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POL36300

Academic Year 2026/2027

Politics of Climate Change (POL36300)

Subject:
Politics
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Politics & Int Relations
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Elisa D'Amico
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module examines climate change as a contested political field shaped by power, inequality, institutional authority and competing visions of social and ecological transformation. Rather than approaching climate change as a purely environmental or technical problem, the module asks how climate harms are produced, governed, justified, resisted and reimagined across different scales of political life.

The module is organised around a theory–praxis approach. Political theory is treated not as a detached canon of abstract positions, but as a living field of concepts and arguments that is tested and reshaped through political conflict. Climate movements, affected communities, state institutions, international organisations, firms, Indigenous political authorities, labour actors and migrant-solidarity networks are therefore approached as political agents whose practices, claims and forms of organisation help generate, contest and revise theoretical understandings of climate politics.

Students are introduced to major traditions and debates in climate political thought, including liberal climate governance, climate justice, Marxism and ecological Marxism, political ecology, decolonial theory, Indigenous politics, feminist political ecology, anarchism, degrowth and Green New Deal politics. These traditions are examined through focused climate conflicts, including carbon markets and net zero, Loss and Damage, fossil capital and energy transition, water and land struggles, green extractivism, disaster governance, climate migration and border regimes, direct action, commons politics and competing
transition strategies.

The module is comparative and selective rather than exhaustive by introducing students to a wide range of theoretical traditions while using focused case studies to develop depth of analysis. By the end of the module, students will be able to compare rival climate transition projects, evaluate competing claims about legitimacy and justice, map actors and power relations in climate conflicts, and produce theoretically informed case-based analysis of contemporary climate politics.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this module, students should be able to:
1. Explain major theoretical approaches to climate politics, including liberal, Marxist, ecological Marxist, decolonial, Indigenous, feminist, anarchist and degrowth perspectives.

2. Analyse climate change as a political field shaped by power, inequality, institutions, social movements and competing claims about justice and transition.

3. Apply theoretical concepts to concrete climate conflicts involving energy transition, Loss and Damage, extraction, land, water, disaster governance, migration, borders, commons and climate activism.

4. Compare rival normative frameworks for evaluating climate policy and climate action, including rights, justice, repair, sovereignty, security, care, democratic planning and ecological limits.

5. Conduct actor and power analysis in climate-political case studies, identifying relevant institutions, affected communities, firms, states, movements and forms of authority.

6. Develop clear, independent and theoretically informed arguments through written work, oral presentation, reading-based exercises and structured class discussion.

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Autonomous Student Learning

200
Total

224

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Teaching and learning in this module are organised around active engagement with political theory, political ecology and contemporary climate conflicts. Students will be expected to prepare for each class by completing required readings and engaging with weekly Brightspace activities. The module combines lectures, reading-based quizzes, case discussion, small-group exercises, structured debates and student presentations.

The central pedagogical principle is that theory and praxis should be developed together. Students will learn to read theoretical texts closely, reconstruct arguments, identify conceptual assumptions and test theoretical frameworks against concrete climate disputes.

Weekly classes will connect traditions such as liberalism, Marxism, decolonial theory, Indigenous politics, feminist political ecology, anarchism and degrowth to cases involving climate justice, energy transition, extraction, migration, disaster governance and movement strategy.

This approach is designed to develop students’ theoretical confidence and independence. Students will learn not only to describe climate policy, but to analyse the social relations, institutions and power structures through which climate governance is organised. They will develop skills in conceptual comparison, actor analysis, normative evaluation, case-based
reasoning and applied political writing.

The final essay is the principal site where students synthesise this learning. Students will develop an independent argument that brings a chosen theoretical framework into sustained dialogue with a concrete climate conflict, policy debate, movement struggle or institutional problem. In doing so, they will demonstrate their ability to explain theoretical concepts, apply them analytically, assess their limits and produce evidence-based political analysis.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): 3,000-word essay requiring students to develop a theoretically informed case-based analysis of a contemporary climate-political conflict. Week 15 Graded No
60
 No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Weekly Brightspace quizzes and short exercises based on required readings, designed to support continuous engagement with key concepts, arguments and cases Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 14 Graded No
20
 No
Individual Project: Presentation of the theoretical framework and case study that will underpin the end-of-term essay. Week 7 Graded No
10
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Contribution to structured tutorial exercises, case discussions and in-class debates. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 14 Graded No
10
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

In-class engagement: Group/class feedback will be provided during tutorials before assessment points, supporting students’ development of conceptual interpretation, case analysis, theoretical application and argumentation. Quizzes/short exercises: Online automated feedback will be provided after completion through Brightspace, enabling students to check their understanding of required readings, key concepts and weekly themes. Individual project presentation: Formative feedback will be provided in Week 7 on students’ proposed theoretical framework, case selection and essay direction, helping them refine the structure and argument of the final essay. Final essay: Feedback will be provided before submission through explanation of the detailed assessment rubric and expectations. Individual written feedback will be provided after assessment with reference to the rubric and in accordance with UCD feedback policy.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 11:00 - 12:50
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