Economy and Sustainability
MESS36, 7.5 credits
The Economy course reviews briefly the historical experience of modern economic growth and its consequences of environmental degradation, e.g., resource depletion, climate change.
Departing from the mainstream theories of economic growth, the course also addresses the problems of developing countries and the significance of economic growth and development for alleviating poverty and promoting human well-being.
The course, furthermore, introduces a number of different perspectives on Sustainable Development (SD), mainly Weak Sustainability, Strong Sustainability, and the Human Development approach. SD is NOT assumed as the prescription for a problem-free model of economy; rather, it is taken as a formulation of the problematic clash of economic growth and environmental concerns.
Accordingly, the course concentrates on how, in each of the aforementioned SD perspectives, the tension between the imperative of economic growth and environmental and social sustainability is handled.
Literature list, established 2021-12-09 (PDF 337 kB)
Note: From the spring of 2023, this course will be replaced by MESS24 Economy and Sustainability, 7.5 credits.
I never thought I'd say this but I very much enjoyed the literature! I have never before been so carried away with my course literature that it keeps me up at 1.30 am.
Student, Batch 23