Course Literature GEC 2019

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Here you can find the weekly readings that you need to prepare BEFORE we meet in class. Read and watch all the articles, book excerpts and videos that you can find under “Mandatory Reading/Watching”. Under “Further Reading”, you can find other non-mandatory, material that you can dig into, if you are interested in the topic.

PLEASE CLICK THE HYPERLINKS TO READ MOST ARTICLES

ALSO PLEASE REPORT ANY BROKEN LINKS TO THE COURSE COORDINATORS

We are still awaiting some additional, non-mandatory readings to be set by guest lecturers, so please revise this page in the week preceding the lecture if you would like to read lecturers’ additional recommended readings.

Course Books

• Michael Goodwin (2012). Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn’t Work), in Words and Pictures. Abrams.
  • READ BY Literature Seminar 1: September 26^th

• Naomi Klein (2015) This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. Simon Schuster NOTE: Only first two parts are mandatory reading!
  • READ BY Literature Seminar 2: October 17^th

• Jason Hickel (2018). The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions. Cornerstone.
  • READ BY Literature Seminar 3: November 12^th

• Tim Jackson (2016). Prosperity without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow. Routledge.
  • READ BY Literature Seminar 4: December 5^th

Weekly Readings

Setting the Anthropocene: A Short Introduction to Sustainable Development 

Tuesday 3rd September: Course Introduction 

Required Readings/Videos 

• All course information on the course homepage  
• Loudres Beneria. On why economics is so resistant to change 
• Johan Rockström: Planetary Boundaries (2014, 4min02) 

• Welcome to the Anthropocene (2012, 3min38)

Recommended Readings 

If you want to find out more about the origin of CEMUS and different educational approaches please feel free to check out this small book below! 

• Transcending Boundaries. How CEMUS is changing how we teach, meet and learn. Centre for sustainable development Uppsala. 

Thursday 5th September: Welcome to the Anthropocene: Planetary Boundaries, the Great Acceleration and Future Trajectories in our Modern World 

Required Readings 

• Crutzen, P. J. (2016). Geology of mankind 
• Steffen et al. (2015). The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration 
• Rockström et al. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity – Planetary Boundaries.  

Additional Readings 

• Rockström et al. (2017). A roadmap for rapid decarbonization.  
• Steffen, et al. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. 

• • Shorter update of the Rockström et al. (2009) paper

• Gaffney & Steffen (2017). The Anthropocene Equation. 
• Introducing the terrifying mathematics of the Anthropocene (2017)

THEME 1: The Economy 

Tuesday 10th September: What is the Economy? 

Course Book:  

• Get started on Economix! 

Additional Readings 

• Chang, Ha-Joon. Life, The Universe and Everything 

Thursday 12th September: The Value(s) of the Economy 

Required Readings 

• On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant 

Additional Readings 

• Agnar Helgason and Gisli Palsson (1997) Contested Commodities The Moral Landscape of Modernist Regimes
• Fourcade (2011) Cents and Sensibility Economic Valuation and the Nature of “Nature”
• Espeland, Wendy & Stevens, Mitchell (1998) “Commensuration as a social process” 

Tuesday 17th September: Economics 101 

Required Readings 

• Heinberg, Richard. The Great Balloon Race – Economic History in Ten Minutes 

• Smith, Adam. Of the Division of Labour 

Thursday 19th September: Alternative Schools of Economic Thought 

Required Readings/Videos 

• Spash, C. L. (2017) ‘Social Ecological Economics’, in Routledge Handbook of Ecological Economics: Nature and Society. Routledge, pp. 3–16.
  • This will be very relevant for your final assignment!
• Rebellious Economics Students Have a Point – The New Yorker 
• Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History No. 33 (2012, 14min) 

• Crash Course: Economic Schools of Thought (2015, 10min) 

Additional Readings 

• Fischer, L., Hasell, J., Proctor, J. C., Uwakwe, D., Perkins, Z. W., & Watson, C. (Eds.). (2017). Rethinking Economics: An Introduction to Pluralist Economics. Routledge. 

Tuesday 24th September: Economic Crises 

Required Readings 

• The Economics Anti-Textbook – Postscript: a case study on the global financial meltdown 

• • Ignore crossed out sections 

• Major financial crises throughout history – overview: section 6 

Additional Readings 

• Financial crises and political sentiments 

• Trade wars and risk of recessions (only video) 
• David Harvey RSA: Crisis of Capitalism (2010, 11min) 

• The 2008 Financial Crisis: Crash Course Economics (2015, 11min) 

• Financial stress and health 

Thursday 26th September: Literature Seminar 1 (Economix) 

Course Book: Finish Economix before this class 

THEME 2: The Environment 

Tuesday 1st October: Environmental Economics 

Course Book: Start reading This Changes Everything 

Required Readings 

• Economic recessions and the environment  
• Spash, C. The Development of Environmental Thinking in Economics 

Additional Readings  

• Anas and Lindsey (2014). Reducing Urban Road Transportation Externalities: Road Pricing in Theory and in Practice
• Weitzman (2015). Internalizing the Climate Externality: Can a Uniform Price Commitment Help.
• Gies (2013). The real cost of energy, Nature.

Thursday 3rd October: Ecological Economics and Ecosystem Services 

Required Readings 

• Hahn, T. et al (2015) Purposes and degrees of commodification: Economic instruments for biodiversity and ecosystem services need not rely on markets or monetary valuation.  
• Kate Raworth: Introducing ‘The Doughnut’ of social and planetary boundaries for development (2012, 4min) 

Additional Readings 

• Hahn, T (2014) Green Economy 
• 300 years of fossil fuels in 300 seconds PCI (2010, 5min) 

Tuesday 8th October: Centre of the Economy (Hågaby Field Trip) 

Required Readings 

• Berg, P. G. (2002). 6. Developing sustainability in Hågaby village.
  • Chapter 6 

Additional Readings 

• Berg, P. G. (2002). 6. Developing sustainability in Hågaby village.
  • Chapters 4 and 5

Thursday 10th October: Tragedy of the Commons 

Required Readings/Videos 

• Battersby (2017) Can Humankind Escape the Tragedy of the Commons? 

• Hardin, Garrett (1968) The Tragedy of the Commons 
• Elinor Ostrom (2009) Sustainable development and the tragedy of commons (8min)

Additional Readings/Videos 

• Dell’Angelo, J (2017) The Tragedy of the Grabbed Commons: Coercion and Dispossession in the Global Land Rush 
• Dietz et a (2003) The Struggle to Govern the Commons 

• What is the tragedy of the commons? (2017) (5min) 

Tuesday 15th October: No Class 

Thursday 17th October: Literature Seminar 2 (This Changes Everything) 

Course Book: Finish “This Changes Everything” before this class 

THEME 3: Globalisation 

Tuesday 22nd October: A Short History of Globalisation 

Course Book: Start reading The Divide  

Required Readings/Videos 

• Steger, Manfred B. Globalization – A Very Short Introduction 
• Globalization (2011, 8min10) 

• Globalization II – Good or Bad?: Crash Course World History (14min) 

Additional Readings 

• C.R. (2013) When Did Globalisation Start, The Economist 

• Graeber, David. What Real Globalisation Would Mean 

Thursday 24th October: War? What is is good for?

Required Readings/Videos 

• Hinnebusch, Raymond (2007) The US Invasion of Iraq: Explanations and Implications 

• Geary, Will (2018) The United States of Arms (2min 16sec) 

Additional Readings 

• Lecturer (Håvard Hegre) to send readings soon! 
• Collier, Paul & Hoeffler, Anke (2004) Greed and grievance in civil war, Oxford economic papers 56(4) 
• Karlén, Niklas (2016) Historical trends in external support in civil wars. SIPRI Yearbook 2016: Armaments, Disarmaments, and International Security, Oxford: Oxford University Press 

Tuesday 29th October: International Trade Workshop 

Required Readings 

• Chang, Ha Joon (2003). Kicking away the ladder 

• Malik & Jan (2016) The role of outsourcing in driving global carbon emissions 

• Najam, Runnals, & Halle (2010) Environment and Globalization Five Propositions 

Thursday 31st October: Sun, Sea and Tax Avoidance: Corporations and Finance 

Required Readings/Videos 

• Zucman, et al. (2015). Ch 5: The Tax Avoidance of Multinational Corporations in The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens. 
• Palan, Ronen, Richard Murphy, and Christian Chavagneux. Tax Havens: How Globalization Really Works. Cornell University Press, 2009.
  • Introduction Chapter, pages 1-13.
• The Guardian (2016). What are the Panama Papers? A guide to history’s biggest data leak 
• Mining taxes: how Rio Tinto avoided $700 million in taxes (2018, 4min) 

Additional Readings/Videos 

• Galaz, V., Crona, B., Dauriach, A., Jouffray, J.-B., Österblom, H., & Fichtner, J. (2018). Tax havens and global environmental degradation. Nature Ecology & Evolution 
• Inside Malaysia’s Shadow State (2013, 16min 24sec) 

Tuesday 5th November: Systems Thinking 

Required Readings 

• Meadows, D. H. (2008), Thinking in Systems: A primer 

• • Chapter 1 – The Basics 
  • Chapter 6 – Leverage Points—Places to Intervene in a System 

Additional Readings 

• Meadows, D. H. (2008), Thinking in Systems: A primer
  • Remaining chapters 

Thursday 7th November: DEBATE 

Required Readings 

• Sonnreich, T (2010) Training Guide for University Debating Tips, Tactics and First Principles. 

• • Chapter 4: Making Arguments from First Principles.
  • Chapter 5: Rebuttal from First Principles 
  • Chapter 9: Manner 
• Note that this applies to a different debating style, so overlook anything that does not seem applicable to our debating style 

• Member Training Handbook (2010), Monash Association of Debaters  

• • Chapter 1: Introduction to Public Speaking 
  • Chapter 12: Environmental Theory 
  • Chapter 13: Economics 
• Note that this applies to a different debating style, so overlook anything that does not seem applicable to our debating style 

• In-Class Debate Rules (ignore dates as they are from last year!) 

• Debate Template 

Additional Readings 

• General review of course material 

• Don’t get bogged down on the details, rather review what the key ethical dilemmas and challenges are in the Global Economy. 

• Sonnreich, T (2010) Training Guide for University Debating Tips, Tactics and First Principles. 

• • Chapter 7: Classic Aff Mistakes and Opp Tactics. 
  • Chapter 8: General Tactical Mistakes 
  • Other sections according to interest. 

Tuesday 12th November: Literature Seminar 3 (The Divide)  

Course Book: Finish “The Divide” before this class 

THEME 4: Development  

Thursday 14th November: Defining Development  

Course Book: Start reading Prosperity Without Growth 

Required Readings/Videos 

• Ziai, Aram (2007). “Chapter 1 Development discourse and its critics: An introduction to post-development” in Aram Ziai (ed) Exploring Post-development: Theory and Practice, Problems and Perspectives. Routledge 

• • Only read pp. 3-10 

• Hans Rosling’s 200 countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats, BBC Four (2010, 4min47) 

Additional Readings 

• Chapters 1, 2 & 7 (and missing page) of Gender, Development and Environmental Governance by Seema Arora-Jonsson 

• Arora-Jonsson, 2017, Blind spots in environmental policy-making: How beliefs about science and
  development may jeopardize environmental solutions. 

Tuesday 19th November: Neocolonialism and Ecological Marxism 

Required Readings 

• Hornborg, A. (2019). Colonialism in the Anthropocene: the political ecology of the money-energy-technology complex. Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, 10(1), 7-21. 
• Why you can’t have free trade and save the planet (2018) 

Additional Readings 

• Rethinking the Ontology of Technology (1hr 10mins) 
• Malm, A., & Hornborg, A. (2014). The geology of mankind? A critique of the Anthropocene narrative. The Anthropocene Review, 1(1), 62-69. 

Thursday 21st November: Gender (+) Inequality  

Required Readings 

• England, Paula (2005) Gender Inequality in Labor Markets: The Role of Motherhood and Segregation 
• Wright, Melissa W. (2006). Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism. Routledge 

• • Chapter 1 

Additional Readings 

• Ridgeway, Cecilia L. (2011) The Persistence Of Inequality 

• Wright, Melissa W. (2006). Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism. Routledge 

• • Chapter 2 

Tuesday 26th November: How Migration Shapes the World 

Required Readings 

• Castles, Stephen, Hein de Haas, Mark Miller (2014). Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World(fifth edition). Guilford Press. Chapter 1. 

• Goodman, Jack 2018. What is the UN Global Compact on Migration? BBC News 20 December 2018. 

Additional Readings/Videos 

• Adger et al (2015) Focus on environmental risks and migration: causes and consequences 
• Sullivan, Kate (2016) Migration: new perspectives on an old story, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 
• Calais migrants: Life in the Jungle | Guardian Features (13min 24sec) 

• Where next? The last days of the Calais refugee camp (6min 40sec) 

• Calais Jungle: Police try to stop new camp forming – BBC News (12mins) 

Thursday 28th November: Conflicts of Interests – Its not what you know, its who you know

Required Readings 

• The Greens, European Free Alliance (2018) Revolving Doors and the Fossil Fuel Industry: Time to tackle conflicts of interest in climate policy-making 

• • Skim through 

• Conflicting Interests of Climate Negotiations 

Additional Readings 

• Fossil fuel lobby could be forced to declare interests at UN talks 
• Corporate Accountability, Polluting Paris! 

• GLOBAL CORRUPTION REPORT: CLIMATE CHANGE 
  • Executive summary, chapter 1-2.2 (esp 2.2.1)
• Understanding the UNFCCC 
• Clearing the Air: Avoiding Conflicts of Interest Within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Corporate Accountability, Polluting Paris
• Conflicting Interests of Climate Negotiations

Tuesday 3rd December: Textiles – The True Cost 

Required Readings  

• Anguelov, Nikolay (2016) The Dirty Side of the Garment Industry Fast Fashion and Its Negative Impact on Environment and Society 

• • Chapter 8 Implications and Conclusions 

Additional Readings 

• Afroza Begum, S.M. Solaiman, (2016) “Rana disaster: how far can we proceed with CSR?”, Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 23 Issue: 4, pp.748-768 
• Bebbington, J., Spijkers, J., and Österblom, H. Slavery in marine fisheries. THE AMERSFOORT DIALOGUE 

• • Background briefs. 

• Anguelov, Nikolay (2016) The Dirty Side of the Garment Industry Fast Fashion and Its Negative Impact on Environment and Society 

• • Ch 1: From Fashion to Fast Fashion, 
  • Ch 5: The Carbon Footprint of Textile Manufacturing for Fast Fashion, 
  • Ch 6: The Direct and Social Costs of Low Prices, 
  • Ch 7: The Economics, Demographics, and Ethics of the Low Price Quest 

Thursday 5th December: Literature Seminar 4 (Prosperity without Growth)  

Course Book: Finish “Prosperity Without Growth” before the Literature Seminar 

Tuesday 10th December: Edge of the Economy 

• No Readings 

Thursday 12th December: Collaborative Exam 

• No Readings 

Tuesday 17th December: Final Assignment Presentations 

• No Readings