Globalization and the Ethics of Sustainability

Catalog description

This course examines the forces of globalization and ethical issues related to the environment and sustainability. The process of globalization (commercial, technological, political, and cultural) has contributed to widening inequality within and among countries. Multinational corporations employ vulnerable people (especially women of color) for cheap labor, exploit local resources, and contribute to environmental degradation. Since the planet has its limitations, attending to the conservation of natural (and limited) resources, climate change, fossil fuel industry, food chain, industrial agriculture, and military industrial complex are at the heart of environmental and ethical issues and sustainability efforts. Using ecofeminism as a theoretical framework, we will engage in these topics. Ecofeminism shows the ways women and marginalized communities both locally and globally are disproportionately affected by environmental destruction and the ways most environmental issues can be traced back to those who hold power in society. The course helps us to embrace better ways of living for a more sustainable world.