The U.S. climate movement has addressed climate change mostly as an environmental issue. But in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, a growing movement is framing climate change as an issue of social justice, because its greatest impacts fall on the poor and vulnerable. After providing a basic introduction to climate change and climate policy, the course will explore the climate justice movement, focusing on the following questions:
* How does the climate justice movement relate to the climate movement and the environmental justice movement?
* What does the climate justice movement mean by “justice”? What concept(s) of justice are they using?
* What do movement activists think is wrong with current approaches to climate policy? What policies do they support?
* What does climate justice look like in practice?
This course is interdisciplinary and will draw on literature in social science and political philosophy. Students will improve their understanding of social movements, gain a critical perspective on different approaches to climate policy, and increase their ability to use different concepts of justice. Assessment will include both individual and group work, consisting of papers and presentations.