Critical Perspectives on Environment and Development

Give the student an introduction to current theories on environment and development. Create an in-depth understanding of important research themes within development geography and environmental geography, often of relevance for the master thesis.

The course is based upon research within the fields of environment and development and aims to stimulate critical perspectives on established knowledge and 'facts' that have dominated development strategies/policies. Myths and narratives about themes like climate change, deforestation, desertification and erosion are analysed in light of theory of science where knowledge is viewed as socially constructed. Conventional views concerning land degradation are challenged in light of new ecology and political ecology. In the interaction between people and nature, institutions - here understood as established social practices - are important. Institutions are important in analyses of power relations in local communities and of different groups' access to resources.

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