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WiSe 20/21: Environment versus Development?

Kirsten Jörgensen-Ullmann

Comments

‘Grow now/ clean later’, ‘getting rich/getting clean’. Environmental protection is often pitted against development. Public policy making – both in industrialized and developing countries - has for too long been dominated by the principle of growth first. Provoked by the intensifying environmental crisis and in particular climate change, new political leitmotifs and policy paradigms such as sustainable development, green growth, and low carbon development have emerged in global, national, and local contexts striving to challenge the incumbent growth first policy paradigm. In this comparative politics class we will explore the “Environment versus Development” debate from a political science perspective and look at the role of different political systems, institutions, actors, ideas, and socio-economic conditions in shaping development. First, we will introduce ourselves to the debates behind competing development strategies and explore shifts in the policy paradigms and policy change towards sustainable development in the global and national contexts. Second, using examples from different world regions, we will study five selected policy fields - energy, climate, agriculture, forests, and urbanization – and explore the conditions that propel, shape and hinder transition towards sustainable development. Our research and theoretical interest in the policy field analysis is on the influence of path-dependencies and in particular the carbon lock-in effect; ecological crises; democracy; authoritarianism; populism; social movements; gender and diversity; and international institutions. We will discuss our insights in a comparative perspective using case study methodology to which a short introduction will be provided. close