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SOC30740

Academic Year 2024/2025

Sociology of climate change (SOC30740)

Subject:
Sociology
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Sociology
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Ruben Flores
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module offers a space to reflect on how social researchers can constructively respond to the many challenges posed by climate change.

About this Module

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:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

8

Seminar (or Webinar)

16

Autonomous Student Learning

101

Total

125


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
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Portfolio: Learning portfolio. Weekly personal reflections based on readings, class activities, independent study, and personal experience. Week 12 Graded No
60
No
Group Work Assignment: Academic poster, plus bibliography & some reflections about the design, composition and approach to this task. Week 14, Week 15 Graded No
40
No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
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.

Name Role
Dr Ebru Isikli Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 Fri 11:00 - 12:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 9 Fri 11:00 - 12:50