HEN921 Social Ecological Economics

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Eva Fraňková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Christian Kimmich, Ph.D., M.Sc. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Karel Stibral, Ph.D. (lecturer)
RNDr. Naděžda Vlašín Johanisová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Veronika Išová
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites
None
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aims of the course are:
1. to discuss the philosophical assumptions and discourses underpinning different economic fields,
2. to give an outline of the nascent field of social and ecological economics,
3. to relate the questions of philosphy, methodology and content posed by social ecological economics to students´ dissertation topics.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. compare and critically assess discourses and assumptions behind differing fields of economic thinking,
2. summarise and explain the assumptions behind social ecological economics and their implications in terms of economic content and methods and
3. apply social ecological economics perspectives to their own intellectual work.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introductions, review of different fields of economics,
  • 2. Positivist vs. post-structural approaches in social thought,
  • 3. Critical realism in social ecological economics,
  • 4. Ethical underpinning of orthodox economic theory: utilitarianism,
  • 5. Ethical underpinning of selected heterodox economic theories: ethics of care, degrowth, buen vivir,
  • 6. Social ecological economics: overview and assumptions,
  • 7. Social ecological economics: method and content,
  • 8. Social ecological economics: open questions and limitations,
  • 9. - 11. Relating social ecological economics to individual students´ dissertations (assumptions, method, content and topic),
  • 12.-13. Conclusions, collective reflection and feedback.
Literature
  • Funtowicz, Silvio, Jerome Ravetz, 1994: The worth of a songbird: Ecological economics as a post-normal science. Ecological economics 10: 197 - 207
  • Horký, Ondřej, 2011: Falešná neutralita neoklasické teorie: feministická, antropologická, evoluční a ekologická kritika. Politická ekonomie (3): 329 - 344
  • Spash,Clive, 2011: Social ecological economics : understanding the past to see the future. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 70: 341 - 374
  • STÖCKELOVÁ, Tereza. Nebezpečné známosti : o vztahu sociálních věd a společnosti. Praha: Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., 2012, 110 s. ISBN 9788073302085. info
  • The methodology of positive economics : reflections on the Milton Friedman legacy. Edited by Uskali Mäki. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, xviii, 363. ISBN 9780521867016. info
  • HELD, Virginia. The ethics of care : personal, political, and global. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, viii, 211. ISBN 0195180992. info
  • DALY, Herman E. and Joshua C. FARLEY. Ecological economics : principles and applications. Washington: Island Press, 2004, xxvii, 454. ISBN 1559633123. URL info
  • SAYER, R. Andrew. Realism and social science. 1st ed. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2000, 211 s. ISBN 9780761961246. info
  • LUTZ, Mark A. Economics for the common good : two centuries of social economic thought in the humanistic tradition. New York: Routledge, 1999, xiv, 302. ISBN 0415143136. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class and group discussions, work in pairs, individual student presentations.
Assessment methods
Oral exam; students will be asked to give individual presentations on a pre-discussed topic related to their PhD, and to keep learning journals. The final assesment will combine the student´s attendance (a minimum of 70% attendance will be a prerequsite for a pass mark), and the students´presentation and learning journal.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
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