Environment and Society

Spring 2005

Laurel Phoenix

Office: MAC A324 Classroom: MAC 105, MWF 10:00 – 10:50

http://www.uwgb.edu/phoenixl/index.htm

Office Hours: To be announced, or by appt.

Course Objectives:

As a general education course, this course provided an understanding of the social sciences, including: major concepts of social, political, geographic and economic structures; and the impact that social institutions and values have on individuals and groups in a culture.

More specifically, this course provides a framework for students to relate social attitudes and actions concerning resource use to the current state of the physical environment. The relationship between humans and our biophysical environment will be investigated at local, national, and global levels to understand how personal attitudes, cultural beliefs, economics, politics, technology and available resources combine to create varying environmental problems across the landscape. The following questions will guide our readings and discussions:

In what ways do human beings contribute to environmental problems?
How have societies responded to environmental problems?
What is the distribution and severity of public and ecological risks?
How many people can the Earth support, and with what level of consumption of resources?
How do social attitudes affect policy, consumption, and conservation?
How do environmental ethics shape attitudes? Do intergenerational equity, environmental justice, animal rights, etc. have standing in law and policy?
Can current institutions and laws developed to deal with environmental pollution and resource use resolve the more fundamental issues arising out of increasing conflicts over land use, energy, food, and growth?
Can technological fixes solve environmental problems?
Can “getting the prices right” solve environmental problems?
Are there limits to economic growth and/or human development?
Can we live sustainably and/or equitably in a global community?

The range of issues covered during the semester are as follows:

Environment, ecosystems and environmental problems
History and Geography of Global Change – distribution, intensity, and type of problem
Culture and civilization, human systems

Cultural influences on environmental attitudes

Population, resource availability, food

Energy use, consumerism, technology

Industrial and non-industrial societies

Environmental health
Social dilemmas – environmental justice
Annoyance, uncertainty and risk
Institutions, property rights, rights of the polity
Environmental attitudes and behavior
Environmental ethics
Environmental movements
State and environmental policy
Transforming Structures: Markets, Politics, and Policy

Markets, externalities, goods without price, scarcity, economic efficiency

and opportunity cost, political economy

Globalization

World Trade, International Environmental Policy
Sustainability

Course Requirements

Class attendance and participation in discussions and activities is an important part of this course. Midterms and the final will give the students an opportunity to integrate issues through essay format. Grade evaluation is based on the following:

Attendance, homeworks and participation 15%

1^st midterm 25% February 25th

2^nd midterm 25% April 8th

Final 35%

100%

Activities in the class will include leading and participating in topical discussions of readings, debating opposing views, group decision-making practicums for developing policies that incorporate environmental ethics and justice in policy outcomes. Information will be presented through text readings and journal articles on reserve at Cofrin, lecture/discussion, and a variety of visuals (slides, overheads, etc.). Bring your Atlas, maps and 6 colored pencils to class each day.

Required Texts:

1) Nelson, Gaylord . 2002. Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.

2) Allen, John. 2001. Student Atlas of World Geography, 2^nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

3) Walters, Mark J. 2003. Six Modern Plagues: and How We Are Causing Them. Washington, D.C., Island Press.

4) Brown, Lester. R. 2003. Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. New York: Norton.

5) There will be many readings available through electronic reserve at the library.

6) You will need to buy blank maps at the bookstore, I will announce in class how many.

General Sequence of Overarching Topics Covered, subtopics not listed

Media vs. knowledge

Sustainability

Ecosystems and environments

Coexistence and competition with other species

Resources – The foundation of industry and society

Renewable and Non-renewable

Who controls which resources?

Population

Population vs. consumerism

Do you need it, or do you want it?

The Ends of Affluence

Energy

Agriculture – Farming and Pharming

Cubits of death (famine)

Food contamination

Factory farms - CAFOs

Land – Cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys

Sea - Shrimp, fish

The Empty Ocean

Current laws

Divide and conquer

Industry and govt.

Limits to economic growth

Getting prices right

Globalization

Race to the bottom

Private profit (privatization)

Global climate, ozone, and international treaties

Humans contribute to environmental problems

Public and ecological risks

Sacrifice zones

Hormone disruptors

Technological fixes to environmental problems

Risk and uncertainty

Social attitudes

Property rights

Topics listed with associated good books for further reading:

Media vs. knowledge

Sustainability

Bell, Simon (1999). Sustainability Indicators. London: Earthscan Publications

Brown, Lester (2001). Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth. London: W. W. Norton.

Dresner, Simon (2002). The Principles of Sustainability. Sterling, VA : Earthscan Publications.

Hawken, Paul (1993). The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability. New York, NY : HarperCollins Publishers.

Ecosystems and environments

Frey, Richard Scott, ed. (2000). The Environment and Society Reader. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.

Schnaiberg, Allan and Kenneth Gould. (1993). Environment and Society: The Enduring Conflict. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Tellegen, Egbert and Maarten Wolsink. (1998). Society and Its Environment: An Introduction. Newark, NJ: Gordon and Breach.

Coexistence with other species

Catton, William R. Jr. (1980). Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary

Change. Chicago, IL: University Of Illinois Press.

Huston, Michael (1994). Biological Diversity: The Coexistence of Species on Changing Landscapes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Knight, Richard. Gutzwiller, Kevin (1995). Wildlife and Recreationists : Coexistence Through Management and Research. Washington, D.C. : Island Press

Resources

Good books:

Glennon, R. (2002). Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s

Fresh Waters. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Abromovitz, Janet N. (1998). Worldwatch Paper #140: Taking a Stand: Cultivating a

New Relationship with the World's Forests.

Abramovitz, Janet (1996). Imperiled Waters, Impoverished Future: The Decline of

Freshwater Ecosystems (Worldwatch Paper 128). Washington D.C.: Worldwatch

Institute.

(2004). State of the World 2004 Special Focus: The Consumer Society.

Population

Brown, Lester. Gary, Gardner. Halweil, Brian (1999).Beyond Malthus: Nineteen Dimensions of the Population Challenge. New York, N.Y. : W.W. Norton

Ehrlich, Paul. Ehrlich, Ann (2004).One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future. Washington, D. C. : Island Press

Population vs. consumerism

Good books:

Lasn, Kalle. (1999). Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge – and Why We Must. New York, NY: Quill.

Schor, Juliet B. and Douglas B. Holt. (2000). The Consumer Society Reader. New

York, NY: The New Press.

Rosenblatt, Roger. (1999). Consuming Desires: Consumption, Culture, and the Pursuit

of Happiness. Washington D.C.: Island Press.

Kane, Hal. (2001). Triumph of the Mundane: The Unseen Trends That Shape Our Lives

and Environment. Washington D.C.: Island Press.

Hays, C. L. (January 1, 2003). Preaching Against the ‘Evil’ of Consumerism. The New

York Times (www.nytimes.com).

Energy

Deffeyes, Kenneth (2001).Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press

Ewing, Rex (2003).. Power with Nature: Solar and Wind Energy Demystified. Masonville, CO : PixyJack Press

Heinberg, Richard (2003).The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies. Gabriola, BC : New Society Publishers.

Rifkin, Jeremy (2002). Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the Worldwide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth. New York : J.P. Tarcher/Putnam

Yergin, Daniel. Stanislaw, Joseph (1998). The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy. New York : Simon & Schuster

Yergin, Daniel. Stanislaw, Joseph (1991). Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York : Simon & Schuster

Agriculture

Berry, Wendell (1997). Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. San Francisco : Sierra Club Books

Collier, George. Quaratiello, Elizabeth (1994). Basta!: Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas .Oakland, CA : Institute for Food and Development Policy

Cunfer, Geoff (2005). On the Great Plains: Agriculture and Environment. Texas A&M University Press

Gilbert, Dennis. 2003. The American Class Structure: In an Age of Growing Inequality.

6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Jackson, Dana. Jackson, Laura (2002). Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems. Washington, D.C. : Island Press

Lawson, Laura (2005). City Bountiful. Los Angeles, CA :University of California Press.

Manning, Richard (2004). Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization. New York: North Point Press

Rucker, Randall (2005). Plowshares & Pork Barrels: The Political Economy of Agriculture. Oakland, CA : The Independent Institute.

Cubits of death (famine)

McCuen, Marnie (2000).Fat and Famine: Hunger and Debt in the Global Economy, Vol.1. McCuen Publications, Incorporated

Factory farms (land and sea)

Johnsen, Carolyn (2003). Raising a Stink: The Struggle over Factory Hog Farms in Nebraska. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press

Scully, Matthew (2002). Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. New York, N.Y. : St. Martin's Press

Stull, Donald. Broadway, Michael (2004). Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America. Belmont, CA : Thomson/Wadsworth

Genetically Modified Foods

Madeley, John (2002). Food for All: The Need for a New Agriculture. London ; New York : Zed Books

Pinstrup- Andresen, Per. Schioler, Ebbe (2002).Seeds of Contention: World Hunger and the Global Controversy over GM Crops. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press

Shiva, Vandana (2000) Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. Cambridge, MA : South End Press

Food contamination

Current laws

Divide and conquer

Good books:

Mokhiber, R. & Weissman, R. (1999). Corporate Predators: The Hunt for Mega-Profits

and the Attack on Democracy. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.

Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton. (1995). Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.

Industry and govt.

Good books:

Silverstein, K. (1998). Washington at $10 Million a Day: How Lobbyists Plunder the

Nation. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.

Rampton, Sheldon and John Stauber. (2001). Trust Us, We’re Experts: How Industry

Manipulates Science and Gambles With Your Future. New York, NY: Penguin.

Tokar, Brian (1997). Earth For Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate

Greenwash. Boston, MA: South End Press.

Gonzalez, George A. (2001). Corporate Power and the Environment: The Political

Economy of U.S. Environmental Policy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Bollier, David. (2002). Silent Theft: The Private Plunder of our Common Wealth. New

York: Routledge.

Industry and Backlash

Hartmann, Thom (2004). The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late. New York, NY :Three Rivers Press.

Limits to economic growth

Getting prices right

Daly, Herman E. and Kenneth N. Townsend, eds. (1994). Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Globalization

Korton, D. C. (1995). When Corporations Rule the World. West Hartford, CT and San Francisco, CA: Kumarian Press, Inc. and Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Race to the bottom

Private profit (privatization)

Good books:

Ward, D. R. (2002). Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst.

New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

Barlow, M. & Clarke, T. (2002). Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. New York, NY: The New Press.

Global climate, ozone, and international treaties

Humans contribute to environmental problems

Good books:

Markowitz, G. & Rosner, D. (2002). Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of

Industrial Pollution. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.

Hofrichter, R. (ed.) (2002). Toxic Struggles: The Theory and Practice of Environmental

Justice. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.

Wilson, Duff. (2001). Fateful Harvest: The True Story of a Small Town, A Global

Industry, and a Toxic Secret. New York: HarperCollins.

Public and ecological risks

Hofrichter, Richard, Ed. (2000). Reclaiming the Environmental Debate: The Politics of

Health in a Toxic Culture. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Sacrifice zones

Hormone disruptors

Schettler, Ted M.D., Gina Solomon, M.D., Maria Valenti, and Annette Huddle. (1999).

Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment. Cambridge,

MA: The MIT Press.

Colborn, T., Dumanoski, D., & Myers, J. P. (1996). Our Stolen Future: Are We

Threatening our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?—A Scientific Detective

Story. New York, NY: Penguin Books, USA Inc.

Technological fixes to environmental problems

Risk and uncertainty

Social attitudes

Property rights

Students with Disabilities

Note:

Consistent with the federal law and the policies of the University of Wisconsin, it is the policy of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations to students with documented physical and learning disabilities. If you anticipate requiring any auxiliary aids or services, you should contact me or the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities at 465-2841 as soon as possible to discuss your needs and arrange for the provision of services.