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74556-01 - Colloquium: Climate Justice: Basel in the World (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Janina Grabs (janina.grabs@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course will introduce students to the concept of climate justice, progressing from fundamental theory via global practices to perspectives firmly rooted in experiences local to Basel. The lecture series is divided into four thematic blocks, which will guide the students as we bring the abstract concept down to practical ground. They will be structured as follows: 1. Current Debates This opening roundtable will bring together active voices from ongoing struggles around climate justice. Students will be exposed to multiple current debates, and after being thrown in at the deep end, they will have heard various and conflicting perspectives of how different actors employ climate justice, both intellectually and practically. They will also have gained an understanding of the current relevance(s) of the topic. From here, the next three blocks will contextualize this rich experience. 2. Grasping Theory What are the historic origins of climate justice, and how has it developed over time? How has it been interpreted and applied by different disciplines? What are its intellectual friends and neighbours, and where has it encountered resistance or pushback? Students will learn of the overall framing of climate justice and the many ways it can be understood, and they will be able to extend the theory to new situations they might encounter. 3. Global Practices Looking at supply chains, students will learn about how a single product ties together far corners of the world through design, material extraction, production, delivery, use, and disposing. The various positive and negative impacts on a multitude of communities will be examined, and the framework of climate justice will be brought to bear upon this challenge. What can it offer various actors along the supply chain, how do local communities around the world try to protect themselves using it, and what are resistance do they encounter? 4. Climate Justice in Basel To round off the series, we will consider what the implications of a climate justice framework are for our local context in Basel. Students will hear from voices who employ the concept in our backyard, as well as those who can conceptually link global challenges to local actions. Ideas of global justice and ethics in the climate crisis will be brought into conversation with local politics as well as the University of Basel’s Strategy for Climate Responsibility. |
| Learning objectives | Students will have traversed the territory of climate justice from the planetary to the hyper-local, and from the theoretical to the intensely practical. They will have developed a broad and multi-facetted understanding of the climate justice framework and what it means to the various actors who engage with it. Students will have been exposed to a multitude of current debates, they will have a good grasp of the theory and development of the term, what it looks like in practice in the Global South, as well as on their doorstep in Basel. They will be able to assess claims made around climate justice as they encounter them in their academic and everyday lives, and they will be able to utilize the framework to better analyze and understand complex situations arising from the politics of the climate crisis. |
| Bibliography | Tba. |
| Comments | Please note entry requirements, for details in section "Admission requirements" (Teilnahmevoraussetzungen). MSD 2017 Students can decide themselves whether to acredtit this class for the published module ("Core competences" of chosen focus area) or for the "Focal Areas in Sustainability Research" module (with learning agreement). This course is offered by the MSD. Prof. Dr. Janina Grabs is head of the Sustainability Research Group, Dep. of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and member of the teaching committee MSD. Several students are involved in the organization of this colloquium. |
| Admission requirements | Access for master's & PhD students only. NO bachelor's students accepted!!! |
| Course application | Access for master's & PhD students only. NO bachelor's students accepted!!! Course enrollment on online services should be completed by the beginning of the teaching period (withdrawal possible until Monday of teaching week five). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 18.02.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 25.02.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 04.03.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 11.03.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Fasnachstferien |
| Tuesday 18.03.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 25.03.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 01.04.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 08.04.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 15.04.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 22.04.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 29.04.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 06.05.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 13.05.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 20.05.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Tuesday 27.05.2025 | 16.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 117 |
| Modules |
Doktorat Philosophie: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Philosophy) Doktorat Urban Studies: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Urban Studies) Modul: Erweiterung Gesellschaftswissenschaften M.A. (Master's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Praktische Philosophie (Master's degree subject: Philosophy) Module: Changing Societies Lab (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Module: Core Competences in Economics (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Module: Core Competences in Natural Sciences (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Module: Core Competences in Social Sciences (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) Specialization Module Global Europe: Environment and Sustainability (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Compulsory attendance in presence, required readings, oral presentation, essay. Details according to information of J. Grabs. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration, dereg: cancel course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | University of Basel |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Nachhaltigkeitsforschung |