on the activities and themes that they find most compelling and relevant to their lives.

Unit 0

Blum, Susan D. (2017, November 14). Ungrading. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/11/14/significant-learning-benefits-getting-rid-grades-essay
Dron, Jon. (2013, May 9). Getting to know the Landing. Athabasca University Landing. https://landing.athabascau.ca/pages/view/147764/getting-to-know-the-landing

Unit 1

WWF International. (2019, June 29). Why is the Amazon rainforest dying? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1hoaTLZJcA
Vox. (2019, November 21). The destruction of the Amazon, explained [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZAKPUQMw0

Unit 2

Locke, John. (2021, December 25). Of property. In D. Gowan & C. Greif, Second treatise of government. Project Gutenberg. Originally published in 1689.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. (2013). The council of pecans. In Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants (pp. 11–21). Milkweed Editions.
subMedia. (2019). What is property? [Video]. https://sub.media/video/what-is-property

Unit 3

Cronon, William. (1996). The trouble with wilderness; or, getting back to the wrong nature. Environmental History 1(1): 7–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3985059
W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation. (2015, November 6). Freshman wilderness experience at the University of Montana [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUate9O499Q
Nature Rx. (2015, August 4). Nature Rx Part 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf5TgVRGND4
Our Changing Climate. (2017, April 7). National parks: A violent wilderness [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3vh8g9PSZo

Unit 4

Smith, Neil. (2006, June 11). There’s no such thing as a natural disaster. Items: Insights from the social sciences. https://items.ssrc.org/understanding-katrina/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-natural-disaster
Solnit, Rebecca. (2010). Prelude: Falling together. In A paradise built in hell: The extraordinary communities that arise in disaster (pp. 1–10). Penguin.
Solnit, Rebecca. (2010). The Mizpah Café. In A paradise built in hell: The extraordinary communities that arise in disaster (pp. 13–22). Penguin.
The Intercept. (2018, April 7). The battle for paradise: Naomi Klein reports from Puerto Rico [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTiZtYaB3Zo
Pflug-Back, Kelly Rose. (2019, September 5). Mutual aid for the end of the world. Briarpatch. https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/mutual-aid-for-the-end-of-the-world

Unit 5

Pavid, Katie. (n.d.). What is the Anthropocene and why does it matter? National History Museum. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-the-anthropocene.html
Moore, Jason. (2019, July 11). The Capitalocene and planetary justice. Maize 6: 49–54. https://jasonwmoore.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Moore-The-Capitalocene-and-Planetary-Justice-2019-Maize.pdf
Verso Books. (2018, July 20). Capitalism is destroying the planet | Raj Patel [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mk1n4Gp1ks
Boshnjaku, A. [Arlind Boshnjaku]. (2012, April 1). Welcome to the Anthropocene [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvgG-pxlobk
Bradner, Eric. (2020, June 2). Biden sharpens contrast with Trump: “I won’t traffic in fear and division.” CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/politics/joe-biden-philadelphia-speech/index.html
CNN. (2020, June 2). Joe Biden’s remarks on civil unrest and nationwide protests. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/politics/biden-philadelphia-transcript/index.html

Unit 6

Lukacs, Martin. (2017, July 17). Neoliberalism has conned us into fighting climate change as individuals. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2017/jul/17/neoliberalism-has-conned-us-into-fighting-climate-change-as-individuals
Monbiot, George. (2016, April 15). Neoliberalism—The ideology at the root of all our problems. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot
Risager, Bjarke Skærlund. (2016, July 23). Neoliberalism is a political project: An interview with David Harvey. Jacobin. https://jacobinmag.com/2016/07/david-harvey-neoliberalism-capitalism-labor-crisis-resistance
Kennedy, Paul. (Host). (2018, September 26). Is neoliberalism destroying the world? [Radio episode]. In Ideas. CBC Radio 1. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/is-neoliberalism-destroying-the-world-1.4839399
sub.Media. (2016). What is class? [Video]. https://sub.media/video/what-is-class

Unit 7

Kuokkanen, Rauna. (2011). Indigenous economies, theories of subsistence, and women: Exploring the social economy model for Indigenous governance. American Indian Quarterly 35(2): 215–240. https://doi.org/10.5250/amerindiquar.35.2.0215
Rubinoff, Lionel. (1997). Politics, ethics, and ecology: Confronting the tragedy of the commons. In A. Wellington, A. Greenbaum, & W. Cragg (Eds.), Canadian issues in environmental ethics (pp. 133–152). Broadview Press.
Hansen, Kevin. (Director). (2020). The commons: Reclaiming what is ours. PierreTerre.com. Posted with permission of Kevin Hansen.

Unit 8

Pulido, Laura. (2016). Flint, environmental racism, and racial capitalism. Capitalism Nature Socialism 27(3): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10455752.2016.1213013
AJ+. (2016, January 29). What is environmental racism? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrbeuJRPM0o
Waldron, Ingrid R. G. (2018). Narratives of resistance, mobilizing, and activism: The fight against environmental racism in Nova Scotia. In There’s something in the water: Environmental racism in Indigenous and Black communities (pp. 108–127). Fernwood Publishing.
Page, Elliot, & Daniel, Ian. (Directors). (2019). There’s something in the water [Film]. 2 Weeks Notice. Posted with permission of Collective Eye Films.

Unit 9

Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake. (2015, April 8). Decolonial love: Building resurgent communities of connection [Video]. EMMA Talks. http://emmatalks.org/video/leanne-simpson
Wolfe, Patrick. (2006). Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. Journal of Genocide Research 8(4): 387–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240

Unit 10

Moore, Hilary, & Russell, Joshua Kahn. (2011). Organizing cools the planet: Tools and reflections on navigating the climate crisis (PMPress Pamphlet Series No. 0011). PM Press. https://climateaccess.org/resource/organizing-cools-planet Find your frontline (pp. 8–17) Climate justice (pp. 18–24)
Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project. (2015). From banks and tanks to cooperation and caring: A strategic framework for a just transition. Movement Generation. https://movementgeneration.org/justtransition
Lewis, Avi. (Director). (2015). This changes everything [Film]. Klein Lewis Productions and Louverture Films. Posted with permission of Unobstructed View.

Activities

Tutor Check-In Form 1
Tutor Check-In Form 2
Tutor Check-In Form 3
Tutor Check-In Form 4
Course Learning Outcomes Map
Course Learning Outcomes Map (alternate format)

PowerPoint Videos

Learning Support 0.0: Welcome

Learning Support 0.1: Grading & ungrading (Part I: What is grading?) 

Learning Support 0.2: Grading & ungrading (Part II: What is ungrading?)

Learning Support 0.3: Ungrading in this course

Learning Support 2.0: Introduction to close reading

Learning Support 2.1: Close reading of John Locke

Learning Support 3.0: “The trouble with wilderness”

Learning Support 4.0: (Un)natural disaster

Learning Support 4.1: Disaster response and reconstruction

Learning Support 5.0: Critical analysis

Learning Support 5.1: How do you do critical analysis?

Learning Support 6.0: The capitalist context of neoliberalism

Learning Support 6.1: Neoliberal transformations

Learning Support 6.2: Neoliberal ideology and its implications

Learning Support 8.0: Environmental racism: Making sense of Flint’s water

Learning Support 8.1: Racial capitalism