300459 Global Governance and Social-Ecological Transformation (S) (WiSe 2024/2025)

The world is shaped by intersecting ecological and social crises. The transgression of planetary boundaries, which is rooted in decades of exploiting nature to primarily generate prosperity in the Global North, has also had severe social consequences. Economic growth, which for decades has been correlated with greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption, does not necessarily “trickle down” to benefit lower-income groups. Climate change and biodiversity crises pose fundamental challenges to human health, such as respiratory diseases or the emergence and territorial spread of infectious diseases. Given the global impact of these phenomena, many international organisations are addressing the tension between environmental and social policies. This seminar focuses on adopting, understanding, and reflecting on global perspectives of different understandings of sustainability disseminated by international organisations.

After attending the seminar, students will be able to:

• Understand different theoretical frameworks for explaining global and international politics.
• Identify different concepts of sustainability, such as Green Growth or Post-Growth.
• Categorise specific policy proposals and documents from policy actors, with a focus on
international organisations.
• Relate and critically reflect on their own practices in the context of global sustainability and
justice.
• Formulate research questions on sustainability discourses in international organisations, identify empirical sources, and study them.