Environmental Activism: from the Local to the Global

ENVST-UA 485

Environmental Activism: From the Local to the Global

Prof. Jessica Green

285 Mercer Street, Room 905

Overview

This course examines how activists try to change the world. We examine popular movements, social movements, NGOs and networks to understand why they choose the issues they do, how they seek to effect change, and whether and why they are successful at doing so. The inquiry is grounded in several approaches to activism: international relations theories of non-state actors, sociological study of social movements, and various more radical approaches. We begin with a survey of these theoretical approaches, so that students can be conversant in the basic theory and vocabulary of activism. We then examine the growing role of activism in local and global politics amidst the broader trend of globalization. The course will examine four “big questions” with respect to environmental activism: 1) When do activists mobilize? 2) What tactics do they use? 3) What explains success and failure in advocacy? 4) What are the broader political implications of a global class of elite advocates?

Textbooks

Tarrow, Sidney. 1998. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Course Requirements

The course will be largely discussion-based, with short lectures as needed to give the necessary background. Students will be responsible for presenting the readings on the syllabus and leading the discussion twice per semester (depending on the number of students in the class). Readings to be presented by students are indicated by SP on the syllabus. On the days you present, you are responsible for circulating 2-4 discussion questions via NYU Classes by 5PM the day before class.

In addition to presenting the readings (which will count toward your participation grade), there will be three additional assignments:

1)NGO / Social movement report. This will be a report on the NGO or social movement of your choice. The paper should be approximately 3000 words and answer the following questions. 1) What does the activist organization do? 2) How is it structured and governed? 3) What are the main issues it works on? 4) What is their most successful work (in your estimation) and why? 5) What factors do you think contributed to this success and why? Students will give preliminary presentations midway through the semester to both present cases of advocacy to the class, and to help refine the answers to the questions posted above. There will be three interim assignments to keep you on track. Those are described in a separate document on NYU Classes, but due dates are noted below.

2)Summaries of readings. For the two readings that you present in class, you are also responsible for writing a 1-2 page summary of the reading. This is due to me by email before class starts.

3)Midterm exam

4)Final exam

Attendance & Participation

You are expected to participate in discussions, and this will be significant part of your final grade (see below). Simply sitting in the class sessions will not earn you full marks on participation; coming to class with questions and comments will. I will take attendance on an unannounced basis. You will be granted one “freebie”—a class you may miss without penalty. Thereafter, each absence will result in a reduction in your participation grade. If for some reason, you have to come late to class or leave early, it is courteous to let me know beforehand.

Grading

Participation: 10%

Presentations of readings (includes leading discussion): 10%

NGO report: 30%

Summaries of readings: 20%

Midterm: 15%

Final: 15%

Legal

1. All deadlines are final. For each day an assignment is late, a half grade will

be deducted. This means if an A- paper is one day late, it will be a B+. If a B

paper is two days late, it will be a C. THE ONLY exception to this rule is if you

have a note from the Dean. Unless you have a note from the Dean, no

extensions will be granted.

2. Please read the policy on academic honesty and plagiarism. More detail

can be found at Plagiarism

results in failure in the class and referral to your academic dean. It includes:

copying sentences or fragments from any source without quotes and

references; not citing a source used in your papers; citing internet

information without proper citation; presenting someone else’s work as your

own; or inadvertently copying verbatim from any source. NYU offers

academic support and tutoring at the University Learning Center:

, (212) 998-8085.

3. I reserve the right to consider extraordinary or unforeseen circumstances on

a case-by-case basis.

4. Re-grade requests for exams will be honored only if accompanied by a

comprehensive written explanation of why you deserve a higher grade. Note

that if accepted, a request for re-grading may result in the raising or lowering

of your grade.

Other Class Policies

1. No laptops. Please bring hard copies of the readings to class. The only

exception is if you have permission from ESS. Here’s why:

“Experimental tests of immediate retention of class material have also found

that Internet browsing impairs performance. Moreover, recent research

suggests that even when laptops are used solely to take notes, they may still

be impairing learning because their use results in shallower processing.”

Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer, “The Pen is Mightier than the

Keyboard.” Psychological Science, Forthcoming. DOI:

10.1177/0956797614524581.

2. No texting. If I see you texting, you will be asked to leave class and will be

marked absent for the day. Please turn off your cell phones.

3. Academic accommodations are available to any student with a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility, learning disability, or who is deaf or hard of hearing. Students should please register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212-998-4980.

NYU's Henry and Lucy Moses Center for Students with Disabilities

726 Broadway, 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10003-6675

Telephone: 212-998- 4980

Voice/TTY Fax: 212-995- 4114

Web site:

*****

Week 1: Origins (6 Sept)

• Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto
• Lenin, V.I. What is to be done?
• Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. “State and Civil Society”

Week 2: Competing views of power (13 Sept)

• Lukes, Steven. 2005. Power: A Radical View. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 1. SP
• Dahl, Robert A. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Chaps 1&2 SP

Week 3: Politics in the polis (20 Sept)

• Stone, Deborah A. 2004. Policy Paradox and Political Reason. New York: Scott Foresman & Co. Chaps 1&2
• Alinsky, Saul. 1971. Rules for Radicals. New York: Random House. SP

Week 3: Early movements (27 Sept)

• Tarrow, Sidney. 1998. Power in Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chaps 1-4 SP
• Fox, Stephen. 1981. The American Conservation Movement. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Chaps 1-3.

Week 4: Radical ecophilosophy & environmentalism (4 Oct)

• Naess, Arne. 1973. “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary” Inquiry 16 (1-4):95-100. SP
• Foreman, Dave. 1991. Confessions of an Eco-Warrior. Chaps 1-5 & 11-12.
• Abbey, Edward. 1975. The Monkey Wrench Gang. Harper Collins. Excerpts.

Project assignment #1 due: What organization / social movement do you plan to work on? What resources are available to find out more about its activities?

Week 5: Local activism (11 Oct)

• Gibbs, Lois Marie, 1982. Love Canal. Washington DC: Island Press. Chaps 1-3.
• Sabel, Charles, Archon Fung, and Bradley Karkkainen. 2000. Beyond Backyard Environmentalism. Beacon Press. Pt. 1 SP

Week 6: The birth of the NGO (18 Oct)

• Charnovitz, Steve. 2006. Nongovernmental Organizations and International Law. The American Journal of International Law 100 (2): 348–372.
• Longhofer, Wesley, and Evan Schofer. 2010. National and Global Origins of Environmental Association. American Sociological Review 75 (4): 505–533.

Week 7: Environmentalism in the US (25 Oct)

• Shabecoff, Philip. 1993. A Fierce Green Fire: The American Environmental Movement. Washington: Island Press. Chaps TBA

Week 8: Going global (1 Nov)

• Wapner, Paul. 1995. Politics Beyond the State: Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics. World Politics 47 (3): 311–340.SP
• Raustiala, Kal. 1997. States, NGOs and International Environmental Institutions. International Studies Quarterly 41: 719–740.SP

Project Assignment #2 due: Please provide a research journal. Describe the research that you have done to date, listing 5 scholarly sources. You should also describe 2 questions that you plan to answer and provide 3 bullet points for next steps.

Week 9: Going global and staying local (8 Nov)

• Tarrow, Sidney. 2006. The New Transnational Activism Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chaps 1-3 SP
• Keck, Margaret and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Chap 1&4. SP

Tactics

Week 10: Insiders’ success (15 Nov)

• Betsill, Michele Merrill, and Elisabeth Corell, eds. 2008. NGO Diplomacy: The Influence of Nongovernmental Organizations in International Environmental Negotiations. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Chaps 1, 2, 3, & 6.
• Buntaine, Mark. 2015. Accountability in Global Governance: Civil Society Claims forEnvironmental Performance at the World Bank. International Studies Quarterly 59 (99-111).

Week 11: Discourse (22 Nov)

• Epstein, Charlotte. 2008. The Power of Words in International Relations: Birth of an Anti-Whaling Discourse. Cambridge: MIT Press. Chaps 1&5 SP
• Dryzek, John. 2013. The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chaps 1&10. SP

Week 12: Direct Action (6 Dec)

• Stewart, Ben. 2015. Don’t Trust, Don’t Fear, Don’t Beg. London: Guardian Books. Chaps 1-4.

Project Assignment #3: Rough drafts due.

Week 13: Final Presentation (13 Dec)

• Each student will give a 15-20 minute presentation on the NGO / social movement that is the topic of their paper. This will include an overview of the organization, highlights of their successful work and recommendations to their hypothetical board of directors / stakeholders.

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