Courses:

Sustainable Development: Theory, Research and Policy >> Content Detail



Syllabus



Syllabus

Amazon logo When you click the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book (or other media) from Amazon.com, MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of this purchase and any other purchases you make during that visit. This will not increase the cost of your purchase. Links provided are to the US Amazon site, but you can also support OCW through Amazon sites in other regions. Learn more.


Overview


This course examines alternative conceptions and theoretical underpinnings of the notion of "sustainable development." It focuses on the sustainability problems of industrial countries (i.e., aging of populations, sustainable consumption, institutional adjustments, etc.); and of developing states and economies in transition (i.e., managing growth, sustainability of production patterns, pressures of population change, etc.). It also explores the sociology of knowledge around sustainability, the economic and technological dimensions and institutional imperatives along with implications for political constitution of economic performance.

17.181 fulfills the undergraduate public policy requirement in the major and minor. Graduate students are expected to explore the subject in greater depth through reading and individual research (17.182).



Required Books


Amazon logo Choucri, Nazli. Global Accord: Environmental Challenges and International Responses. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780262531344.

Amazon logo Becker, Egon, and Thomas Jahn, eds. Sustainability and the Social Sciences: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Integrating Environmental Considerations into Theoretical Reorientation. London, UK: Zed Books, 2000. ISBN: 9781856497084.

Amazon logo Stavins, Robert N. Economics of the Environment. 4th ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. ISBN: 9780393975239.

Amazon logo Tainter, Joseph A. The Collapse of Complex Societies. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780521340922.



Web Site on Sustainable Development


Global System for Sustainable Development



Calendar



WEEK #TOPICS
Part I. Content and Context
1Introduction: Debates, Definitions and Dilemmas
2Evolving Conceptions - Causes and Consequences
3Sustainability as a 'Knowledge Domain'
4New Thinking and the Knowledge Economy
Part II. Actors, Processes and Institutions
5Critical Drivers, Social Mechanisms and Cognitive Factors
6Economic Performance - Production and Consumption
7Firms and Markets - Corporate Perspectives
8From Sustainability 'Problems' to 'Solution' Strategies
9Regulatory and Policy Contexts
Part III. Strategic Approaches to Sustainability
10New International Institutional Contexts
11International Trade and Intellectual Property Rights
12Global Accord - Next Rounds

 








© 2017 Coursepedia.com, by Higher Ed Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.