Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 1 session / week, 2 hours / session

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

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 Political Science major and minor. Graduate students are expected to explore the subject in greater depth through reading and individual research (17.182).

Required Books

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

Buy at Amazon Stavins, Robert N. Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings. 5th ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, 2005. ISBN: 9780393927016.

Buy at Amazon 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 (This website will open in a new window.)

Calendar

WEEK # TOPICS
Part I. Content and context
1 Introduction: debates, definitions and dilemmas
2 Evolving conceptions - causes and consequences
3 Sustainability as a 'Knowledge Domain'
4 New thinking and the knowledge economy
Part II. Actors, processes and institutions
5 Critical drivers, social mechanisms and cognitive factors
6 Economic performance - production and consumption
7 Firms and markets - corporate perspectives
8 From sustainability 'Problems' to 'Solution' strategies
9 Regulatory and policy contexts
Part III. Strategic approaches to sustainability
10 New international institutional contexts
11 International trade and intellectual property rights
12 Global accord - next rounds