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Making Democracy Fit for Climate

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Making Democracy Fit for Climate

Included with

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
1 week to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
1 week to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

There are 6 modules in this course

Climate change has been high on the political agenda for years, yet greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Globally, communities are already experiencing the consequences of the crisis in various ways: from increases in extreme weather and changes to ecosystems to rising sea levels and depleting natural resources.

Despite the clear consequences of climate change, political action has so far proven inadequate at addressing the crisis. Democratic countries are no exception in this regard, which raises questions about the democratic system's ability to deliver the policies and actions needed to address climate change. The goal of this course is to zoom in on the relationship between democracy and climate change action. Do democratic systems have the capacity to deal with a threat like the climate crisis? If so, what will this require in terms of innovating democracy as a political system? During the course, you will meet researchers and experts from the University of Copenhagen who specialise in various areas relevant to this course. This includes scholars working on political and democratic theory, climate and environmental science, authoritarianism, international politics, and non-state actors. Furthermore, you will be presented with interviews from real-world actors who have engaged in the climate debate in various ways. We hope you will join this course to equip yourself with the knowledge needed to take part in the ongoing discussions related to climate change and the role of democracies in addressing its many challenges.

The purpose of this module is to introduce the fundamentals of democracy and climate change. The module provides an overview of the main justifications for why democracy is the most preferred mode of government, and juxtaposes these justifications with the challenges that climate change poses to democracy. The module concludes by outlining how and why democratic innovations might be needed.

What's included

5 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

5 videosTotal 39 minutes
  • Introduction: Climate Change and Democracy - A Perfect Storm?3 minutes
  • Lecture 1: The Experience of Deadlock10 minutes
  • Interview with Kathrine Richardson - Tipping Points and Drivers of Climate Change9 minutes
  • Interview with Christian Rostbøll: Characteristics and Development of Democracy 8 minutes
  • Lecture 2 - Reimagining Democracy8 minutes
2 readingsTotal 55 minutes
  • Climate Change 2023, Synthesis Report 35 minutes
  • Climates of Democracy: Skeptical, Rational, and Radical Imaginaries20 minutes
1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes
  • Climate Change and Democracy 30 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes
  • Climate Change and Democratic Imaginaries15 minutes

The purpose of this module is to analyse when, how, and why democracies are failing to address climate change with sufficient action. The module provides an overview of the main causes of inaction, with a focus on lobbyism, policy-inertia, and lack of attention to nonhuman forces. The module concludes by outlining how and why democracy, regardless of the current stalemate, has the potential for reform.

What's included

5 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

5 videosTotal 41 minutes
  • Introduction - When, How and Why Is Democracy Failing Us?4 minutes
  • Lecture 1 - Why Democracy Has Become Unfit for Democracy10 minutes
  • Interview with Wiebke Junk - The Power of Lobbying12 minutes
  • Interview with Mads Ejsing - Democracy and Its Human-Centered Limitations10 minutes
  • Lecture 2 - Democracy’s Potential to Reform6 minutes
2 readingsTotal 40 minutes
  • Climate Politics, Metaphors, and the Fractal Carbon Track 15 minutes
  • Exploring the Democracy-Climate Nexus25 minutes
1 assignmentTotal 27 minutes
  • When, How and Why Is Democracy Failing Us?27 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes
  • Climate Change and the Power of Lobbyism15 minutes

The purpose of this module is to explore how and why some actors see climate change as a reason to replace democracy with eco-authoritarianism. The module provides an overview of the history of authoritarianism and offers an in-depth account of how this history informs contemporary eco-authoritarianism in Europe and elsewhere. The module concludes with a discussion of why eco-authoritarianism, regardless of its intuitive appeal, fails to address the challenges of climate change.

What's included

4 videos3 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 41 minutes
  • Introduction and Lecture 1 - The Allure of Authoritarianism4 minutes
  • Interview with Kristina Pedersen - Authoritarian Regimes and Climate Change14 minutes
  • Field Report - Interview with Julien Langella on His Case for Eco-Authoritarianism10 minutes
  • Lecture 2 - Is Eco-Authoritarianism a Credible Alternative?12 minutes
3 readingsTotal 32 minutes
  • Political Legitimacy, Authoritarianism, and Climate Change 20 minutes
  • The Mystery of China’s Glorious Green Dreams 7 minutes
  • Can China's Eco-Authoritarianism Lead Global Climate Action?5 minutes
1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes
  • The Allure of Authoritarianism - A Credible Alternative?30 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes
  • Climate Change and the Rise of Authoritarianism10 minutes

The purpose of this module is to examine the actions that the international political system has taken to address climate change. The module focuses on institutional reforms by the United Nations and the European Union, and discusses how these reforms affect relations between the global north and the global south. The module concludes with a discussion of how and why institutional reforms from above require democratic innovations from below.

What's included

4 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 49 minutes
  • Introduction and Lecture 1 - Democracy and the International Political System11 minutes
  • Interview with Olaf Corry - The UN Conference of Parties (COP)9 minutes
  • Interview with Ana Soares - The EU Green Deal14 minutes
  • Lecture 2 - Advantages and Limitations of the International Political System15 minutes
2 readingsTotal 25 minutes
  • The Successes and Failures of COP2810 minutes
  • The Institutionalisation of Climate Change in Global Politics 15 minutes
1 assignmentTotal 33 minutes
  • Democracy and the International Political System33 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 20 minutes
  • Climate Change, Indigenous Communities, and International Collaboration20 minutes

The purpose of this module is to analyse how democratic innovations from below enhance the fight against climate change at both local and global scales. The module focuses on climate citizens' assemblies, climate activism, civil disobedience, green neighborhoods, and other non-state actors, and introduces the politics of swarming as an umbrella-term for these innovations. The module concludes with a discussion of how and why a renewal of democracy must take many forms to address climate change.

What's included

8 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

8 videosTotal 94 minutes
  • Introduction - Democracy, Non-State Actors and Civil Society7 minutes
  • Lecture 1 - Climate Citizens' Assemblies in the Green Transition14 minutes
  • Field report - Participant Experiences from the French Citizens' Convention on Climate14 minutes
  • Field report - Participant Experiences from Climate Citizens’ Assembly in Greve13 minutes
  • Lecture 2 - Grassroots and Non-State Actors17 minutes
  • Interview with Michele Betsill - The Role of Non-State Actors in the Green Transition12 minutes
  • Lecture 3 - Innovations for Making Democracy Fit for Climate4 minutes
  • [Non-Mandatory] Field Report: Interview with Organiser of the French Citizens' Convention on Climate13 minutes
2 readingsTotal 16 minutes
  • What Is a Climate Assembly?10 minutes
  • The Crisis of Democracy and the Science of Deliberation 6 minutes
1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes
  • Democracy, Non-State Actors and Civil Society30 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes
  • Democratic Innovations in a Green Transition15 minutes

The purpose of this module is to introduce the concept of a "more-than-human democracy" as a way to overcome the limits of contemporary climate politics. The module focuses on the entanglements of human and non-human forces and shows how these entanglements inspire new forms of democratic innovations ranging from artistic performances to the extension of rights to rivers and other ecosystems. The module also includes a discussion of why purely technological solutions are insufficient and why this should lead us to an ecological perspective on democracy. Finally, the module provides a brief overview of the previous five modules and concludes by emphasising that making democracy fit for climate will require new understandings of participation, representation, the relationship between humans and non-humans, and the distribution of authority across both local, national and transnational borders.

What's included

5 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

5 videosTotal 59 minutes
  • Introduction and Lecture 1 - The idea of a More-than-Human Democracy15 minutes
  • Interviews with Michele Betsill & Olaf Corry - Issues and Pitfalls Related to Nature-Based Solutions and Geoengineering16 minutes
  • Interview with Mads Ejsing - Considerations in Integrating the More-than-Human 13 minutes
  • Field Report - Participant Experience from a More-than-Human Workshop8 minutes
  • Lecture 2 - Making Democracy Fit for Climate7 minutes
2 readingsTotal 50 minutes
  • Approaching the Edge: Towards a New Materialist Theory of Democracy for the Anthropocene25 minutes
  • Ecological Democracy and the Rise and Decline of Liberal Democracy25 minutes
1 assignmentTotal 27 minutes
  • Democracy and the Non-Human27 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes
  • More-than-Human Democracy?15 minutes

Instructor

University of Copenhagen
1 Course449 learners

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