University of Florida
INR 4350
Spring 2010
Dr. Samuel Barkin
Office: 221
Anderson
Hall
Office Hours:
Tuesdays 3-6pm, Wednesdays 9am-noon, and by appointment
Phone: x3-2399
Email: barkin@ufl.edu
For
centuries states have attempted to cooperate to solve collective
problems.
Sometimes they have succeeded, other times they have failed.
Environmental
problems provide a set of cases in which widespread cooperation is both
important and quite difficult.
Under what conditions have states been able to cooperate to
solve
international environmental problems?
What are the international political and legal mechanisms that
have been
used or could be tried to address these problems? What
types
of
issues
can
international
environmental
politics
successfully
address
and
what
types
can
it
not?
This
course will address aspects of international environmental politics as
a whole,
defined as the category of environmental issues about which states
attempt, or
might attempt, to cooperate. It
will pay particular attention to the international treaties used to
deal with
these environmental problems. It
will examine theoretical concepts and specific illustrative issue
areas, but
will not take up all international environmental issues. This
course,
then, is really about the intersection of international relations and
environmental politics, and about learning how and when they can
intersect in a
beneficial way.
Textbooks
The following books
will be available for purchase in the bookstore:
-Elizabeth
R. DeSombre, The Global
Environment and World Politics, 2nd
ed.
-Ken
Conca, Michael Alberty,
and
Geoffrey
D.
Dabelko, eds.,
Green Planet
Blues, 3rd edition (Environmental
Politics
from
Stockholm
to
Rio), or 4th edition (Four
Decades
of Environmental Politics).
-Other readings
will be posted to the syllabus as links from time to time.
Course Requirements
-Class
Participation: 10%
-Mid-Term
Examination: 20%
-End-of-term
Examination: 30%
-Research
Paper: 40%
Class
Participation (10%):
Students
are expected to come to all classes, to pay attention, and to
participate
actively in class discussions and in various class exercises that will
occur
from time to time.
First
Examination (20%):
There
will an examination held in class on Thursday, February 18, which will
cover
theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the
readings.
Second
Examination (30%):
There
will an examination held in class on Thursday, April 15, which will
cover theoretical
and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings since the
first
exam.
Research
Paper (40%):
Each
student will write a 3,000-word research paper. For
this
paper
each
student
will
be
expected
to
apply
the
analytic
tools
discussed
in
class
to
a
specific
empirical
issue-area
in
international environmental politics.
More explicit instructions will be distributed in due course.
You
will be expected to submit a statement of
your research question and
tentative
thesis on Tuesday, February 23 and your working
bibliography on Tuesday, March 23. Each
submission
is
worth
10%
of
the
paper
credit.
Follow
links for details of the assignment,
information on sources and
citation, and
the statement of policy on plagiarism and
academic honesty.
The
paper is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 20. Please note that late papers will be
accepted, but marked down half a grade for every day late.
Week 1 (January 5 and 7): Introduction
-The
Kyoto Protocol (abridged)
Week 2 (January 12 and 14): The Global Commons
-DeSombre chapter 1.
-Green Planet Blues introduction to the book, introduction to part 1,
and chapters 1, 2, and 5. (Hardin) (Buck)
Week 3 (January 19 and 21)): International Environmental Politics
-DeSombre chapter 2.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: chapters 3 and 4, introduction to part 2, and chapters 6 and 7.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition: chapters 3 and 4, introduction to part 2, and chapters 5 and 6.
Week 4 (January 26 and 18): International Negotiations
-DeSombre chapter 4.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: introduction to part 3 and chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15.
-Green Planet Blues 4th
edition:
introduction to part 3 and chapters 10, 11, and 12.
Week 5 (February 2 and 4): IOs and NGOs
-DeSombre chapter 5.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition:
chapters 10 and 11.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition: chapter 9.
Week 6 (February 9 and 11): Science, Risk, and Uncertainty
-DeSombre chapter 3.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: chapters 16, 19, 20, and 21.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition:
chapters 15 and 19.
-"Skeptics
Find
Fault
with
UN
Climate
Panel."
Week 7 (February 18): Mid-Term
Exam
* Note that there is no class on February 16.
* First exam in class on
February 18.
Week 8 (February 23 and 25): Security, Economy, and the
Environment
* Paper proposal due at the
beginning of
class on February 23.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: part 6 (introduction and chapters 27-31), and the introduction to part 4, and chapters 17 and 18.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition: chapter 13, introduction to part 5, and chapters 21-26.
Week 9 (March 2 and 4): Sustainable
Development and Environmental Justice
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: part 5 (introduction and chapters 22-26), the introduction to part 7, and chapter 33.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition: chapter 14, introduction to part 4, chapters 16-18, introduction to part 6, and chapters 28 and 30.
Spring Break!
Week 10 (March 16 and 18): The
Atmosphere
-DeSombre chapter 9.
Week 11 (March 23 and 25): Climate Change
* Working bibliography due at
the beginning of class on
March 23
-DeSombre chapter 6.
-Johann
Hari, "The
Wrong Kind of
Green," The Nation, March
22, 2010.
Week 12 (April 1): Biodiversity
* Note that there is no class on March 30.
-DeSombre chapter 8.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: chapters 8, 9, and 32.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition: chapters 7, 8, and 27.
Week 13 (April 6 and 8): The
Seas
-DeSombre chapter 7.
Week 14 (April 13 and 15): Review and Second Exam
* Second exam in class on
April 15.
-DeSombre chapter 10.
-Green Planet Blues 3rd edition: chapters 34 and 35.
-Green Planet Blues 4th edition: chapters 29 and 31.
Week 15 (April 20): Conclusions
* Paper due at the beginning
of class on April 20.