Sociology of Climate Change
Princeton University
Sociology
2023
Benjamin H. Bradlow
Undergraduate seminar
The course begins by considering the social basis for the production and distribution of carbon emissions. Which people, companies, and countries are responsible? On whom do the effects fall? We then examine the institutions that try to govern the production of carbon emissions. These exist at different scales — global bodies, nations, and cities. And we investigate who is trying to change these institutions, with a particular focus on different types of social movements, governments, and private firms. We consider how these actors are both similar and different across rich and poor countries. Since the age of the Anthropocene has been accompanied by the mass migration of humans to cities, we look at the role of urban sociology and politics in shaping carbon emissions. And finally, we debate recent proposed solutions that rely on many of the analyses and evidence that we have studied earlier in the course.