Political Ecologies of Development
UndergraduateTAS-KGA3082025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 13 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 14 weeks
- Price from
- $2,440
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Political Ecologies of Development
About this subject
Upon successful completion of this subject, the student should be able to:
- Apply political ecology analysis of social power in environmental systems to develop integrated, evidence-based knowledge about justice, sustainability and development
- Investigate the political ecology of energy, food and water resources in diverse places to identify root problems and transformative paths towards just and sustainable forms of development
- Communicate political ecology insights through critical, reflective, dialogical, creative, persuasive and ethical forms of academic and professional writing and speaking
- Module 1: Doing Political Ecology: Analytical Tools
- Ecology and Justice in a New Climate
- Development and Sustainability
- Capitalism and Power
- Doing Political Ecology
- Module 2: Energy: Fuelling Capitalism
- Power and Energy
- Just Renewable Energy
- Module 3: Food: Chains that Bind
- The Politics of Food Scarcity
- Controlling Food Systems
- Module 4: Water: Public and Private
- Flows of Water and Power
- Just Hydro-social Cycles
- Module 5: Paths Past the Present
- Reform; Transform; Regenerate
Political ecology is a diverse area of study, professional practice and activism that integrates the pursuit of justice, sustainability and development. Political ecology builds intellectual and emotional clarity by unearthing root causes of environmental problems and guiding transformative actions to address them. Analysing nature and society as one system and employing case studies from around the world, you will: investigate environmental concerns through a focus on unequal social power; examine the interplay of political and economic processes in relation to food, water and energy resources; unpack global power relations between ‘high consumption' (minority world) and 'low consumption' (majority world) societies; and chart actionable paths towards sustainable, equitable and decent futures. The skills of inquiry and knowledge you develop are applicable to careers in government, the private sector and civil society at the intersection of development and environment concerns at scales from the local to the global.
- Take Home Examination (25%)
- Critical Inquiry Portfolio (40%)
- Investigative Essay (35%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Others
Conditional requisite: one subject (12.5% TAS-KGA level 200 ) or two subjects (25% level 200 in Asian Studies, Ecology and Biological Sciences, Economics, English, Fine and Performing Arts, History, International Relations, Law, Management, Politics and Public Policy, Psychology, Sociology and Social Work).
*Please contact the unit coordinator, Aidan (Aidan.Davison@utas.edu.au), if you have any queries, including about pre-requisites.
Additional requirements
- Other requirements - Teaching Arrangement: 40 minute recorded talk (via MyLO), 75 minute seminar and 50 minute tutorial weekly
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Science (Sustainability)
UndergraduateTAS-SUS-DEG
Bachelor of Science (Geography and Environment)
UndergraduateTAS-SCG-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science and Bachelor of Science
UndergraduateTAS-PSC-DEG
Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Science
UndergraduateTAS-BBS-DEG
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