ENVS 461: "Hatchet and Seed": Tools of Political Ecology (Rev. C2) 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


Unit 1


Unit 2


Unit 3


Unit 4


Unit 5


Unit 6


Unit 7


Hansen, Kevin. (Director). (2020). The commons: Reclaiming what is ours. PierreTerre.com. Posted with permission of Kevin Hansen.

Unit 8


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


Unit 10


Activities


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