Course description
This course will provide students with the basic tools to understand the multilayered concept of sustainable development. This course aims to give students a broad multidisciplinary framework of the intricate development arena, through a quick overview of the different human, ecological, and economical aspects included under the big umbrella of ”sustainable development”.
In the first part of the seminar, we will explore different definitions of sustainable development, and we will take a journey through the history of sustainable development since its first appearance in the Bruntland Report in 1987. The following sections will discuss the main areas of sustainability, the role of the different sectors towards the achievement of sustainable development, including the role of power relations at national and international level, current challenges, the role of technological shifts, and future scenarios.
Course learning objectives
- Introduce students to the concept of sustainable development and its main dimensions.
- Identify the multidisciplinary nature of sustainable development and the role of each sector towards its achievement.
- Understand the importance of the SDG to promote a joint agenda towards advancing the adoption of a long-term sustainable development strategy.
- Promote in the students a critical approach for the analysis of the different sustainable development approaches.
Course design
The course will be taught in 13 sessions. For eachsession, the students will prepare a series of suggested readings related to the topic to cover during the session. In addition to the session, students will prepare one presentation related to one of the development topics covered and will respond a series of questions regarding the current global status, main challenges, and proposed solutions for that specific topic. Lectures will be open for discussion and a critical thinking towards the different currents of thought regarding sustainable development is encouraged.
Grading
Presentation 30%
Essay 1 30%
Essay 2 40%
Suggested Bibliography
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and Robinson, J., 2001. The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation. American Economic Review, 91(5), pp.1369-1401.
Alvaredo, F., Chancel, L., Piketty, T. and Zucman, G., 2018. World Inequality Report. [online] Berlin: World Inequality Lab.
Banerjee, A., & Duflo, E. (2012). Poor economics. PublicAffairs
Beneria, L. Deere, C. D. , and Kabeer, N. 2012 ”Gender and International Migration: Globalization, Development, and Governance.” Feminist Economics 18(2): 1–33.
Levy, D., Spicer, A. (2013) ‘Contested Imaginaries and the Cultural Political Economy of Climate Change’, Organization 20(5): 659–78.
Rogers, P. P., Jalal, K. F., & Boyd, J. A. (2006). An introduction to sustainable development. Cambridge, Mass.: Continuing Education Division, Harvard University.
Sachs, J. D. (2015). The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press.
Sen A. Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred Knopf; 1999.
Stiglitz, J. E., & Charlton, A. (2005). Fair trade for all: How trade can promote development. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Taylor, J., & Lybbert, T. (2015). Essentials of Development Economics. University of California Press. Retrieved July 1, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt13x1gg1
United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2020: The Next Frontier—Human Development and the Anthropocene, December 15, 2020, http://hdr.undp.org/en/2020-report; http://report.hdr.undp.org/.
UN General Assembly, Transforming our world : the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 21 October 2015, A/RES/70/1, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b6e3e44.html [accessed 1 July 2021]
- Lehrende/r: Karla Vanessa Rubio Jovel