GLCb2001 Climate Change: Environment, Politics, and Society

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Tomáš Chabada, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Karel Němeček (lecturer)
Mgr. Vojtěch Pelikán, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. Pavel Pospěch, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies (51,00 %), Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies (49,00 %)
Timetable
Wed 12:00–13:40 P24b
Prerequisites
none
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 11/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
It has been argued that to the 21st century, climate change will be what the industrial revolution was to the 19th century: all human activities will in some way be impacted by climate change. This course focuses on the complexity of the interactions between society and changing climate. It reflects on the various ways through which climate change has been reported, represented, addressed, narrated and imagined in contemporary societies. The scientific finding about changing climate have variously been represented in the media and narrated by various actors. The challenge of communicating a threat whose extent goes beyond the vocabularies of our imagination has been addressed in psychology and in media studies. Social theorists have sought to explain the specific dynamics of the interplay between climate change and society using various concepts, such as risk and risk society, social drama or social imaginaries. Finally, there are policies in place which seek to mitigate the process: are they successful? Can they be successful? Are they failing and if so – why? The course builds on knowledge gained in other courses, such as Introduction to Global Challenges and Key Concepts in Environmental Studies to provide students with a roadmap of basic approaches to the study of climate change, contemporary perspectives and theoretical developments.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to identify the main threads in the contemporary discussions of climate change, identify and analyse the main arguments and describe their relevance in and across various discourses. They will be able to describe the political dynamics, media reception and societal representations of climate change. They will also be familiar with the basic facts of climate change and the histories of climate change movement. They will be able to produce a research proposal addressing the interplay of society and climate change and explain its relevance within the contemporary discussions.
Syllabus
  • 1. Climate change: facts and figures
  • 2. Climate change policies: Successes and failures
  • 3. Climate attitudes and behaviour of public
  • 4. Trends in public opinion and media attention to climate change
  • 5. Psychology of climate change and communication issues
  • 6. Climate change movement: History and contemporary trends
  • 7. Reading week
  • 8. Modernity, risk society and climate change
  • 9. Control, prevention and cultures of optimism
  • 10. Climate change as a social drama I: Performing climate change
  • 11. Climate change as a social drama II: Making the news
  • 12. Theorizing the unimaginable: Imaginaries of climate change
  • 13. Final symposium, presentation of student projects
Literature
  • DUNLAP, Riley E.; BRULLE, Robert J. (ed.). Climate change and society: Sociological perspectives. Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • BOYKOFF, Maxwell T. Who speaks for the climate?: making sense of media reporting on climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2011.
  • FLANNERY, Tim. The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change. Text Publishing, 2005
  • SMITH, Philip; HOWE, Nicholas. Climate change as a social drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
  • ADAMS, S. Social Imaginaries: Critical Interventions. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
  • CLAYTON, Susan; MANNING, Christie. Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses. Amsterdam: Academic press, 2018.
  • BENNETT, O. Cultures of optimism: the institutional promotion of hope. London: Palgrave, 2014.
  • RICH, Nathaniel. Losing Earth : a recent history. First edition. New York: MCD, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019, 206 stran. ISBN 9780374191337. info
  • HOFFMAN, Andrew J. How culture shapes the climate change debate. Stanford: Stanford university press, 2015, ix, 110. ISBN 9780804794220. info
  • HADDEN, Jennifer. Networks in contention : the divisive politics of climate change. First published. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015, xv, 222. ISBN 9781107461109. info
  • Engaging the public with climate change : behaviour change and communication. Edited by Lorraine Whitmarsh - Saffron O'Neill - Irene Lorenzoni. Washington, DC: Earthscan, 2011, xxiii, 289. ISBN 9781844079285. info
  • GIDDENS, Anthony. The politics of climate change. Malden, MA: Polity, 2009, viii, 264. ISBN 074564693X. URL info
  • ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. The civil sphere. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, xix, 793. ISBN 0195162501. info
  • BECK, Ulrich. Risk society : towards a new modernity. London: SAGE Publications, 1992, 260 s. ISBN 080398345X. info
Teaching methods
The teaching will consist of two weekly units (lecture with class discussion and seminar elements). Individual preparation is expected, as students will be assigned a reading list for the course. Group projects are foreseen as one of the outcomes of the course.
Assessment methods
To finish the course successfully, students are expected to attend the lectures and participate in class discussions. The final grade will be determined by an individual essay (50%) and a group project (50%). The essays will address a common assignment specified at the beginning of the semester. The group project will engage students in a joint teamwork on a topic they themselves will choose. The specific format and the outcome of the group project will be announced at the beginning of the semester.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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