ENSP 351 - Capitalism, Poverty and Environmental Justice

Credits: (4)
College Curriculum: COLL 350
Karl Marx observes that, “… in the end, Capitalism will destroy both Labor and Nature.” Affirmed by our experience, we may still wonder if it is true - that our presumptive means of economic life, the source of our wealth and values, our prosperity, and the one historic economic system that has raised standards of living globally, is in the end the engine that is eroding our freedom, impoverishing millions and destroying our planet, threatening our very existence. We are inclined to view the triad of capitalism, poverty and nature as “natural law” or “facts of nature” that we cannot transcend. We fail to recognize that together they constitute a world imbricated by and subject to human action where we hold the power of change. First comes understanding.

In this course we examine the systemic interrelationships of Capitalism, Poverty and Environment that produce emergent properties (templates) predicating the negative outcomes we observe as the selective degradation of peoples. From this foundation we can address questions of policy and law that amplify first order conditions and lead to systemic environmental injustice in the areas of education, health care, housing, and exposure to catastrophic environmental events.

Student case studies will explore these areas.