This course, which forms part of the shared ‘core courses’ in the major WUPol (Economics – Environment – Politics), introduces into the theoretical foundations of this study branch. It pursues an integrated interdisciplinary approach that helps merging different subject areas and research perspectives in one’s mind and thinking - hence "(Re)thinking economics, environment, and politics".

A key starting point in the conception of this course is that the interdependencies of the three constitutive fields are neglected in conventional course programmes which take a single discipline or several co-existing disciplines as a starting point. In contrast, the aim of this course is to familiarise the students, from the outset, with concepts and approaches that explore economics, environment, and politics in their interrelations, facilitate a comprehensive critique, and provide adequate responses to the complexity of this subject matter. 

The course shares its interdisciplinary orientation and its focus on working with scientific texts relevant to this major with the "Research Lab Economics – Environment – Politics". It links with “Empirical Research Methods I + II” in learning about different research perspectives and their respective potential and limits as forms of knowledge production.

The specialisations of this major build on the shared theoretical foundations provided in this course and give further orientation for investigations in the selected fields.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• describe the shared theoretical foundations of the major “economics - environment – politics”, elaborate on interrelations between the different fields, and provide an integrated theoretical account and understanding;
• recognise and distinguish between different positions and traditions in the philosophy and sociology of science, and critically reflect on the role of science in society and on the role of values in scholarship;
• identify key ideas and influences in the history of economic and political thought, recognise and retrace them in current debates, and apply them to contemporary questions and challenges of sustainable development;
• question existing concepts of nature and the environment in the social sciences and comprehensively describe society-nature relationships including their biophysical and institutional dimensions;
• distinguish between different basic theoretical positions and paradigms in the social sciences, systematically compare them with the help of an analytical grid, and assess their respective capacities for studying problems relevant to this major;
• describe various schools of economic thought in their basic assumptions, their respective potentials of knowledge production, and their political/practical implications, and elaborate on the specific features of economics understood as an ecologically oriented social-science discipline;
• analyze the functioning and development paths of modern economic systems in relation to society and the environment, identify specific problem areas, and discuss possibilities for a socio-ecological transformation;
• define and apply fundamental concepts and dimensions of political and political-economic analysis and use these to describe contemporary challenges regarding democratic development and economic, environmental and social policies;
• highlight the specific features of political systems in which governance takes place on different levels and involves different kinds fo actors, identify problem areas in existing political constitutions, and illustrate these in particular policy areas;
• discuss existing positions, policies and practices relevant to the contemporary challenges that societies are facing in the light of ethical principles, and reflect on their own roles as (future) experts in these fields.

Attendance is not supervised in terms of a strict policy of attendance; however, it is expected that various performance components will be completed over the semester, which presumes regular attendance and continuous contributions to class. These continuous performance components count towards the final grade and will be complemented by a final exam to be held at the end of the semester. While the course can also be passed with reduced attendance, regular attendance is required in order to achieve a good or very good result. Only in well explained and documented cases of absences or missed performance components (e.g. by medical certificate), teachers may offer compensatory assignments. 

This course has the form of a ‘lecture with integrated exercises’ (VUE), which takes place on two (consecutive) days in the teaching weeks of the term period. Tuesday sessions are held in a larger group, as lectures with interactive elements. On Wednesdays, in two different time slots, separate exercise classes take place in smaller groups (ideally at most 30 participants), in which the lecture contents are further developed, applied and expanded. These classes are supervised and assessed by different teachers; therefore, switching between exercise groups within the semester is not possible.

In the winter semester of 2024/25, there will be two different exercise classes. In the first group (Wednesdays 8:30-10:30 am), English will be the language of instruction. This will be supervised by an international professor who will start at WU in the winter semester. In the second exercise class (Wednesdays 11am-1 pm), which will be supervised by Mag. Mirijam Mock, German will be the language of instruction, although in both exercises and in the lecture, readings and other teaching materials will largely be in English.

Learning activities include continuous reading of the course literature, participation in the discussion, exercises and assignments within and outside class, in individual and/or team work. The required performance components may differ in the different exercise classes. At the end of the semester, there is a uniform final exam for the entire course, in which the focus is on individual learning achievements. CANVAS is used as far as possible for the assignments and submission of performance components as well as for the gradebook of this course.

This course includes various performance components, which count towards the final grade according to the following weighting scheme:

• Quizzes or other reading and learning tests in the lecture units: 20%
• Optional: special contributions to the discussion within lecture units: max. 5% (bonus points)
• Specific learning activities in the separately held exercise classes: 50%
• Joint final exam for the course as a whole (closed questions): 30%

The completion of the different performance components is generally in the responsibility of the students. This means, on the one hand, that it is possible to pass the course even if individual performance components are skipped (assessed with zero points) if the performance components and assessment points collected overall are sufficient to reach the minimum threshold. On the other hand, this means that the teachers will only offer compensatory assignments or a resit exam upon request in well-founded cases (valid excuse for absence or failure to meet a deadline).

The final exam only takes place on a single date and there is no possibility of taking the exam a second time to improve one’s result. Students who are unable to take the exam due to illness or for other compelling reasons are required to inform the main course instructor of their absence as soon as possible and to document the reason. Only then an alternative option to sit the exam may be offered. In all other cases, the result of the exam counts towards the final grade, with no minimum score being required for the exam as a single performance component to count towards the final grade.

For passing the course as a whole, the total score across all performance components is the sole criterion.

The grading scale is defined as follows:

≥ 90% very good (1)

≥ 80% good (2)

≥ 70% satisfactory (3)

≥ 60% sufficient (4)

< 60% fail (5)

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.