Universität Wien

210124 SE M4: International Politics and Development (2024S)

Development versus Sustainability: Global South Debates on the ‘Just’ Transition

9.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work

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Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 50 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 12.04. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 19.04. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 26.04. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 03.05. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 10.05. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 24.05. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 31.05. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock
  • Friday 07.06. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal 1 (H1), NIG 2.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Climate change has set the stage. The twenty-first century will be shaped by the quest for sustainability. In this line, the rapid increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic further evidences that the only option to curb a major rise in earth’s temperature is to transform the current energy system. Moreover, the war in Ukraine and the growing tensions between the West and Russia pushed energy sovereignty issues to the top of the geopolitical agenda.
The course presents climate change, the energy transition, and the drive towards sustainability as utmost pressing issues of our times. Therefore, it emphasizes on current academic debates which, in turn, aim at mirroring different priorities among stakeholders and the expert community. In this context, ‘development’ emerges as a contested, and context-dependent discourse which is increasingly crashing into the notion of sustainability. The complex interactions between the quest for global sustainability and the pursuit of national development and their global and local impacts on society and nature are approached from a holistic perspective as international negotiation institutions are increasingly being challenged and the political economy of natural resources extraction is reshaping worldwide.
It is expected that by the end of the course students will have strengthened their capacities for both critical debate and empirical analysis of core questions relevant to (sustainable) development in general and the climate change-driven energy transition in particular. In order to attain this objective, the lecturer will present the topic of each session with emphasis on the corresponding concepts and theories as well as the empirical content of assigned readings (selected journal articles and book chapters provided by the lecturer in advance). After the lecturer’s presentation, students will be expected to actively participate in a plenary discussion on the topics of the session. A main component of the evaluation will be a written essay on key concepts and theories of the course applied to the students’ own inputs, interests, contexts, and previous or current work. During the draft of the essays, students will be accompanied by the lecturer’s advice.

Assessment and permitted materials

Requirements are (1) submission of a seminar paper (10–15 pages) (50%); (2) short presentation on one of the weeks’ topics (35%); and (3) attendance and active participation in the seminars (15%). Attendance is required in all course units.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

1 = „sehr gut“ (min. 90%)
2 = „gut“ (min. 80 %)
3 = „befriedigend“ (min. 65%)
4 = „genügend“ (min. 50%).
All values below 50% will be graded „nicht genügend“

Examination topics

Students are expected to show comprehensive knowledge of all aspects and texts discussed in the course.

Reading list

The syllabus is provisional and may be subject to change

Alarcón, Pedro. (2024). What Next for Supply-Side Policy in the South: Emerging Lessons from the Yasuní Initiative. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, forthcoming.

Alarcón, Pedro. (2023). Old and New Challenges of the Energy Transition: Insights from South America. South African Journal of International Affairs, 30(2), 263–278.

Carter, Angela V. & McKenzie, Janetta. (2020). Amplifying “Keep It in the Ground” First-Movers: Toward a Comparative Framework. Society & Natural Resources, 33(11), 1339–1358.

Fouquet, Roger & Pearson, Peter. (2012). Past and prospective energy transitions: Insights from history. Energy Policy, 50, 1–7.

Hermwille, Lukas et al. (2023). Of hopeful narratives and historical injustices – An analysis of just transition narratives in European coal regions. Energy Research & Social Science, 104. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103263

Ickler, Jan. (2023). Green energy transitions and the temptation of natural resource rents: Experiences from Ecuador. South African Journal of International Affairs, 30(2), 279–295.

Krause, Dunja et al. (2022). Just transitions for a new eco-social contract: Analysing the relations between welfare regimes and transition pathways. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10242589221127838

Lehmann, Rosa and Alarcón, Pedro. (2023). ‘Just transition’ in the Global South: Mission Impossible? The Perils of the Transition in Mexico and Ecuador. Journal für Entwicklungspolitik, 38(3), forthcoming.

Müller, Melanie, Schulze, Meike, and Schöneich, Svenja. (2023). The energy transition and green mineral value chains: Challenges and opportunities for Africa and Latin America. South African Journal of International Affairs, 30(2), 169–175.

Newell, Peter. (2019). Trasformismo or Transformation? The Global Political Economy of Energy Transitions. Review of International Political Economy, 26(1), 25–48.

Pichler, Melanie. (2023). Political Dimensions of Social-Ecological Transformations: Polity, Politics, Policy. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 19(1). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2023.2222612

Scheidel, Arnim et al. (2023). Global impacts of extractive and industrial development projects on Indigenous Peoples’ lifeways, lands, and rights. Science Advances, 9(23). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade9557

Sinn, Hans-Werner. (2008). Das grüne Paradoxon: Plädoyer für eine illusionsfreie Klimapolitik. Berlin: Econ.

Sovacool, Benjamin K. and Brisbois, Marie-Claire. (2019). Elite power in low-carbon transitions: A critical and interdisciplinary review. Energy Research & Social Science, 57. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101242

Van Uffelen, Nynke, Taebi, Behnam, & Pesch, Udo. (2024). Revisiting the energy justice framework: Doing justice to normative uncertainties. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 189. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113974

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 31.07.2024 12:06