Environmentalism in a Global Age History 314 Wesleyan University Fall 2018 Canoes vs Coal protest, Newcastle, Australia, 2014 Jeff Tan Professor Charles Halvorson Class Meetings: Tuesday 1:20-4:10pm ghalvorson@wesleyan.edu Room: CFH 106 Office: PAC 330 Office Hours: Mon 4:30-6pm and by appointment Over the second half of the twentieth century, social movements in the United States and around the world achieved landmark protections for the environment. Yet in that same period, globalization and the emergence of transnational environmental issues like acid rain threatened to undercut the effectiveness of national laws and regulations. This seminar investigates how environmental activists have responded to a range of challenges in the global age from species extinction to population growth to the exportation of toxic industrial waste. Some of this activism has involved collaboration across great physical and cultural divides. At other points, different groups have divided over remedies or even the existence of a given problem in the first place. Although the subject matter is historical, this course will also focus on what the history of global environmentalism can contribute to contemporary advocacy, not least with regards to climate change. By the end of the course, students should be able to: - Describe the major developments in the history of global environmentalism - Interpret primary sources and connect them to scholarly interpretations of the past - Make their own historical arguments and communicate their ideas in writing and discussion - Evaluate current issues in their historical context and recognize the political uses of the past 1
Required Books The following books are available for purchase at RJ Julia Bookstore or through online retailers. They are also on reserve in Olin Library. All other readings are available on the course s Moodle site. American Environmentalism (Rutgers University Press, 2012) Twentieth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2015) Joshua Howe, Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming (University of Washington Press, 2014) Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (Harvard University Press, 2011) Paige West, Conservation is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea (Duke University Press, 2006) Course Requirements and Grading Attendance and Assignment Policy: Students are expected to attend class and submit their assignments by the date assigned unless they have a medical or family emergency, in which case they should contact their Class Dean, who will notify the professor. Absences are not excused and late assignments are not accepted unless and until the Class Dean has communicated with the professor. Class Participation (30% of final grade): Students are expected to complete the weekly readings by the date for which they are assigned and come to class prepared to engage in discussion. Students who feel uncomfortable speaking in front of the group can meet with the professor to brainstorm ways to make contributing easier. Laptops and other electronic devices are not permitted in class. Reading Responses (20% of final grade): Each week, students will write a short response to the assigned readings. Rather than summarizing the readings, responses should consider how the readings fit together and relate to the weekly theme. Responses should be between 200-300 words in length and will be collected at the end of each class for a credit, no credit grade. Research Project (50% of final grade): Over the course of the semester, students will research a topic of their choosing related to global environmentalism broadly defined and produce a presentation and a 6,000 paper that report on their research findings. Students are encouraged to start exploring and refining their topic early. By October 16, each student needs to have met with the professor to discuss their topic. On October 30, students will submit a written proposal for their research project, with a preliminary bibliography. During the final course meeting, each student will give a 15-minute presentation of their project. Incorporating advice and questions from their classmates, students will revise their research papers for submission on December 14 by 5pm via email. Guidelines for Written Assignments: All written assignments should be doubled-spaced, using standard fonts and sizes (10-12 point) and margins. Title your papers and provide your name, the date of submission, and the assignment number in a short header. Please use page numbers. Use footnotes to cite quotations and arguments that are not your own according to the Chicago Manual of Style. See http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html for sample citations. 2
Academic Integrity: Students are expected to adhere to Wesleyan University s Honor Code, described in the Student Handbook, https://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/studenthandbook/studenthandbook.pdf Learning Disabilities: Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Dean Patey in Accessibility Services, located in North College, Room 021, or call 860-685-2332 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible. Sept. 4: Course Introduction Course Outline Sept. 11: Conservation and the Roots of Global Environmentalism Kurk Dorsey, Whales and Nations: Environmental Diplomacy on the High Seas (2014): chapter one: A Global Industry and Global Challenges and chapter two: The Pelagic and the Political. John MacKenzie, Chivalry, social Darwinism and ritualised killing: the hunting ethos in Central Africa up to 1914, in Conservation in Africa: Peoples, Policies and Practice, edited by David Anderson and Richard Grove (2011). Brett Bennett, Plantations and Protected Areas: A Global History of Forest Management (2016): chapter one: The Conservation Model: Universal Pattern, Local Adaptation Sept. 18: Learning to Fear a Crowded Planet Matthew Connelly, Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population (2008), chapter one: Populations out of Control and chapter four: Birth of the Third World American Environmentalism (2012), chapter one: Malthusianism, Eugenics, and Carrying Capacity in the Interwar Period and chapter two: War and Nature: Fairfield Osborn, William Vogt, and the Birth of Global Ecology. Sept. 25: Decolonization and the Threat of Third World Sovereignty Twentieth Century (2015), chapter one: The Rise of International Conservation and Postwar Development and chapter two: Parks and Poverty in Africa: Conservation, Decolonization, and Development. American Environmentalism (2012), chapter three: Abundance in a Sea of Poverty 3
Oct. 2: The Cold War and the International Environment Twentieth Century (2015), chapter three: The Word s Most Dangerous Political Issue : The 1972 Stockholm Conference and the Politics of Environmental Protection. American Environmentalism (2012), chapter four: Feed Em or Fight Em : Populations and Resources on the Global Frontier during the Cold War. Rachel Rothschild, Détente from the Air: Monitoring Air Pollution during the Cold War, Technology and Culture 47, no. 4 (2016). Joshua Howe, Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming (2014), chapter one: The Cold War Roots of Global Warming Jacob Hamblin, Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism (2013), chapter eight: Vietnam and the Seeds of Destruction Oct. 9: Flower Power: the Counterculture and Modern Environmentalism Frank Zelko, Make It a Green Peace! The Rise of Countercultural Environmentalism (2013), chapter four: Don t Make a Wave, chapter seven: Armless Buddhas vs. Carnivorous Nazis, and chapter ten: On Thin Ice. Twentieth Century (2015), chapter four: When Small Seemed Beautiful: NGOs, Appropriate Technology, and International Development in the 1970s. Joshua Howe, Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming (2014), chapter two: Scientists, Environmentalists, and the Global Atmosphere Oct. 16: The Blue Marble: Conceiving the Global Environment Joseph Masco, Bad Weather: On Planetary Crisis (2010). Paul Edwards, A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (2010), chapter two: Global Space, Universal Time: Seeing the Planetary Atmosphere Sheila Jasanoff, Image and Imagination: The Formation of Global Environmental Consciousness, in Changing the Atmosphere: Expert Knowledge and Environmental Governance, edited by Clark Miller and Paul Edwards (2001) Research Project proposals due Oct. 23: No class, fall break 4
Oct. 30: Seeing like a Planet: Governing the International Environmental after Stockholm Twentieth Century (2015), chapter five: Leveraging the Lenders: The Quest for Environmental Impact Statements in the United States and the World Bank and chapter six: Conservation for Development: The World Conservation Strategy and the Rise of Sustainable Development Planning American Environmentalism (2012), chapter eight: We re All in the Same Boat?! The Disuniting of Spaceship Earth. Joshua Howe, Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming (2014), chapter three: Making the Global Environment Jacob Hamblin, Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism (2013), chapter nine: The Terroristic Science of Environmental Modification Nov. 6: Human Activities Are Changing the Atmosphere : Climate Change Jacob Hamblin, Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism (2013), chapter ten: Adjustment or Extinction Twentieth Century (2015), chapter seven: The Persistence of Old Problems: The Politics of Environment and Development at the Rio Earth Summit Joshua Howe, Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming (2014), chapters four thru epilogue Nov. 13: Think Locally, Act Globally: Transnational Environmental Justice Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (2013), Introduction and Epilogue as well as two chapters of student s choice from chapters one thru seven. Suzanne Simon, Sustaining the Borderlands in the Age of NAFTA: Development, Politics, and Participation on the US-Mexico Border, chapter three: Investigating Waste Patrick Keefe, Reversal of Fortune, The New Yorker (2012) Nov. 20: [SpaceX] Moon Shots: Saving the Planet in a Neoliberal Age Ted Steinberg, Can Capitalism Save the Planet? On the Origins of Green Liberalism, Radical History Review (2010) Bruce Erickson, Recreational Activism: Politics, Nature, and the Rise of Neoliberalism, Leisure Studies (2011) 5
James Fleming, Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control (2010), chapter seven: Fears, Fantasies, and Possibilities of Control and chapter eight: The Climate Engineers. Mark Schapiro, Conning the Climate: Inside the Carbon Trading Shell Game, Harper s (2010) Michael Specter, Seeds of Doubt, The New Yorker (2014) Michael Specter, The Climate Fixers, The New Yorker (2012) Ross Andersen, Welcome to Pleistocene Park, The Atlantic (2017) Nov. 27: Charismatic Fauna Revisited Paige West, Conservation is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea (2006). Dec. 4: Research Project Presentations Dec. 14 Research Papers due by 5pm via email 6