WRM-33806 Gender and Natural Resources Management

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

WRM-34806 Irrigation and Development.

Continuation courses:

WRM-Thesis.

Contents:

Feminism perhaps is the most misunderstood term in our times. It is often related with turning women against men. It may not be uncommon to find men refusing to be called feminist because they fear acknowledging so will compromise their masculinity. And women on the other hand worry that being called a feminist may be interpreted as a man-hater. What is feminism exactly? Simply put, feminism is about the relationship between two genders and a movement to end gender-based and other forms of oppression and discrimination. It is as much about women as about men. The course will introduce the key ideas on feminist studies and then relate them to natural resource management. The main aim of the course is to engage with feminist environmental philosophy (also referred to as feminist political ecology).

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- explain why feminist questions are relevant to environmental and natural resource management issues;
- understand what is feminism(s);
- understand how and why gender relations relate to domination and exploitation of nature;
- understand if women have distinct knowledge of their environment;
- understand how failure to see the activities that women engage with makes them invisible as users and managers of natural resources;
- learn to use concepts, methods and tools for analysing gendered implications of natural resource and environmental development interventions;
- learn how current approaches to natural resource development, especially water governance and management ignore or make implicit assumptions relating to contextual, complex social relations of inequality;
- use approaches and frameworks for gender sensitive natural resources management and environmental planning processes.

Activities:

The course consists of:
- plenary sessions and (guest) lectures;
- literature study;
- group discussions and presentations;
- written assignments, including an essay.

Examination:

Students are examined on the basis of the written assignments (final essay) and group presentations (3).

Literature:

A course reader is provided before the course.