| Unit name | Violent Environments: Warscapes, weaponizing nature, and the geography of violent conflict |
|---|---|
| Unit code | GEOGM0017 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Laudati |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
N/A |
| Co-requisites |
N/A |
| School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
We live in a time of unparalleled instances of democide, genocide, ethnocide, and increasingly, ecocide. Despite the rising prominence of the economic/ecological dimension both as cause and catalyst in the prevailing spectrum of armed conflicts in the post cold war period, nuanced understandings and conceptualizations of violent environments remains focused on the sensational, spectacle-driven messaging of particular themes, namely, the resource curse, black gold, and blood diamonds. This class considers the broader contributions of environmental crisis to the production, persistence, and shaping of violence around the world today. We will consider a range of topics, scales, and case studies from ‘petro-violence’ in Nigeria to ‘slow violence’ and the environmentalism of the poor with particular emphasis on human rights and political ecology perspectives.
The purpose of this course is to broaden student’s understanding of the linkages between the environment and violent conflict through an in-depth engagement with the multiple and various roles that the environment as agent, discourse, and struggle, plays in contributing to and shaping violent outcomes.
By the end of the course, students will be able to;
Critically evaluate the predictive, causal, and active role of the environment in shaping violence
Compare, contrast and establish connections between a wide range of theoretical and analytical approaches to ecological violence
Apply the theoretical arguments and concepts learned through the class to a practical research project
Complicate and/or challenge current conceptualizations of key environmental (in)security debates and concepts
Articulate the wider, varied, and shifting influence that the environment holds in warfare and violent conflict around the world
Seminars
Weekly Reading Briefs (30%) Research Project (70%)
Peluso, N. and Watts, M. J. 2001. Violent Environments. Cornell University Press Nixon, R. 2011. Slow Violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Harvard University Press.
