32604

SoSe 13: North America's environmental regime in times of environmental challenges and crises

Götz Kaufmann

Comments

Ever since, environmental policies in the North American countries, Canada and the USA, are determined by refusal of international agreements to mitigate the growing environmental risks. Now, in face of hurricane Katrina, sand storm Sandy and blizzard Nemo, the increasing empirical evidence influences the established environmental regime. The course aims to look at the political agenda since 1972 and the development of environmental institutions in North America. Looking at both NGOs, like the Sierra Club NC and the Conservative Council of North Carolina, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA, the fundamental influence of the recent year on the existing legal system will be analyzed. Hereby, we will look at the different societal stakeholders in the debate from the global, national and local perspective. Furthermore, the debate on environmental sociological theory will be analyze by looking, how human ecology of the Chicago (Ezra Park) and Harvard school (Cutton/Dunlap), how ecological economists, steady state economists (Herman Dahly) and Limits to growth fellows (Maedows et al.) deal with the new situation. Also, the answers of established environmental sociologists (like Huber, Sachs, Beck) will be taken into consideration. Successful participation in the subject will enable the students to understand the contemporary environmental regime (Foucault) in the US and Canada. They will be able to judge on the challenge faced by environmental movements (like the environmental justice movement), the established institutions and the government to find answers. close

13 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Thu, 08:30 - 10:00 13 Class schedule

Thu, 2013-04-11 08:30 - 10:00

Lecturers:
Götz Kaufmann