ODEC 9050 - Human Rights in the Ecological Transition: Theory, Practice and Political Economy

In this research seminar, students will engage with an ongoing research project focusing on the mobilization of rights-talk – human rights (such as the right to a healthy environment), but also new kinds of rights (such as ‘more-than-human’ rights and the rights of Nature) – by a range of actors attempting to influence the shape, pace and political economy of ecological transition. Drawing on readings from the fields of human rights and international law, as well as development theory, political economy, ecological economics, critical geography, political science and political theory, the seminar will seek to engage students in a discussion and open dialogue about the ways in which the reliance on rights-talk, including but not limited to litigation and legal advocacy strategies, may offer promising avenues for ecological transition, starting with climate change.