| Course title | Commodifying of nature: Capitalism, Socialism and beyond |
|---|---|
| Course code | DAS/KPKS |
| Organizational form of instruction | Seminary |
| Level of course | Bachelor |
| Year of study | not specified |
| Semester | Winter and summer |
| Number of ECTS credits | 4 |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Status of course | Compulsory-optional |
| Form of instruction | Face-to-face |
| Work placements | This is not an internship |
| Recommended optional programme components | None |
| Course availability | The course is available to visiting students |
| Lecturer(s) |
|---|
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| Course content |
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1. Commodification of Nature and Global Climate Change: An Insoluble Dilemma? 2. Colonialism and Commodification of Nature: What Do They Have in Common? 3. Commodification of Nature under Capitalism: a new system of knowledge production. 4. Commodification of Nature under Socialism: an Oxymoron? 5. Cash Crops: Knowledge Circulation, Introduction and Production (the case of soybeans). 6. Commodification of Nature in Inner Asia (3 case-studies: felt; Siberian forests; Mongolian wild plants). 7. Comparing approaches to nature management in Europe and Asia in different institutional settings. 8. "Path dependence" & extraction, production, and exchange of natural resources.
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| Learning activities and teaching methods |
| unspecified |
| Learning outcomes |
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Natural wealth - oil, bananas, cotton, soybeans, or furs - as commodities have determined our view of global economic connections and capital movements. Such an understanding of nature is a legacy of colonialism and other political control and domination systems, but it still shapes the present-day economic worldview and contributes to the climate crisis. In this course, drawing on examples from different cultural contexts, we will try to compare different colonial as well as socialist, and capitalist approaches to producing, extracting, and exchanging natural resources. In particular, we will discuss how studies of climate, plants, land, natural deposits or local agrarian conditions were used to build an orderly large-scale production and how these production systems strengthened domination. Besides, we will discuss how "path dependence" influences current extraction, production, and climate policies. The first part of the course will critically read foundational texts to build our own "dictionary", which combines approaches of ecological economics, environmental and economic history/anthropology, and botany. The second part of the course will involve intensive engagement with research projects done by Asian Department scholars on the issue of processes of nature commodification in Asia. We will also design and discuss course participants' projects. The course will culminate in students' presentations and contributions to a web-based archive of performed projects.
Ability to approach environmental issues from multiple perspectives; Critical reading and evaluation of projects; Presenting coherent, well-supported arguments; Research project design; Data collection and analysis, including working with visual and other unstructured data; General IT skills, including working with websites/blog software |
| Prerequisites |
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Although we expect students projects to be simplified (e.g. it could be "just" an analysis of a film such as "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets"), we suggest that participants have some training in conducting independent social research. Knowing how to ask a research question or how to do archival or ethnographic studies will help you successfully finish this course. However, if you are ready for a challenge or dream of a research career, sign and come, and we will teach you the "research craft" or even include you in our projects.
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| Assessment methods and criteria |
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unspecified
Active participation, attendance, fulfilling assignments, final project (should be done by a group of up to 3 students, with a final paper of up to 8 pages, containing elements of archival/field/other types of empirical research). |
| Recommended literature |
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| Study plans that include the course |
| Faculty | Study plan (Version) | Category of Branch/Specialization | Recommended semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Indonesian Studies (2022) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Vietnamese Philology (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Indonesian Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Vietnamese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean for Business (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Indonesian Studies for Tourism (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean Studies (2022) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Vietnamese Philology (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Korean Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Japanese Philology (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Chinese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean for Business (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Japanese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |