Lahore University of Management Sciences

ANTH 246 – Political Ecology

Fall 2021

Instructor Melinda Gurr

Room No.
Office Hours
Email Melinda.gurr@lums.edu.pk
Telephone
Secretary/TA
TA Office
Hours
Course URL (if
any)

Course Basics
Credit Hours 4
Lecture(s) Nbr of Lec(s) Per 2 Duration 1h 50m
Week
Recitation/Lab (per Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
week) Week
Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
Week

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Our world is plagued by environmental problems. Thus far, resolving the deep basis of these crises has been
largely superficial and disorganized. As a result, since the 1970s and 1980s, political ecology has emerged as an
exciting, emergent field combining the insights of anthropologists, climate scientists, geographers, and many
others in the effort to understand and discover appropriate solutions to some of the world’s most urgent
problems. In this perspective, environmental problems are understood in fundamentally social terms. Political
ecologists link the dynamics of global capitalism with the production of a series of environmental disasters and
failed environmental policies—attempting to bridge micro and macro level analyses. Although we cannot do
justice to this subject in a single semester, this introductory course is organized into thematic sections, covering
diverse subjects such as: energy scarcity and abundance; global governance of health, bodies, and genomics; the
contradictions of the global food system; capital’s marginal products: slums, waste, and garbage; water as a
commodity, human rights, and power; the functions and dysfunctions of the global green economy; political
ecology of the global climate; and carbon emissions. We examine also contemporary social movements and civil
society actors as they struggle to protect the commons and take seriously their visions and blueprints for
building a more sustainable (and equitable) future.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
 This course intends to offer a global overview of the current ecological crises in its multiple dimensions:
politico-economic, cultural and epistemological, and governmental. Students will learn about the
historical processes which led to the current crisis, as well as the diversity of implications that
environmental problems pose to different social groups in different geo-historical contexts (viz.
environmental inequalities), while also engaging with their trans-scalar nature and global implications.
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 The ultimate scope of the course is for students to acquire the ability to develop new and imaginative
ways of conceptualizing nature/society relationships in different geo-political and cultural contexts, in
order to contribute to the formulation of more inclusive and socially just environmental policies.
 The course will familiarize students with the key concepts and tools used by political ecologists and help
students conduct political ecological research.

COURSE READINGS
All readings will be made available at the course reader (available at the photocopier) and will also be uploaded
in our course folder on LMS.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Class participation: 10%
Attendance: 10%
Group Research Project and Presentation: 20%
Midterm & Final Exam: 40%
2 Reflection Papers: 20%

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
 Attend the lectures
 Be in class on time.
 Do the readings: It is essential for you to do all the assigned readings. Careful, thoughtful reading will be
crucial to your course performance.
 Hand in your reading when it is due. Late work is NOT accepted.
 Do not use your mobile phone in class.

CLASS PARTICIPATION-10%
Your class participation score will largely be based on your participation in classroom discussions and on your
ability to answer any question posed to you. As a general rule, comments that illustrate your familiarity with
your readings, demonstrate your ability to link what you are learning to the world around you, are reflexive, etc.,
will earn you more points in comparison to comments that merely repeat things that others have already said
(which will not earn you any points). You may also occasionally be asked to do class work, based on the readings
for that day. The score you receive will be added to your CP points.

ATTENDANCE-10%
You will get an “absent” for a class if: you do not come to class at all, are more than ten minutes late, come back
late from your class break, or if you leave class before it is over.
Excused absences are ONLY given to students if they are ill and can provide a note from the LUMS doctor or if
they have represented LUMS in an activity and can provide the relevant official paperwork.

Please note that more than two unexcused absences will result in your losing your attendance points (3
unexcused absences means you end up with 4 points, 4 unexcused absences mean you end up with 2 points and
more than 4 means you get no attendance points).
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The two unexcused absences that are allowed with no penalty are for occasions such as weddings, family
emergencies, job interviews, transportation issues, coming to class late, etc. As students shall not be given
excused absences for such occasions, they are encouraged not to ‘waste’ the leeway they are given.

GROUP RESEARCH PROJECT AND PARTICIPATION-20%

For this project, students will be divided into small groups, and will be asked to examine and conceptualize local
environmental problems in Lahore (or beyond if you are feeling ambitious). The group will be asked to present
their discoveries in-class (by making a short film, power point presentation, podcast, etc.). Further instructions
will provided as the course progresses.

MID TERM AND FINAL EXAM-40%

Midterms will be based on all materials covered in the course: readings, lectures, discussions, films, and other
sources. They will be comprised of multiple choice questions, true and false questions, short and long answer
questions.

*Please note that exams cannot be re-taken unless permission is sought and obtained from the OSA.

REFLECTION PAPERS-20% %
During the semester, you will be asked to write 2 reflection papers based on course material. Your papers will be
evaluated for content, critical analysis, and the ability to analyze important concepts.

NOTES
 It is the students responsibility to get in touch with the instructor if they find they are having any
problems in the course or if they are working under any special conditions—which may be physical (e.g.
hearing difficulties), academic (e.g. probation), etc—and require special or extra assistance. Providing
suitable assistance, be it extra coaching, a seating change and so forth, will not be a problem. But please
remember that problems are best resolved when they are shared in a timely manner (and that means not
towards the end of the semester).

 Scores and final grades are never changed (barring a miscalculation). Each and every paper and exam
shall be carefully read and graded on the basis of a particular pre-set criterion. While students are
always welcome to come and discuss their work with the instructor to find out how they can improve,
requests to alter the final score shall not be addressed, no matter what the reason (please see the
previous bullet point in this context).

 There are certain norms of behavior that students are expected to display in the classroom. Talking to
each other during class time and using cell phones are examples of a violation of these norms and the
instructor reserves the right to take appropriate action if such behavior is displayed.

PLAGIARISM
There is a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism and cheating in this course. Students caught engaging in these
behaviors will be immediately sent to the Disciplinary Committee.
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COURSE SCHEDULE

Foundational Concepts: An Uneven Earth

Session 1 Introduction, overview

Session 2 What’s so political about ecology? What’s so ecological about politics? Historic background and
contemporary debates.
 Film: Home (2009)
 Reading: Thomas J. Bassett, et al. (2015) “Political ecological perspectives of
socioecological relations.” Natures Sciences Societés, pp. 157-165.

Session 3 Thinking about the global political economy of resources; uneven development (part 1)
 David Harvey, 2006. “A Theory of Uneven Geographic Development: Accumulation by
Dispossession” In Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven
Geographical Development, pp. 69-89

Session 4 Uneven development (part 2)

 David Harvey, 2006. “A Theory of Uneven Geographic Development: Accumulation by
Dispossession” In Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven
Geographical Development, pp. 90-116

Session 5 Population Crisis, limits to growth, the political implications of the population-resources theory
David Harvey. 1974. “Population, Resources, and the Ideology of Science.” Economic
Geography, 50 (3): 256-277.

Session 6 Rich land/poor people: The pillage of Latin America

 Eduardo Galeano. 1973. The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage
of a Continent. New York: Latin American Bureau. pp. 1-28

Session 7 Rich land/poor people: The Frontiers of Capitalism

 Anna Tsing. 2005. “The Frontiers of Capitalism” in, Friction. Durham: Duke University
Press, pp. 1-33.

Session 8 Alternative ontologies and indigenous cosmovisions

 David Rojas 2016. “Climate Politics in the Anthropocene and Environmentalism
Beyond Nature and Culture in Brazilian Amazonia.” PoLAR.

Reflection paper #1 due.

II. On land, labor, and bodies: agricultural crises

Session 9 Agrarian transitions—The rise of the plantations
 Eduardo Galeano. 1973. The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage
of a Continent. New York: Latin American Bureau. pp. 79-90.
 Tim Lang and Michael Heasman. 2004. Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths Minds
and Markets. London: Earthscan, pp. 1-8.
 In-class film: Food Incorporated.
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Session 10 The food wars thesis
 Tim Lang and Michael Heasman. 2004. Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths Minds
and Markets. London: Earthscan, pp. 11-40.

Session 11 Beyond crisis: from food security to food sovereignty

 Tim Lang and Michael Heasman. 2004. Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths Minds
and Markets. London: Earthscan, pp. 126-155

Session 12 From globalization to localization: peasant revolts and radical futures

 Nancy Romer, “The Radical Potential of the Food Justice Movement,” in Radical
Teacher No 98 (Winter 2014). pp. 1-15
 Tim Lang and Michael Heasman. 2004. Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths Minds
and Markets. London: Earthscan, pp. 158-167.
 Film: “Maquila: A Tale of 2 Mexicos.”
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-
online/festival/play/3527/Maquila--A-Tale-of-Two-Mexicos

Session 13 Campesino politics: contemporary challenges

 Guest speaker (via Skype): Claire Lagier, Ph.D. Candidate, “Building Sustainable
Futures: Women, Agroecology, and the MST in Brazil.”

Session 14. Mid-term exam

Global water crisis
Session 15. “Water water everywhere and nothing left to drink?”
 Maude Barlow. 2007. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for
the Right to Water. Toronto: New Press, pp. 1-32.
 Film: “In Defense of Panchamama.”
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/6237/In-
Defense-of-Pachamama

Session 15. Commodification and privatization of water resources

 Maude Barlow. 2007. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for
the Right to Water. Toronto: New Press, pp. 34-66.
 Water protectors, defense against DAPL

Session 16. Running out of water? The social construction of scarcity

 Maude Barlow. 2007. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for
the Right to Water. Toronto: New Press, pp. 68-78.
 Willem Assies (2003) “David Versus Goliath in Cochabamba: Water Rights,
Neoliberalism and the Revival of Social Protest in Bolivia.” Latin American
Perspectives 30(3): 14-36.
 In-class film: Even the Rain.

Session 17. Limits of technocratic interventions/ “Dam-Nation!”

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 Ananth Aiyer (2010)“The Allure of the Transnational: Some Notes on the Political
Economy of Water in India” Cultural Anthropology 22(4): 640-658.
 Ravi Baghel & Marcus Nüsser. 2010. “Discussing Large Dams in Asia after the World
Commission on Dams: Is Political Ecology Approach the Way Forward?” Water
Alternatives, 3 (2): 231-248.

Extractive capital
Session 18. Fuelling capitalism: energy scarcity and abundance
 Gavin Bridge. 2011. “Pask peak oil: political economy of energy crises.” In, Global
Political Ecology. Edited by Richard Peet, et al. pp. 305-325.
 Film: The Devil’s Miner (2005)

Session 19. Geopolitics of energy and securitization

 James Ferguson. 2005.“Seeing like an Oil Company: Space, Security, and Global
Capital in Neoliberal Africa.” American Anthropologist, 107(3): 337-382

Reflection paper #2 due.

Urban challenges
Session 20 Capital’s margins: the political ecology of “slums”
 Sarah A. Moore. 2011. “Global garbage: waste, trash trading, and local garbage
politics.”
 D. Asher Ghertner. 2011. “Green evictions: environmental discourses of a ‘slum-free’
Delhi.” In, Global Political Ecology. Edited by Richard Peet, et al. pp. 131-160.

Session 21 Trash: life at the margins of global capital

 Joseph Masco. 2011. “Mutant ecologies: radioactive life in post-Cold War New
Mexico.” In, Global Political Ecology. Edited by Richard Peet, et al. pp. 285-305.

Session 22 Air pollution: externalities, health, and the body

 João Biehl. 2011. “When people come first: beyond technical and theoretical quick-
fixes in global health.” Global Political Ecology. Edited by Richard Peet, et al. pp. 100-
130.

Making a life at the edge of ruins

Session 23 Socioecological perspectives of payment-for-ecosystems services: opportunities for
collaboration between biologists and social scientists
 Guest Speaker (via Skype): Dr. Daniela Manuveschich, Universidad de Humanismo
Academico, Santiago, Chile.
 A. G. Bumpus and D. M. Liverman. 2011. “Carbon Colonialism: Offsets, greenhouse gas
reductions and sustainable development.” In, Global Political Ecology. Edited by
Richard Peet, et al. pp. 203-225.
 Weddoc, PBS: The money tree. 2015.

Session 24 Climate change: anthropological contributions to knowledge

 Anna Tsing. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in
Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press, pp. 11-27.
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Session 25 Problems with scale: How to address local-, national-, global- problems?
 Anna Tsing. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in
Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press, pp. 37-54.

Session 26 Patchy ecologies: revisiting/resisting uneven development thesis

 Anna Tsing. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in
Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press, pp. 55-74

Session 27 In-class presentation of research projects

Session 28 In-class presentation of research projects

Session 29 Final Exam

Gender and Development: Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development