SYLLABUS (Provisional -- Some classes
may take more than one session and/or lead us into further unscheduled
inquiries).
In what follows "Angle" denotes the introduction of a major angle of
illumination (aka interpretive theme* or heuristic*) for the course. During
some phases of the course, more than one angle may be emphasized, and themes
once introduced continue to be woven into subsequent classes.
1. Introduction
Key terms for teaching/learning dynamics: on-going process*, cooperative
learning*, sense-making*, critical thinking*, angles of illumination*
Central themes: construction as a metaphor
2a. Introduction continued.
One projected end-point (among others) of the course: socio-environmental
analysis* in terms of intersecting processes* -- a case study of soil erosion
in Oaxaca, Mexico
Angle I Ideas about nature as ideas about society
2b. Exploring images of society and nature in the West since the
middle ages (slide show)
3. "Animals are both like and unlike humans"
Berger, J. (1980). "Why Look at Animals?," in About Looking. New York,
Pantheon Books, 1-26 (xerox)
In class we will also interpret some Gary Larsen "far side" cartoons
4. Meeting in base groups* (In these groups students review material, share
views, help each other, and undertake other activities with my guidance, but
not my direct supervision.)
5. Changes and contradictions in ideas about nature
Williams, R. (1980). "Ideas of Nature," in Problems in materialism and
culture. London, Verso, 67-85. (xerox)
In class we will also begin reading Darwin, C. (1859 [1964]). "Chapter 3" in
On the Origin of Species, 60-79. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press. (xerox)
6. Darwin as an ecologist and a Victorian; tensions in his and subsequent
ecology
Darwin, chapter 3 (xerox)
Worster, D. (1979). "Scrambling for a place," in Nature's economy. New
York: Anchor Books, 145-169. (reserve)
Angle II Material bases for changes in nature
7. Europeans, commodities, and changes in New England;
contrasting historical accounts
Cronon, W. (1983). Changes in the Land. New York, Hill and Wang,
3- 15, 159-170. (xerox)
8. Base groups
9. Commodities in relation to social and ecological transformations
Rowling, N. (1987). "Introduction," in Commodities: How the world was taken
to market. London, Free Association Books, 7-21. (xerox)
Angle III: Scientists work within a field of economics, politics and
moral repsonsibility
IIIA. Science and commodities (continuing angle II)
10. Who benefits from scientific progress? (and other questions): The
breeding of hybrid corn and the green revolution.
Lewontin, R. (1982). "Agricultural Research & the Penetration of Capital."
Science for the People(January/February): 12-17. (xerox)
Lappe, F. M. and J. Collins (1986). "The Green Revolution Is the Answer," in
World Hunger Twelve Myths. New York, NY, Grove Press, Inc.,
48-66 (reserve).
11. How autonomous can science be from social influences? -- Directed autonomy
and the rise of biotechnology.
Yoxen, E. (1983). "The Life Industry," in The Gene Business, Who should
control biotechnology? London, Free Association Books, 1-56.
(reserve)
12. Base groups
--Mid-semester break--
IIIB. Episodes in C20 conservation and ecological science (extending angle
III to pay attention to the historical context of the science)
13. Conservation and early C20 colonialism, patriarchy, eugenics.
Haraway, D. J. (1984/1985). "Teddy bear patriarchy: Taxidermy in the garden of
Eden, New York City, 1908-1936." Social Text 11: 20-64 (xerox).
Also in class, Paper Tiger video: Donna Haraway reads National
Geographic
14. Systems: Cybernetics and ecology in the atomic age
Odum, H. T. (1971). "Chaps. 1, part 2, 11," in Environment, Power &
Society. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1-41, 304-310. (reserve)
Angle IV: Hidden complexity in simple formulations &
Angle V: Causes proposed are related to the person's favored views of
social action
Plus Angle IIIB continued
15. Systems of aggregable individuals: Neo-Malthusianism
Taylor, P. J. and R. García-Barrios (1997). "The dynamics and rhetorics
of socio-environmental change: Critical perspectives on the limits of
neo-Malthusian environmentalism," in L. Freese (Ed.), Advances in Human
Ecology: JAI. Vol.6., excerpt (xerox)
Meffe, G. K., A. H. Ehrlich and D. Ehrenfeld (1993). "Human population control:
The missing agenda." Conservation Biology 7(1): 1-3 (xerox)
16. Base groups
17. Systems of selfish individuals: The tragedy of the commons
Hardin, G. (1968). "The Tragedy of the Commons." Science 162: 1243-1248.
(xerox)
18. Stability/ Change and complexity of ecosystems
Begon, M., J. Harper and C. Townsend (1990). "The influence of predation and
disturbance on community structure," in Ecology: Individuals, Populations
and Communities. Boston, Blackwell, 739-741, 793, 795. (xerox)
Botkin, D. (1990). Chapters 1 & 2 in Discordant Harmonies: A New
Ecology for the Twenty-first Century. New York: Oxford University Press,
3-25.
19. Models of Global change; The Limits to Growth and GCMs*
Meadows, D., D. Meadows, J. Randers and W. W. Behrens (1972). The Limits to
Growth. New York: Universe Books, excerpts (reserve)
Glantz, M. (Ed.) (1989). Societal Responses to Regional Climactic Change:
Forecasting by Analogy. Boulder, CO, Westview Press, 1-7, 407-428
(reserve)
20. Base groups
21. World views; the case of market environmentalism*
Schwarz, M. and M. Thompson (1990). Divided We Stand: Redefining Politics,
Technology, and Social Choice. London, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1-13
(xerox).
Pearce, D., A. Markandya and E. Barbier (1989). "Prices and incentives," in
Blueprint for a Green Economy. London, Earthscan, 154-172
(reserve).
22. Local knowledge and peasant/ indigenous rationality: adapted, flexible, or
vulnerable?
Toledo, V. (1990). "The ecological rationality of peasant production," in M.
Altieri and S. Hecht (Eds.), Agroecology and small farm development.
Boca Raton: CRC Press, 53-60.(xerox)
Richards, P. (1983). "Ecological change and the politics of land use."
African Studies Review 26: 1-72.(reserve)
23. "Coercive conservation"* in 80s and 90s; Gendered ecologies and the
politics of production
Peluso, N. (1993). "Coercing conservation: The politics of state resource
control." Global environmental change 3(2): 199-217 (reserve)
Taylor synopsis of three articles by R. Schroeder, including "'Re-claiming'
land in The Gambia: Gendered property rights and environmental intervention."
Annals of the Association of American Geographers, in press.(xerox)
--Thanksgiving--
Angle VI. Disciplining, without suppressing the complexities of
environmental, scientific, and social change
24. Intersecting processes* and heterogeneous construction*:
Theories of intersecting locally-centered, trans-local processes*
Taylor, P. J. (1998). "Inseparable and distributed complexity: Three projects
for mapping and negotiating social-natural processes," in F. Fischer and M.
Hajer (Eds.), Living With Nature (xerox)
Taylor, P. J. (1995). "Building on construction: An exploration of
heterogeneous constructionism, using an analogy from psychology and a sketch
from socio-economic modeling." Perspectives on Science 3(1): 66-98
(reserve)
25. Mapping* socio-environmental and scientific production
Taylor, P. (1990). "Mapping ecologists' ecologies of knowledge." Philosophy
of Science Association 1990, vol. 2: 95-109 (xerox)
26. Taking Stock of the Course (NOTE: This session will probably be held on an
evening before the scheduled date of December 9)
[Notes about the author and site, disclaimer, etc.]