POLS 3240-20 (2357) Jul 15, 2019- Aug 16, 2019
Climate Justice
Addressing the formidable challenges that global climate change presents to humanity requires unprecedented collective action at global, national, and local levels. We must act collectively to respond to climate change. In practice though, such collective action cannot be expected because neither the causes nor the effects of climate change are distributed uniformly across political boundaries or among different social groups within national boundaries. These differences in the effects of climate change – along the axes of nationality, geography, gender, race, ethnicity, and age among others – are the root causes of climate injustices of various types. The discriminatory effects of climate change are apparent from the reportage of climate change related disasters in the United States and elsewhere (beginning with hurricane Katrina and every other major disaster since). Climate change intervenes in a world with entrenched inequalities. Unless we make concerted efforts to counter these inequalities, the efforts to combat climate change are also likely to produce socially discriminatory effects. As a result, some types of climate actions may reinforce climate injustices while other types of climate action could promote climate justice.
This course will introduce you to the major concepts and debates related to the unequal effects of climate change, including those of the ongoing efforts to combat climate change. We use ‘climate justice’ as a lens to comprehend and analyze the nexus between climate change on the one hand and social, economic, and political inequalities on the other hand. To carry out these goals, we will use concepts from political science, environmental studies, and human rights.
*Note: This course is one of the electives students could take for partial fulfillment of requirements for Human Rights and Environmental Studies Majors.
For more information, contact: Prakash Kashwan at prakash.kashwan@uconn.edu