Actualités et agenda
Nos formations
Présentation
Natural resources are fundamental to the functioning of our economy and society: land and water, fossil fuels, minerals and biodiversity are crucial to the production of food and of primary commodities, besides being essential to the reproduction of life on earth.
The module will guide the students through an analysis of the role of natural resources in contemporary capitalism. Natural elements – ‘the free gifts of nature’ – are understood historically as they become natural resources in capitalism and thus subjected to the capitalist productive process. Elements of critical political ecology thus enter the political economic analysis, as in advanced capitalism the most elemental biophysical realities are turned into sources of rent extraction.
The module offers a theoretical toolkit from critical political economy that helps deepen our understanding of the natural resource base upon which our food system and planetary life depends. The module is divided in two parts. The first part offers an introduction to the analytical tools of critical political economy and some key issues that cut across all natural resources. Part II then analyses the political economy of a selection of biophysical elements that compose primary commodities as natural resources: land, oceans, fossil fuels, minerals, and biodiversity.
PART I
Week 1: Perspectives on the political economy of natural resources
Week 2: Agrarian questions
Week 3: Access, control, and governance of tenure
PART II
Week 4: Land
Week 5: Oceans and fisheries
Week 6: Conservation and biodiversity
Week 7: Fossil fuels
Week 8: Mineral frontiers and Just transition
Modalités
A typical class will combine lecture with open discussion and/or small group exercises. Students are expected to come to class having read all assigned readings by the day they appear on the syllabus and be prepared to discuss them critically. In the first three classes we will explore analytical tools and general approaches to the study of food history and culture. After the third week’s session students will be asked to develop a 1-2 page proposal for the topic of their final essay. It is up to the student to choose something they are interested in which relates to the themes and topics we will read about and discuss throughout the course. Further details will be provided at the end of the third session and students will have three weeks to complete. It will be due Oct. 21st. Students will then be asked to provide a written peer review of a fellow student’s paper proposal. These peer reviews should be critical yet constructive, asking relevant questions, and making an effort to provide useful feedback. During part II of the course we will dig deeper into specific angles of food history and culture. For each session a small group of students will be in charge of presenting a brief summary of the readings as well as discussion questions.
Grading will be based on the following rubric:
- Paper proposal – 10%
- Peer review – 10%
- Attendance and participation in class discussion, including presentation of readings – 25%
- Final Essay – 55%
Ressources
For each session, required and optional readings will be given.