Instructor: Jack Manno
Office: 24 Bray Hall
Telephone: 470-6816
E-mail: jpmanno@mailbox.syr.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, 12:30 – 2:30, or by appointment
Goal of the Course: To enhance our knowledge and understanding of the links between social justice and environmental stewardship, between ecological integrity and human dignity in order to better contribute toward creating and sustaining communities (local to global) in which people prosper while living in ways that protect and sustain healthy environmental conditions on which all prosperity ultimately depends.
The course facilitates both scholarly learning and personal reflection on topics including:
- The relationship between social justice and the environment.
- The legal and administrative aspects of environmental justice
- The history of urban renewal and urban decay
- Resource degradation and patterns of globalization
- The relationship between racism and environmental degradation
- An ecology of oppression and liberation
- Social justice implications of consumption and waste
- Simple living
- Working for justice
Required Texts
· Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World by Julian Agyeman, Robert D. Bullard and Bob Evans (eds.) (Agyeman et al in course schedule) (Available at the Orange Bookstore, Marshall Square Mall).
· Course Reader (Available for purchase in the basement of Bray Hall).
Course Requirements
This is a very participatory course. It is designed to engage the student personally as well as intellectually. My belief as an instructor is that learning happens best when it is directly related to a person’s life, goals and interests. The purpose of this course is to sharpen our ability to understand and be able to communicate about the relationship between environmental issues and social justice issues. Students will be asked to do personal exploration into their role as professionals, scholars and consumers. Each week we will meet in groups of three or four for listening and learning (L & L) sessions. You will be asked to respond to one or more questions and take turns expressing your thoughts on the question(s). You will also be asked to respond to the question in writing (no more than 2 pages) to be emailed to me before the next class. We will have 3 separate groupings in class and only one group per class will be required to send me their writing. The questions will often involve material from the texts. You must have completed the readings prior to class and be prepared to share your thoughts. There are no right answers to the L & L questions, only more or less thoughtful responses. The L & L responses make up a portion of your class participation grade.
There will be two exams, one about one-third into the class and the other at the end during finals week. The exams will focus on key concepts in environment and social justice. Key concepts will be highlighted in each class. You will also be expected to write a term paper no more than 10 pages long. At the start of class. you will be asked to rank in order of your preference either 1) a historical/biophysical analysis of a particular issue related to environment and social justice, or 2) a quantitative analysis of the relationship between economic inequality and environmental degradation, 3) biographical profile of someone working in the field of environment and social justice. Guidelines for each of these will be handed out in class. Students will be assigned a category of paper based on their preferences and the intention of having roughly an equal number of papers from each category. Once you are assigned your project category you must submit a 1-2 page paper proposal to the instructor no later than February 22. Term papers are due April 5. Paper presentations will be made during the last 6 classes. Students will also be graded for class participation. You must come to class prepared by having carefully read the assigned material. Evidence of being unprepared for class will result in deductions from class participation grade.
Expectations
I expect that students will:
- be at every class session (unless excused in advance) on time,
- be active listeners to whoever is speaking,
- complete reading assignments prior to class,
- complete and turn in writing assignments on time,
- be active learners and teachers as exhibited through thoughtful participation by asking questions and contributing thoughtfully to classroom discussion,
- treat each other and the instructor with courtesy and respect.
The students should expect the instructor:
- to serve as a facilitator of learning for the students collectively and individually,
- to come to class prepared,
- to be accessible to students during office hours and by appointment and to serve as an effective consultant to the students in their learning,
- to assist students in finding additional resources when needed to reach the expected learning outcomes.
Grading
Final grades will be calculated approximately as follows:
- Class Participation 15%
- Term paper proposal 5%
- Term Paper and Presentation: 30%
- Exam 1: 25%
- Exam 2: 25%
Date Topic Readings__________
Week 1
Jan 18 Introduction – Syllabus review
L & L Session: Introduce yourself. What does social justice mean to you? What in your life has most affected your notion of social justice? Group 1 writes.
Jan 20 Thinking about “society” and social justice Reader: Definitions, Collin (1993) and Novak (2000)
Key concepts: social contract, human rights, social justice as opposed to justice in law (criminal and civil), injustice, morality and ethics, Friederich Hayek, neo-liberalism (government provides the “framework of spontaneous growth, , emergent qualities (social, ecosystemic). Utilitarianism, “Death of God,” neo-liberalism and anti-communism, environmental equity vs. environmental racism.
L & L Session: Do governments have a responsibility to support social justice? If yes, give examples. If no, why not? Group 2.
Turn in term paper category preferences.
________________________________________________________________________
Week 2
Jan 25 Legal context: Environmental Justice Reader: President’s Executive Order, p.29-35; EPA OIG (2004) Report, p. pp. 1-27; also visit http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ej/
Key concepts: EPA’s Environmental Justice Strategy, Presidential Environmental Justice as focused in minority and low-income populations or everyone?
L & L Session: What, in your opinion should be the focus of EJ Policy? Why?
Jan 27 Env. Justice in State Policy Decisions Agyeman Ch. 8
Key concepts: “Community,” “Disproportionate impacts,” Ecosystem vs political boundaries, Zoning, Federal Civil Rights Act Title VI, Regulation in the abstract vs. regulation in context,
L & L Session: What’s special about where you live? What would you tell a regulator trying to act in context in your community? Group 3
_______________________________________________________________________
Week 3
Feb 1 Environmental Space, Equity and the Ecological Debt Agyeman Ch. 1.
Key concepts: Environmental space, Intergenerational issues, Intergenerational responsibilities, Ecological debt.
L & L Session: In what context have you heard the statement “what if everyone did that?’ How did you react? Group 1
Feb 3 Consumption and Eco-Footprints: ` Agyeman Ch. 5
Key concepts: Competitive equilibrium, Pareto optimality, diminishing marginal returns, GDP, “Trade as thermodynamic imperialism,” Ecological footprint, Global carrying capacity
L & L Session: In what context have you heard the statement “what if everyone did that?’ How did you react? Group 2
________________________________________________________________________
Week 4
Feb 8 Wealth, Poverty and Sustainable Development Reader: Barkin Ch. 1&2
Key concepts: Environmental impacts of wealth & poverty, colonialism and its impacts on Latin America.
L & L Session: If raised middle or owning class, what are your earliest memories of witnessing or experiencing poverty? If raised poor or working class, what was your earliest memories of witnessing or experiencing material wealth? Group 3
Feb 10 Wealth, Poverty and Sustainable Development II Reader: Barkin Ch. 3
Key concepts: Boom and bust cycles and impacts on environment, commodity prices, primary producers, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, Transnational Corporations, Environmental Kuznets Curve, I=PAT,
L & L Session: To be determined.
________________________________________________________________________
Week 5
Feb 15 Wealth, Poverty and Sustainable Development III Reader: Barkin Ch. 4
Key concepts: Sustainability and diversity, food self-sufficiency
L & L Session: What gives you hope for solving the problem of sustainable development? Group 1
Feb 17 Review for Exam
________________________________________________________________________
Week 6
Feb 22 Exam
Term paper proposal due
Feb 24 Consumption, Personal Responsibility Reader: Maniates
Key concepts: Simple living, voluntary simplicity
L & L Session: What were the messages you learned as a child about consumption? Group 2
________________________________________________________________________
Week 7
Mar 1 Commoditization and Oppression Reader: Manno
Take-home exam #1 due in class
Key concepts: Commoditization, selection pressures, oppression, internalized oppression.
L & L Session: Respond to your understanding of this chapter. Group 3
Mar 3 Racism To be determined
Key concepts: Racism, the notion of “race,” science and “race”
L & L Session: How did you learn racism? . Group 1
________________________________________________________________________
Week 8
Mar 8 Race, Politics and Pollution Agyeman Ch. 6
Key concepts: Relation between racism and energy exploitation, similarities and differences between Louisiana and Nigeria
L & L Session: What do you think are the key connections between racism and environmental degradation? Group 1
Mar 10 Identity, Place and Resistance Agyeman Ch. 7
Key concepts: Identity politics, spatial logic, space of flows, space of place, identity formation, land-based cultures, discourse analysis, construction of meaning.
L & L Session: What is one of your identities? How does it affect how you think about the issues of environment and social justice? Group 2
________________________________________________________________________
Week 9
Mar 22 Case Study: Onondaga Creek Reader: Adams Ch. 2 & 3, Powless testimony,
Key concepts: Historical basis for current situation
L & L Session: None.
Mar 24 Guest Speaker/Field trip? No new readings
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Week 10
Mar 29 Onondaga Nation/Haudenosaunee Reader: HETF. Pp. 3-47
Key concepts: Haudenosaunee, Six Nations, Thanksgiving address, Original instructions, Ch. 26 Agenda 21, Peacemaker, Great Law of Peace, Two-row Wampum, Longhouse, Firekeepers, 7 Generations, Traditional vs. Elected Governments, treaties.
L & L Session: What and how have you learned about Native cultures and Native People Group 3 (final L & L session)
Mar 31 Onondaga Nation/Guest lecture or field trip no reading
________________________________________________________________________
Week 11
Apr 5 Mining conflicts Agyeman Ch. 10
Apr 7 Women & EJ in South Asia Agyeman Ch. 11
________________________________________________________________________
Week 12
April 12 Student Presentations
Apr 14 Student Presentations
________________________________________________________________________
Week 13
Apr 19 Student Presentations
Apr 21 Student Presentations
________________________________________________________________________
Week 14
Apr 26 Student Presentations
Apr 28 Student Presentations
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Week 15
May 3 Exam Review
Final Exam Week May 5 - 11
Final Paper Due Friday, Dec. 10 by 4pm!