Course information

As part of the Master Transitions écologiques at Université Paris 1, this class offers a general
introduction to the problem of climate change from the perspectives of science, politics, economics,
history, technology and international relations. Combining lectures with in-class discussions, it
begins by examining the scientific framework of the Anthropocene introduced at the beginning of the
twenty-first century by geologists and Earth system scientists, before turning to its intellectual
ramifications within the nascent field of environmental humanities. How does the Anthropocene
challenge the modern “Great Divide” between natural and human history? From this starting point,
the seminar explores the major challenges posed by climate change to contemporary societies
through an interdisciplinary approach. Moving from Earth system science and its focus on planetary
stocks, flows and boundaries to the technological solutions proposed by climate engineering, we will
examine the social, political, economic, and geopolitical foundations of technocratic projects aimed
at a "global, sustainable, environmental management” of the Earth (Paul Crutzen).
Through major contributions from a range of disciplines, the course develops a totalizing perspective
on the climate crisis. It moves from environmental economics and its emphasis on markets and price
signals to the political science of the green state and industrial policy; from the political economy of
fossil capital and class conflict to the international relations of green capitalism; and, finally, to the
risky technological fixes of geoengineering and the emerging politics of adaptation through which
political and economic elites seek to respond to an escalating ecological crisis.