Climate change politics issues actors and debates
About this course
This course aims to analyze climate change in Turkey in depth by looking at the political, economic, and social processes at work that produce ineffective governance of the issue. First, we will cover basic concepts and definitions to understand the issue at hand and how it can be studied. Next we will study how actors and on the local level in Turkey relate to the actors and arenas at the international level, and how the climate justice movement in Turkey compares to others around the world. In the last part of the course we will discuss global climate policy making by examining the UNFCC, COPs, and associated agreements. Finally, the course will show that climate change is a political, economic, and social issue that reproduces and exacerbates social inequalities and injustices. We will explore possible alternative efforts in Turkey under the rubric of “climate justice” that aim to tackle these injustices and inequalities while addressing the climate crisis.
What you'll learn
1. an understanding of the reasons and impacts of climate change
2. an understanding of the major theoretical approaches to political ecology and related them to the issue of climate change.
3. an analysis of the processes, mechanisms, and dynamics of climate change politics in Turkey within an international context.
4. the roles of civil society actors ranging from NGOs to social movements in Turkey focusing on climate change.
5. the concept of climate justice as well as concepts such as energy democracy, food sovereignty, commons, and de-growth that lead to low carbon pathways
Please note that there will be a preparatory meeting that will take place during the usual class hours one week before the class starts. In this meeting, we will introduce you how the platform works and we will offer technical support so that everybody is technically ready for the first session.
Meet your instructor
Dr. Baran Alp Uncu is a political sociologist who specializes on social movements and environmental politics. After receiving his MA degree at McGill University, he completed his PhD in sociology at the London School of Economics. He worked as a faculty member at Marmara University between 2007-2017. As part of the purge against the Academics for Peace in Turkey, he was expelled from Marmara University. He continues his academic work as an independent researcher in collaboration with civil society organizations and research institutions. His main fields of interest are social movements, civil society, globalization, and climate politics. He has carried out research on environmental movements (Bergama Movement, Northern Forest Defence (KOS)), politics of climate change, and Gezi protests in Turkey. Additionally, he conducted several research projects on other topics such as political and social behavior of conservatives, youth and social and economic conditions of Syrian refugees in Turkey. He has been currently engaged in the Cities For Climate campaign by 350.org Turkey, and he is the author of Climate for Cities campaign book.
