Administration, Innovation and Environmental Sustainability

LUCA COBBE

The main goal of the course is:
- to understand the evolution of the concepts of nature, the environment, dominion, the individual and justice in relation to environmental issues.
- to analyse classical and contemporary texts, situating them within their respective historical contexts and within current debates on climate, the environment, resources, etc.
- to foster the ability to apply this knowledge to a more considered and reflective approach to the complex political and institutional dynamics of the contemporary era.

By the end of the course, students will have gained an understanding of the key issues in the political debate on the environment and climate change; developed the ability to critically analyse arguments in this field; and developed the ability to put forward and defend theoretical and political arguments on environmental and ecological issues.

Competences acquired with a bachelor's degree in political science are enough. Students with other backgrounds have to contact the professor.

The course offers an in-depth historical and theoretical exploration of the recent intellectual debate surrounding the environmental and climate crisis. It will focus in particular on the main categories of ‘ecological discourse’ (nature, environment, development, climate, climate crisis, Anthropocene, Capitalocene, etc.) and their impact on theoretical and political reflection, engaging with some of the key critical and programmatic positions that have emerged over the last few decades. In particular, we will examine the debate surrounding the concept of the Anthropocene and how this reconfigures the theme of critique and political agency as a whole. The lectures will also address the main critical and interpretative strands relating to environmental and climate issues, such as political ecology, eco-socialism and eco-feminism.

Tre testi a scelta tra i seguenti (evitare due testi dello stesso autore):

D. Chakrabarty, Clima, storia e capitale, a cura di M. De Giuli e N. Porcelluzzi, Nottetempo, 2021

B. Latour, La sfida di Gaia. Il nuovo regime climatico, Meltemi, 2020

K. Saito, L’ecosocialismo di Karl Marx, Castelvecchi, 2023

J.N. Bergamo, Marxismo ed ecologia. Origine e sviluppo di un dibattito globale, Ombrecorte, 2022

P. Missiroli, Teorica critica dell’antropocene. Vivere dopo la terra, vivere nella terra, Mimesis, 2022

G. Mann, J. Wainwright, Il nuovo leviatano globale. Una filosofia politica del cambiamento climatico, Treccani, 2019

C. Bonneuil, J.-B. Fressoz, La terra, la storia e noi. L’evento antropocene, Treccani, 2019

S. Iovino, Filosofie dell'ambiente. Natura, etica, società, Carocci, 2008

M. Mies, V. Shiva, Ecofeminism, Zed books, 2014 (eccetto cap. 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20)

F. d’Eaubonne, Il femminismo o la morte. Il manifesto dell'ecofemminismo, il mosaico 2022

A. Gorz, Ecologia e libertà, Orthotes, 2015

I. Stengers, Nel tempo delle catastrofi. Resistere alla barbarie a venire, Roseberg & Sellier, 2021

J. Moore, Ecologia-mondo e crisi del capitalismo. La fine della natura a buon mercato, Ombrecorte, 2023

J. Moore, Antropocene o capitalocene? Scenari di ecologia-mondo nell’era della crisi planetaria, Ombrecorte, 2017

The course is mainly seminar-based, combining lectures, discussion of papers and presentations by students.

Optional but strongly recommended due to the seminar format of the course

There are two ways to pass the exam. Students attending the course may submit a final paper of between 40,000 and 50,000 characters (including spaces) on a topic approved by the teacher. The paper must be submitted within two weeks of the exam session. Attendance at the course will be a significant factor in the assessment. Alternatively, students may take the exam by selecting three books from a list provided by the teacher

-What do we mean by ‘climate crisis’ compared to ‘environmental crisis’? What are the political implications of these two terms?
-Summarise the debate on the Anthropocene: what are the main arguments in favour and the main criticisms?
-What distinguishes political ecology from traditional environmentalism?