The world is currently facing multiple crises. Not least, data shows various worrying developments regarding the state of the global environment (à Planetary Boundaries). Nevertheless, politics, so far, have failed to sufficiently address these evident challenges in the ecological dimension of sustainability. How can this persistent non-sustainability be explained? For climate policy, current research points to the agency of a ”climate change counter-movement” including networks and coalitions of actors that more or less deliberately hinder consistent climate policy. Which actors are central in these coalitions, what role do political parties play here and what is the corresponding situation in the climate movement?
Along these questions, this course will explore the current politics of sustainability by looking at specific examples from an actor-orientated perspective (e.g., Advocacy Coalition Framework). To this end, students will work in groups to create their own comparative case studies on key conflicts of sustainability in the European Union (! prior knowledge of case studies is not necessary. It will be provided pragmatically in the course). The course is intended to provide students with the space to critically reflect current sustainability policy and politics, to learn about concrete conflicts of sustainability in Europe and to gain some research experiences in the form of the comparative case studies.
Studienleistung: Case Study (short version) (incl. oral presentation and introductory parts of written assignment)
Prüfungsleistung: Case Study (long version) (incl. oral presentation and a complete written assignment/Hausarbeit)
Erste Literatur:
Blühdorn, I. (2020). The legitimation crisis of democracy: emancipatory politics, the environmental state and the glass ceiling to socio-ecological transformation. Environmental Politics, 29(1), 38-57. doi:10.1080/09644016.2019.1681867
Blühdorn, I., & Deflorian, M. (2019). The collaborative management of sustained unsustainability: on the performance of participatory forms of environmental governance. Sustainability, 11(4), 1189. doi:10.3390/su11041189
Brulle, R. J., Roberts, J. T., & Spencer, M. C. (Eds.). (2024). Climate Obstruction Across Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ekberg, K., Forchtner, B., Hultman, M., & Jylhä, K. M. (2023). Climate obstruction: How denial, delay and inaction are heating the planet. London a. New York: Routledge.
Weible, C. M., Ingold, K., Nohrstedt, D., Henry, A. D., & Jenkins‐Smith, H. C. (2020). Sharpening advocacy coalitions. Policy Studies Journal, 48(4), 1054-1081. doi:doi.org/10.1111/psj.12360
Kurs im HIS-LSF