Political Ecology

 

Political ecology investigates topics at the intersection of physical-material and social processes. As such, research in this field focuses on causes, consequences and political negotiations of global environmental change, as well as environmental conflicts at the local level.

 

Within the framework of political ecology, Freiburg's geography department focuses on a variety of topics, including development-related issues as well as conflicts over resource exploitation and questions of sustainable urban development. From the standpoint of political ecology, two perspectives are central to the study of these themes: firstly, environmental politics and conflicts are understood as expressions of social negotiation processes and power relations. Such a perspective draws attention to issues of social participation in resource allocation and the inclusion or exclusion of different social groups in environmental decision-making. Secondly, environmental planning, policies and conflicts are interpreted as the interplay of processes that take place across multiple scales, thus expressing concrete manifestations of Global Change processes.