Environmental Politics

While there is a scientific consensus on the severity of climate and biodiversity crises, the political and democratic answer to these crises is yet to be found. Yet problems like air pollution, decreasing biodiversity and climate change have come to the forefront of political agendas in Western democracies since the 1960s. This has led to the birth and rise of green movements and parties criticizing the ways in which industrial economies have developed. Emerging environmental issues have also led to the establishment of a broad range of institutions and policies.

How do environmental policies spread in the world? Have green parties transformed party politics? What can individuals, consumers, and voters do in order to help preserve the environment? Why are some countries better at protecting their environments than others? The objective of the course is to explore the articulation between environmental attitudes and worldviews, and how they contribute to shaping green political action in a context in which the imminence of a global ecological crisis is no longer doubted. Having analysed how the industrial and productivist revolutions have transformed humans' enjoyment, understanding and exploitation of nature in Western democracies, this course will first shed light on a distinctive ideology - namely, ecologism - that developed in reaction to the ecological crisis. We will then reflect on the role of individuals in contemporary politics, from collective mobilisation in movements to the emergence of the 'citizen?consumer'. The course will also contrast the parliamentary (green parties, greening the mainstream) and the extra-parliamentary strategies of environmental movements (from lobbying to direct action). The last lectures will explore the challenges to environmentally friendly public policies at the national and international levels.

Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course. CEA CAPA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA (2 ECTS credits equals 1 U.S. credit therefore, 5 ECTS credits is equivalent to 2.5 U.S. credits).