SOC30740

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successfully completing this course, students will be better equipped to:

- Identify the relevance of different sociological approaches for making sense of and addressing the climate crisis.
- Recognise the multiple interconnections between climate change and other crises.
- Identify the possibilities of collaboration between social research and other disciplines in order to combat climate change.
- Apply sociologically theories to selected case-studies;
- Critically examine the links between climate change and key sociological categories (e.g. modernity, class, gender, racism).
- Critically examine the links between climate change, income inequality, capitalism and democracy;
- Appraise different proposals for addressing the climate crisis;

Indicative Module Content:

Modernity and the Great Acceleration.
Climate change and capitalism.
Decarbonising democracies.
The rise of environmental social movements.
Policy Responses (e.g. Green New Deal)
Decarbonising everyday life (the economy, food, transport, housing, urban landscapes).
Just transitions and the Global South.
Thinking sociologically about climate change using the European Social Survey.

Student Effort Hours:

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

Lectures;

Seminars;

Critical writing, reflective learning;

Enquiry & problem-based learning;

Peer and group work;

Case-based learning;

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.

Module Requisites and Incompatibles

Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy

 

Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Bhavnani, K.K., Foran, J., Kurian, P.A. and Munshi, D. eds., 2019. Climate futures: Reimagining global climate justice. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Dunlap, Riley E. and Robert J. Brulle (eds.) Climate change and society : sociological perspectives: report of the American Sociological Association's task force on sociology and global climate change.

Eriksen, T.H., 2016. Overheating: An anthropology of accelerated change. London: Pluto Press.

Fraser, N. 2022. Cannibal Capitalism: How our System is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet and What We Can Do About It. London: Verso.

Hickel, J., 2020. Less is more: How degrowth will save the world. Random House.

Jackson, Tim. Post Growth: Life after Capitalism. Polity.

Klein, N., 2015. This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. Simon and Schuster.

Klein, N., 2021. How to change everything: The young human's guide to protecting the planet and each other. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Leichenko, R. and O'Brien, K., 2024. Climate and society: Transforming the future. John Wiley & Sons.

Magdoff, F. and Foster, J.B., 2011. What every environmentalist needs to know about capitalism: A citizen's guide to capitalism and the environment. NYU Press.

McGann, Oisín. 2022. A short, hopeful guide to climate change. Dublin: Little Island.

Moore, J.W. ed., 2016. Anthropocene or capitalocene?: Nature, history, and the crisis of capitalism. Pm Press.

Oreskes, N. and Conway, E.M., 2013. The collapse of Western civilization: A view from the future. New York: Columbia University Press.

Schmelzer, M., Vansintjan, A., and Vetter, A. 2022. The future is degrowth: a guide to a world beyond capitalism. Verso.

Solnit, R. and Young-Lutunatabua, T. eds., 2023. Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility. Haymarket Books.

Thunberg, G. (2019) No one is too small to make a difference. Penguin.

Thunberg, G., 2023. The climate book. Penguin.

Wilkinson, R. and Pickett, K. 2010. The spirit level: Why equality is better for everyone. Penguin.

Wilkinson, R. and Pickett, K. 2019. The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone’s Well-being. Penguin.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.