3 - Understanding the State of the Environment Today: Perspectives from Humanities & Social Sciences

Explain the main point of Dr. Farhana Sultana’s article Whose growth in whose planetary boundaries?

What is the Anthropocene and who created the term?

What is the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG)? When was it established and what is its goal?

Explain the main point Longboat and Gemeund (2026) convey in their article.

What are the other 5 conceptualisations used to describe climate change?

What does Dr. Sultana argue for in regards to ‘decolonising’ planetary justice?

Explain with an example how understanding per capita consumption is important when trying to understand a countries carbon dioxide emissions.

Define externality and its connection to the Global South.

Explain what Dr. Sultana thinks the role of capital elites plays on the

What actions are those in the global north actively participating in, and do they feel that they have control over it?

Explain an example of capitalist elites causing disproportionate harm onto the environment and marginalised communities.

BP oil created the term ‘carbon footprint’ to direct attention away from their actions, and place greater blame on consumers.

Define greenwashing. What is an example of this in a company?

Explain the history of Papal Bulls.

Explain a main portrait of the 1400s.

Explain the history behind Columbus’ explorations.

Explain how the Papal Bull:Inter Caetera (1493) played a role in the exploitation of people’s rights and land ownership.

What occurred from the 1500-1600s?

Colonialism.

This was used as a means of maintaining and attaining power.

Define Mercantilism.

Explain how mercantilism in the 1500-1700s eventually led to the rise of plantation economies and cash crops.

According to Vandana Shiva, what are the 3 economies? State and define each.

According to Dr. Shiva, what caused the rise of global markets/capitalism?

Explain what occurred during the enlightenment period, and the era of the enlightenment period.

Who gave rise to the idea of a ‘scientific basis’ for racial discrimination?

When was the era of the industrial revolution, and what occurred during that time?

What year is used as the baseline year for many Earth system and socio-economic trends? Explain why.

Define anthropocentric worldview.

A human-centered perspective that places human beings at the center of moral significance, value, and reality.

Who mainly holds an anthropocentric worldview, and what is the basis of the worldview?

Define an ecocentric worldview.

An environmental philosophy that assigns inherent value to all living and non-living components of the natural world, regardless of their utility to humans.

Which cultures mainly align with an ecocentric worldview, and what connects to these worldviews?

What is the key element of an ecocentric worldview?

Explain Dr. Shiva’s view on progress vs. sustainability.

What are the main points Emily MacCallum posited about environmental humanities?

1. It is a way to reflect on common humanity and responsibilities to each other

2. It is a way to bring our environmental concerns into diverse fields

3. It is a way to instigate systemic change

According to guest speaker Emily MacCallum, what model does the IPCC use to try and instigate change?

Information Deficit Model

A method in which you provide people with information in order to push them to act.

Explain the concept of Green Growth.

Explain the concept of a Rebound Effect.

What are the 8 principles of the Doughnut Theory?

What are the 3 ways that we measure well-being?

Check if you understand the main themes of the lecture.