This year’s Wageningen Political Ecology PhD course analyses and discusses the nature and power of the changing meanings of life and death in times of collapse, transformation and (possible) revival. Most specifically, it focuses on: 1) how contemporary crises are forcing political ecology to come to terms with the changing nature of (mass) death, loss, and collapse; and 2) how this also changes how we appreciate, govern and understand the diversity of life on the planet, including visions for how we can conserve biodiversity (as well as relate with nonhumans more generally) in different and, perhaps, more hopeful and effective ways.

1. The changing nature of death and collapse

Over the last decades, we have the witnessed the rise of irreversible climate change, the sixth extinction crisis, and other environmental crises, as well as different political, economic, technological, and other responses to this. Central to these crises is an increasingly hectic sense of immanent collapse and a general renewed awareness of the role of death and dying in broader forms of social-environmental change. Political ecology is whosing hos this sense and awareness is changing environmental politics and different nonhuman natures, including animal and plant species, ecosystems and their interactions. At the same time, political ecologists, especially from the global south and from a decolonial perspective, are questioning the ‘newness’ of these discourses, arguing amongst others that many societies and racialised populations have long had to deal with mass death, collapse and brutal forms of socio-ecological violence. This begs the questions: how can we think about death, dying and loss in an age of potentially irreversible ecological crises from different perspectives? How can we intellectually and otherwise respond to a generic sense of immanent collapse or broader doom-focused approaches? And how do these questions change the very nature of how we think about death and collapse themselves? And what do different strands in political ecology have to say about this?

2. The changing nature of the diversity of life and how to govern this

At the same time as we are seeing the rise of ‘death and collapse’, we are also seeing renewed attention to the diversity, tenacity and even abundance and joys of life. This is accompanied, furthermore, by growing calls for the need for dramatic transformation in the perspectives and institutions intended to nurture and sustain this life. Political ecology studies point at the liveliness of many commodities as well as the wild and unexpected lives of the more-than-human and the new encounters this leads to between humans and the rest of nature. Moreover, as we are worried about degrading biodiversity, so we are discovering new forms of biological diversity in sometimes unexpected places, as well as how forms of life change under pressure. If the diversity of life changes as rapidly as it does now, how can we understand, let alone govern this effectively? Biologists and ecologists are breaking their heads over these questions, but political ecologists also have much to say here. After all, the way we measure, value and govern diversity, especially in relation to different nonhuman life forms, is inherently political. What, then, is a political ecology of diversity, both in relation to nonhuman life and in relation to human life and life-prospects in an age of environmental crises?

The PhD course aims to provide PhD candidates with an advanced introduction to these questions, themes, their interconnections, and current academic perspectives on both and allows PhD students to interact with the international team of cutting-edge scholars engaged in research concerning these issues that we have assembled to deliver the course. The spring school, as always, makes an explicit effort to combine and clarify different (Foucauldian, post-Marxian, more-than-human, ANT, feminist, decolonial and other) perspectives so as to develop a broader understanding of contemporary theoretical currents in the field of political ecology and the prospects for alternative futures.

In the introductions and discussions, the theme and practice of ‘contestation’ will be central. We will delve into the contestations entailed in development and analysis of our interrelated themes and employ them productively to get a handle on different trends and traditions in political ecology. Special emphasis will be on identifying contestations between and among different theoretical traditions, empirical settings, material resources and political objectives that inform, or form the subject of, various political ecology studies. What consequences do different choices with regard to these ‘ingredients’ have for the types of political ecology presented in the literature and presentations? And how can we harness the contestations inherent within them to inform our own understanding and use of political ecology in research and action? One of the objectives of the course, then, is to answer the question of how to start thinking about political ecologies of collapse, transformation and revival in the present era.

Besides looking for contestations in the literatures and presentations, we will also practice contestation. In small and large group discussions, we will aim to stimulate intellectual debate through various strands of argument and critique and problematize these from various angles. In this way, the course also explicitly incorporates development of academic debating skills.

Altogether, the workshop and these debates are also meant to support the second objective of the workshop, namely to contribute to a broader understanding of the meaning and nature of political ecology in the 21^st century.

Target group and learning outcomes

The course ‘The natures of life and death: political ecologies of collapse, transformation and revival’ is intended for PhD students across the social and environmental sciences, especially anthropology, geography, political science, sociology and development studies, with an interest in political ecology. In this course, we will move between close reading of texts, workshops, discussions, and field trips. Students following this course will not only learn about contestations in relevant themes and new dynamics in political ecology, but will also become part of and interpret these contestations.

Students participating in this course are expected to write a short statement (max. 1 page A4) to: i) introduce who they are in terms of disciplinary background and education ii); outline how they (intend to) engage with the theme of life, death, biodiversity and extinction in political ecology; iii) outline questions or issues on these themes with which they would like to engage; and iv) offer expectations from the course.  

After successful completion of this course participants will be able to:

• Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of new dynamics in the links between crises, power, life and death, and the intersections amond these;
• Critically reflect on different political ecology approaches to these themes and employ these in social science research;
• Broadly understand some of the main contestations around these themes in relation to theoretical traditions, empirical emphases, political projects and material resources;
• Formulate whether and how elements of these discussions and contestations could fit on and contribute to their own research projects;
• Engage in active learning, critical thinking and academic debating, especially by positioning oneself in (relation to) academic contestations.

Assumed prior knowledge

MSc in social sciences: anthropology, geography, political science, sociology or development studies.

Session Times/ Outline of the Course in Hours

Before starting the course, the students are expected to do several days of self-study to read the prescribed reading and write a 3–4-page annotated bibliography or ‘reflection document’ on the readings and how these (potentially) relate to their own research. In the week of the course, we will have lectures, group-work, a field trip and discussions (3-7 April 2023).

(A detailed programme including readings will be communicated later)

Teaching methods

The course offers combination of different educational activities:

i)  Lectures to introduce and explain new dynamics and theoretical approaches

ii) Self-study to further develop the understanding of the new dynamics and theoretical approaches discussed.

iii) Assignments that address contestations regarding the new dynamics and theoretical approaches and apply these to the student’s own research

iv) Plenary discussions of literature and assignments.

v) Presentations by participants

Course fee

^{NB: for some courses, PhD candidates from other WUR graduate schools with a TSP are also entitled to a reduced fee. Please consult your Education/PhD Programme Coordinator for more information}

Cancellation conditions:

The participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.