International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School

Every year since 1991, York University has hosted the International Political Economy and Ecology (IPEE) Summer School organized by the Graduate Programs in Environmental Studies, Geography (Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change) and Politics (Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies). Professor Leo Panitch of the Department of Politics, who passed away in late 2020, was among the founders of the IPEE Summer School, an event that presents a unique interdisciplinary opportunity for graduate students at York – but also for students and activists across Canada and beyond – to investigate a salient issue within the field of political economy and ecology.

Coloniality and the War on Social Reproduction: A Feminist Perspective

Guest Instructor:
Dr. Silvia Federici, Emerita Professor, Hofstra University

Course Director:
Dr. Anna Zalik, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University

The course discusses capitalist development as a process of recolonization that, worldwide, undermines the conditions and possibility of social reproduction. The topics we will study include: the new ‘enclosures’ and their ecological impact, the new forms of warfare and the global debt crisis (international and public debt). We will also discuss how communities are organizing in defense of their lives and territories and the role that grassroot feminist movements are playing in this context.

Dr. Silvia Federici is a feminist activist, teacher and writer. She has written extensively on women's history and feminist theory, political philosophy and education. Her prolific list of books include: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation (now published 20 languages); Beyond the Periphery of the Skin: Rethinking, Remaking, Reclaiming the Body in Contemporary Capitalism (2020); The Patriarchy of the Wage (2019); Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the politics of the Commons (2018); The New York Wages For Housework Committee: History, Theory, Documents. 1972–1977 (2018); Witch-hunting, Witches, and Women (2017) and Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction and Feminist Struggle (2014).

The IPEE Summer School invites applications from graduate students and other interested individuals.

Application procedures for the IPEE Summer School vary, depending on whether or not you intend to take the course for academic credit.

The deadline to apply is March 15, 2025.

Application Procedures

1. Students intending to take the Summer School for academic credit.
The academic credit value for the IPEE Summer School is 3.0 credits.

1.1 Ontario Graduate Students, including York University Graduate Students

Fill out this form 2025 International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School York University
Non-York students must file an Ontario Visiting Graduate Student Application form (available from your home university) and send it to oumajai@yorku.ca.

1.2 Graduate Students from Outside Ontario (Canadian and International)

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Graduate students from outside Ontario should discuss with their own Graduate Program whether they must register for formal credit at York to receive credit at their own university. Should you be admitted to the Summer School, you will need to register for formal credit as a Special student and send both your undergraduate and graduate official transcripts to the Office of Admissions at York University).

2. Students who are not seeking academic credit for the Summer School

Fill out this form 2025 International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School York University
Should you be admitted to the Summer School, you must fill out a registration form which will be provided to you at a later date.
Fees: For all students who are not seeking academic credit the fee for the Summer School is CDN $600 (payable to York University at the time of enrolment).

Admission Procedures

The number of participants in the course will be limited to 30. Places are reserved for York Students from the sponsoring graduate programs in Political Science (LAPS), Geography, and Environmental Studies (EUC), but it does not guarantee admission.

Course Information

The dates of the course are:

April 28 to May 9, 2025 (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. EST time)
Ross South 638 (Verney Room)—to be confirmed

A list of required readings and details of written assignments will be available before the class begins.

For more information, please contact oumajai@yorku.ca.

Year	Guest Speaker(s)	Theme
1991	Eric Helleiner	Global Finance and the Emerging World Order
1992	Robert Boyer	Post-Fordism
1993	Saskia Sassen	Global Cities
1994	Elmar Altvatar	Economy + Ecology
1995	Vandana Shiva	Sustainability in a Turbulent World
1996	Alain Lipietz	The Planner After Fordism: Ecology, Democracy, Internationalism
1997	Hilary Wainwright Diane Elson	After the New Right: New Lefts North and South
1998	Warren Magnusson	Social Movements and the Global City
1999	Mike Davis	The Political Economy of Disaster: From Victorian Famines to Postmodern Apocalypses
2000	Peter Marcuse	Globalizing Cities/Partitioned Worlds
2001	Patrick Bond	Challenging Capitalist Globalizations: Targets, Opportunities, Contradictions
2002	Tony Clarke	Blue Gold: Unpacking the Political Ecology of the Emerging Global Water Crisis
2003	Dick Bryan	Global Capital and National Identity
2004	Eric Swyngedouw	Delightful Perversions of Glocalization: Nature, Space and Scale
2005	Alex Demirovic Joel Kovel Joan Martinez-Allier Ariel Salleh	Ecology, Imperialism and the Contradictions of Capitalism
2006	Aijaz Ahmed	Imperialism of Our Time
2007	Alfredo Saad-Filho	Development under Neoliberalism: Value, Money, Accumulation, Alternatives
2008	Gustavo Esteva	Beyond development and Globalization: Autonomous Movements, Indigenous Knowledges and Food Sovereignty in Latin America
2009	Ronald Labonte Rene Loewenson Ted Schrecker	Social Injustice is Killing People: the Political Economy of Health
2010	Nik Theodore	Labour Markets Under Late Neoliberalism: Restructuring, Regulations and Resistance
2011	Adam Harmes	New Constitutionalism and Global Economy
2012	Adam Hanieh	Political Economy of the Arab Spring: Crisis, Capitalism and Revolt
2013	Nik Heynen	Radical Food and Hunger Politics in the City
2014	Jamie Gough	Localism in a Neoliberal World: How Do Right, Centre and Left Use the Local Scale?
2015	Don Mitchell	Mean Street: Class Struggle, Capital Circulation and Public Space
2016	Glen Coulthard	Resurgencies: Settler-Colonialism and Radical Indigenous Politics
2017	Nancy Peluso	Violent Political Ecologies: Resources, Labour, Transformation
2018	——	(CUPE strike)
2019	Susanne Bergeron	Thinking Neoliberal Development Otherwise
2020	——	Cancelled due to COVID-19
2021	Robin D. G. Kelly	Freedom Dreams: Approaching the Transnational Political Economy of Race
2022	Libby Porter	On Land: Property, Place and Belonging under Settler-Colonial Urbanism
2023	David McNally	Racial Capitalism: From Slavery to Trumpism
2024	Juanita Sundberg	Politics, Ethics, More-Than-Human Methodologies
2025	Silvia Federici	Coloniality and the War on Social Reproduction: A Feminist Perspective

Learn More

The Graduate Program in Political Science at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.

How to Apply