This course teaches state-of the art research within the field environment, society, and development with a specific focus on understanding theoretical approaches to development geography and coupled human-environment systems in the Global South. The course provides the theoretical and historical foundations for understanding contemporary sustainability agendas, including approaches to sustainable development.

The content of the course is organized in two themes:

Theme one on development geography focuses on two topics: 1) Urbanization, modernization and development that have been entwined concepts of development studies and development geography, since the early days of these scholarships. Seminars will outline and discuss how contemporary urban scholars are theorizing and exploring urbanization in the global south. 2) The so-called ‘Agrarian Question’ that deals with the socio-economic differentiation of the peasantry and the emergence of capitalist farmers and rural workers. For decades, it has been a key issue in development studies to examine barriers and drivers for these processes. The seminars will discuss the concept and elaborate its use and alternative approaches.

Theme two focuses on the dynamics of coupled human–environmental systems and the multiple conceptual models that have been proposed to understand this complex relationship. These include cultural, human and political ecology, land use intensification, land system science, sustainability science, resilience and vulnerability approaches. All of these have attempted to include environmental and social factors and feedbacks at different levels of spatial and temporal scales as well as identifying driving forces of change. The seminars will discuss approaches that relate to interactions between the human and environmental spheres.