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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.

International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School

Politics, Ethics, More-Than-Human Methodologies

Guest Instructor:
Professor Juanita Sundberg, Department of Geography, The University of British Columbia

Course Director:
Professor Carlota McAllister, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University

This course addresses the politics and ethics of more-than-human methodologies, which are employed to disrupt anthropocentric ontologies and epistemologies by attending to the constellation of beings and entities involved in world-making. In particular, the course will identify risks that arise when ignoring or downplaying the racial hierarchies that constitute ontological divisions between humans, not-quite-humans, and nonhumans. Our ultimate objective is to develop self-reflexive and analytical skills that work to expose the seemingly innocuous, yet nefarious ways racial thinking informs contemporary hierarchies of being and worth.

Dr. Juanita Sunberg’s research brings the sensibilities of ethnography and the insights of feminist political ecology to bear on the politics of nature. Her work fosters conversations between more-than-human geographies, critical Indigenous studies, and critical theory of race and ableism to address environmental crises in settler colonial societies in the Americas. Dr. Sundberg is working on a book manuscript entitles Cat Fights on the Río & Diabolic Caminos in the Desert: the nature of geopolitics in the United States-Mexico borderlands.

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 31, 2024.

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

  1. Fill out this form 2024 International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School York University
  2. Non-York students must file an Ontario Visiting Graduate Student Application form (available from your home university) and send it to gradgeog@yorku.ca.

1.2 Graduate Students from Outside Ontario (Canadian and International)

  1. Fill out this form 2024 International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School York University
  2. 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

  1. Fill out this form 2024 International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School York University
  2. 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:

  • May 21 to May 31 (10:00 am to 1:00 pm. EST time)
  • Ross South 638 (Verney Room)

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

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

YearGuest Speaker(s)Theme
1991Eric HelleinerGlobal Finance and the Emerging World Order
1992Robert BoyerPost-Fordism
1993Saskia SassenGlobal Cities
1994Elmar AltvatarEconomy + Ecology
1995Vandana ShivaSustainability in a Turbulent World
1996Alain LipietzThe Planner After Fordism: Ecology, Democracy, Internationalism
1997Hilary Wainwright
Diane Elson
After the New Right: New Lefts North and South
1998Warren MagnussonSocial Movements and the Global City
1999Mike DavisThe Political Economy of Disaster: From Victorian Famines to Postmodern Apocalypses
2000Peter MarcuseGlobalizing Cities/Partitioned Worlds
2001Patrick BondChallenging Capitalist Globalizations: Targets, Opportunities, Contradictions
2002Tony ClarkeBlue Gold: Unpacking the Political Ecology of the Emerging Global Water Crisis
2003Dick BryanGlobal Capital and National Identity
2004Eric SwyngedouwDelightful Perversions of Glocalization: Nature, Space and Scale
2005Alex Demirovic
Joel Kovel
Joan Martinez-Allier
Ariel Salleh
Ecology, Imperialism and the Contradictions of Capitalism
2006Aijaz AhmedImperialism of Our Time
2007Alfredo Saad-FilhoDevelopment under Neoliberalism: Value, Money, Accumulation, Alternatives
2008Gustavo EstevaBeyond development and Globalization: Autonomous Movements, Indigenous Knowledges and Food Sovereignty in Latin America
2009Ronald Labonte
Rene Loewenson
Ted Schrecker
Social Injustice is Killing People: the Political Economy of Health
2010Nik TheodoreLabour Markets Under Late Neoliberalism: Restructuring, Regulations and Resistance
2011Adam HarmesNew Constitutionalism and Global Economy
2012Adam HaniehPolitical Economy of the Arab Spring: Crisis, Capitalism and Revolt
2013Nik HeynenRadical Food and Hunger Politics in the City
2014Jamie GoughLocalism in a Neoliberal World: How Do Right, Centre and Left Use the Local Scale?
2015Don MitchellMean Street: Class Struggle, Capital Circulation and Public Space
2016Glen CoulthardResurgencies: Settler-Colonialism and Radical Indigenous Politics
2017Nancy PelusoViolent Political Ecologies: Resources, Labour, Transformation
2018——(CUPE strike)
2019Susanne BergeronThinking Neoliberal Development Otherwise
2020——Cancelled due to COVID-19
2021Robin D. G. KellyFreedom Dreams: Approaching the Transnational Political Economy of Race
2022Libby PorterOn Land: Property, Place and Belonging under Settler-Colonial Urbanism
2023David McNallyRacial Capitalism: From Slavery to Trumpism
2024Juanita SundbergPolitics, Ethics, More-Than-Human Methodologies

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.