開課教師｜Instructor
楊智元 Yang, Claude Chih-Yuan
簡介：PhD in Sociology/Science and Technology Studies, Lancaster University, U.K.
專長領域：STS/SSK, Energy and sustainability, Interpretive policy analysis, Experts and technopolitics
所屬單位：Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University, the Netherlands.
簡介：Co-Founder, Oranje Express, Taiwan and PhD student.
專長領域：Cultural sociology, environmental humanities, digital media innovation, online community management
課程介紹｜Content
What domestic and global politics do issues like climate change, loss of biodiversity, Anthropocene and transition to a low-carbon society invoke? What exactly is a sustainable society? Glocalization is neither a one-way, from the center to the peripheral effect, nor reverse effect likes localization, but a process that combines two directions with technical and economic forces and spatial territorialization, which can be expressed in the term ‘hybridization.’
This course explores several basic challenges that exist within the visions of a sustainable system and society and examines the claim of low-carbon transition from different perspectives such as technological, institutional, and political-economic. Firstly, it will start with a review of the historical relationship between Nature and Society, pointing out that nature is not an existing entity that is just over there. The concept of "Nature" is actively constructed by modern society through ideas such as conservation, natural history, and sustainability. Secondly, it will explore the definition of Anthropocene, the politics of Climate Change and the idea of governing the earth; Lastly, we are going to discuss the social and cultural relationship between waste and society with a focus on East Asia; what are the different and sometimes competing strategies to achieve sustainability? The module will be conducted mostly in English, with some materials in Madeiran.
課程目標｜Goal
- Understanding the historical-cultural construction of Nature, climate change and the relevant policies, with particular emphasis on technoscience.
- Opening up ways to understand waste in its sociological significances and using waste as a lens to understand contemporary East Asia societies in its complexities.
- Examining the role that the social sciences can play in understanding environmental politics and conflicts on a global scale and exploring the emerging idea of Anthropocene.
課程進度｜Schedule
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Week 1 2.26 |
Topic: Course Orientation
Meadowcroft, J. (2011). "Engaging with the politics of sustainability transitions." Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1: 70-75. |
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Theme 1: Technology, Economy and Nature
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Week 2 3.5 |
Topic: Nature that emerges with modern society
Required reading: Irwin, Alan. 2001. "Introduction." In Sociology and the Environment: A critical introduction to society, nature and knowledge. Cambridge: Polity Press. Mol, Arthur. 2006. "From Environmental Sociologies to Environmental Sociology?" Organization & Environment 19 (1):5-27. |
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Week 3 3.12 |
Topic: Writing and presenting Nature
Required reading: Hinchliffe, S. (2008) “Reconstituting Nature Conservation: Towards a Careful Political Ecology” Geoforum 39: 88-97 Tsing, A. Introduction chapter of Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton: Princeton University Press |
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Week 4 3.19 |
Topic: Grassroot innovation and sustainability
Required reading: Günther Weiss. (2008) “The influence of the local level on innovations in environmental technology: The case of the German kraft pulp industry” Geoforum 39: 20-31 Ikeda, Satoshi; Gismondi, Michael; Lock, Ineke (2005) Economy, Work, and the Environment in Canada., in Davidson, Debra J; Hatt, Kierstin C (eds.) Consuming Sustainability: Critical Social Analyses of Ecological Change. 2005, p155-180. 26p. |
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Theme 2: Sustainability and Governance |
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Week 5 3.26 |
Topic: Modes of environmental governance Guest lecturer: Olivia Dung Invited speaker: Liang-yu Chen
Required reading: Lemos, Maria Carmen, and Arun Agrawal. 2006. “Environmental Governance.” Annual Review of Environment & Resources, 31: 297-325. Driessen,Peter P. J., Carel Dieperink, Frank van Laerhoven, Hens A. C. Runhaar, and Walter J. V. Vermeulen. 2012. “Towards a Conceptual Framework for The Study of Shifts in Modes of Environmental Governance –Experiences From The Netherlands.” Environmental Policy and Governance, 22(3): 143-160. |
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Week 6 4.2 |
Public holiday |
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Week 7 4.9 |
Topic: Politics of climate change
Required reading: Banerjee, Subhabrata Bobby (2012): A climate for change? Critical Reflections on the Durban UN Climate Change Conference. Organization Studies 33 (2): 1761-1786. Barnett, Jon. (2020). Global environmental change II: Political economies of vulnerability to climate change. Progress in Human Geography. 44. |
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Week 8 4.16 |
Topic: Multi-level and polycentric climate governance Guest lecturer: Olivia Dung Invited speaker: Liang-yu Chen
Required reading: Wurzel, Rüdiger K.W., Duncan Liefferink, and Diarmuid Torney. 2019. Pioneers, leaders and followers in multilevel and polycentric climate governance. Environmental Politics, 28(1): 1-21. PattersonJames J., and Dave Huitema. 2019. “Institutional Innovation in Urban Governance: The Case of Climate Change Adaptation.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 62(3): 374-398. |
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Theme 3: Waste Matters |
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Week 9 4.23 |
Sustainability and board game hosted by Unity Sustainability Services Co., LTD |
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Week 10 4.30 |
Topic: Circular Economy in Taiwan Guest lecturer: Olivia Dung Invited speaker: Circular Taiwan Network
Required reading: Circular Taiwan Network. 2021. “Circular Economy.” Circular Taiwan Network Official Website. https://www.eng.circular-taiwan.org/introduction-to-the-circular-econom
Chen, Hiu-ling, Ya-hsuan Tsai, Chiao-ling Lyu and Yu-lan Duggan. 2021. “Circular Economy in Taiwan-Transition Roadmap and the Food, Textile, and Construction Industries”, in An Introduction to Circular Economy, edited by Lerwen Liu and Seeram Ramakrishna, 577-595. London: Springer. |
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Week 11 5.7 |
Topic: (Re)thinking waste and recycling Guest lecturer: Olivia Dung
Required reading: Gille, Zsuzsa. 2012. “Sociology of Waste.” In Encyclopaedia of Consumption and Waste. edited by Zimring, Carl A., and William L. Rathje, 833 – 837, London: Sage.
Alexander, Catherine and Joshua Reno. 2012. “Introduction,” in Economies of Recycling: The Global Transformation of Materials, Values and Social relations, edited by Catherine Alexander and Joshua Reno, 1-32. New York: Zed Books Ltd |
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Week 12 5.14 |
Topic: Waste and recycling in East Asia Guest lecturer: Olivia Dung
Required reading The Economist. 2016. “Anti-dumping: China Tries to Keep Foreign Rubbish Out.” The Economist, August 3. https://www.economist.com/china/2017/08/03/china-tries-to-keep-foreign-rubbish-out Koo, Se-Woong. 2014. “No Country for Old People.” Korea Expose, September 24. http://www.koreaexpose.com/voices/no-country-for-old-people/ Kate Whiting. 2019. “The Japanese Have a Word to Help Them Be Less Wasteful – ‘Mottainai.’” World Economic Forum, August 16. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/the-japanese-have-a-word-to-help-them-be-less-wasteful-mottainai/ Lu, Kuo-Chen. 2018. “Taking Stock of Taiwan’s Approach to Waste: Trouble in the Recycling Kingdom.” CommonWealth Magazine, September 27. https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=2125 . |
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Week 13 5.21 |
Topic: Religion and environmentalism Guest lecturer: Olivia Dung
Required reading: Weller, Robert. 2011. “Chinese Cosmology and the Environment.” In Chinese Religious Life, edited by David A. Palmer, Glenn Shive and Philip L. Wickeri, 124-135. Oxford: University Press Scholarship Online. Bergmann, Sigurd. “Developments in Religion and Ecology.” In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology, edited by Willis Jenkins, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, 13-21. New York: Routledge, 2017. |
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Week 14 5.28 |
Topic: Welcome to the Anthropocene
Required reading: Davies, Jeremy. 2016. "Versions of the Anthropocene." In the Birth of the Anthropocene. Oakland: University of California Press. Castree, Noel (2014) ‘The Anthropocene and geography I: the back story,’ Geography Compass, 8(7), pp. 436-49. |
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Week 15 6.4 |
Invited talk: Arts, sustainability, and Anthropocene. Speaker: Eva Lin (2020 Taipei Biannual curator) |
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Week 16 6.11 |
Preparation week |
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Week 17 6.18 |
Final report presentation |
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Week 18 6.25 |
End of the semester |
上課形式｜Activities
Lecture: 20%
Discussion: 50%
Group activity: 30%
評分標準｜Grading
(20%): Continuous participation in class, including attending, reading articles, asking questions, and discussing with each other.
(20%): Oral presentation in class. A group of two to three students, at least 60 minutes at a time with a detailed summary of the main argument, post-reading questions and initial responses.
(60%): Issue-oriented final report based on a group activity of two students, containing 3000 words for the abstract, literature review, case studies, conclusions. At week 10, the title of the final report needs to be confirmed.
先備知識｜Prerequisites
None
參考書目｜Readings
None
