Course Catalogue

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This interdisciplinary and conceptually innovative course introduces students to the emerging field of the political ecology of law, which explores the entanglement of legal systems, ecological processes, and political power. Combining law and political ecology, defined as the study of ecological distribution conflicts, the course asks the law's role in determining whose claims, uses, and perceptions of environments and resources prevail, and why.

Instead of viewing law as a set of abstract norms, we examine law as a socio-ecological force that structures access and management of various kinds of materials, while also being susceptible to ecological and physical outcomes. Students will explore the ways legal frameworks mediate "who is allowed to do what, where, and with what consequences," and the ways ecological struggles, in turn, reshape law. The course adopts a dual methodological stance. First, law is political, both a mediator and a site of contestation. Second, law is ecological, embedded in and shaped by environmental realities. Through case studies and critical scholarship, students gain tools to analyse legal phenomena through the lenses of power, environment, and justice.

More specifically, in each seminar, we trace the genealogy and transformations of legal construction and regulation of a crucial matter to show the dynamic interplay between power and nature in the making of legal regimes. This arrangement allows the integration of the edge-breaking research of our academic staff to UG education and the provision of a holistic perspective to the students.

This 10 x 2 hour seminars.

LLB students (Scots Law and Common Law) and visiting students.

None.

None.

The summative assessment consists of a mid-term report (30%) and an end-of-semester research essay of 3,000 words (70% of overall grade).

Assessment 1: Mid-term Report (30% 1000 words)

To complete the report, students shall choose an event and analyse it through the lens of Political Ecology of Law in up to 1000 words.

Assessment 2: Research Essay (70%; 3000 words)

For the final research essay, students shall choose among the questions assigned after each seminar and write a paper of 3000 words.

It is the default expectation that all courses will offer opportunities for reassessment or deferred assessment. Where it is not possible to offer this in some assessment components, the grade achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade, and any exceptions for this course are described below.

[No exceptions]

The course aims to give students a structured understanding of the political ecology of law by examining how legal systems organise and regulate core societal matters such as primary sources, energy, labour, money, life, and food. It seeks to develop the analytical capacity to interpret legal arrangements within these domains as expressions of political authority, economic ordering, and material dependencies. The course further aims to equip students with the tools to trace how legal decisions shape access, value, and responsibility across different social groups, and to recognise the forms of contestation that arise around these foundational matters. Finally, it encourages students to draw on interdisciplinary perspectives to evaluate the broader implications of legal governance and to approach contemporary legal issues with a critical, socio-material sensitivity. This course equips students with critical tools to understand the role of law in shaping socio-ecological realities, preparing them for advanced legal study and careers addressing complex global challenges in both private and public sectors.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■  Analyse how political ecology concepts illuminate legal arrangements governing foundational societal and ecological matters.

■ Identify key legal rules, institutions, and governance structures that shape access, control, and value within these domains.

■ Assess how legal decisions distribute rights, obligations, risks, and benefits across economic, social, and territorial contexts.

■ Compare the content and effectiveness of legal responses to conflicts surrounding resources, work, finance, social reproduction, and subsistence across multiple jurisdictions.

■ Critically evaluate legal texts, policy documents, empirical evidence, and interdisciplinary scholarship concerning political and material dimensions of law.