Social Conflict and Environmental Change

This course is for Master of Global Securities and Strategy and MANPS students. Other students may request permission through cap.student@anu.edu.au The course will introduce students to multiple drivers of past, present, and future societal and environmental challenges in Asia and the Pacific. Such challenges and conflicts emerge out of historical, social, economic, political, religious, and cultural movements and debates, and are often linked to wider global forces. Topics include: the impact of colonialism, nationalism and the environment, plantation crises, land grabs, deforestation, decolonization, and the potential role of the postcolonial state in conflict and environmental degradation. We also use anthropological approaches to explore how indigenous knowledge and cultural traditions give rise to multispecies ethics and the kind of ideologies and activities that have inspired environmental activism. More generally, the course considers the critical question of how Asian and Pacific societies have redefined their relationship to the environment from the colonial period until the present day. We investigate the relationships between environmental degradation, urbanisation, sustainability, climate crises, and technological change to understand how human and more-than-human actors nurture alternative futures. The course will particularly interest students intending to pursue a career in the Asian and Pacific region. It will also be of interest to those seeking to expand their expertise in a range of practical topics related to governments, non-government organisations, development agencies, the environment, multi-species justice, media, public health directives, gender relations, global trade practices and value chains, and climate policy initiatives.