MIDTERM EXAMAMINATION
Answer one out of these two questions based on the readings on the course syllabus (lecture 2-9). The answer should be provided in an essay format and relate to both the conceptual or theoretical arguments the authors provide as well as to the empirical evidence (statistical, ethnographic, or historical) they employ. The essay should be three to four pages long (double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, one inch margins) and is to be submitted online via Turnitin by November 13th at 11am.
A.
The way people perceive nature and the environment differs over time and between places. What are the major differences in this perception between the United States and Western Europe and how are people at other places in the world (such as indigenous people) affected by these perceptions? What are the different aspects of nature and the environment that are perceived as valuable and what kind of value is attributed to them? How does this perception and valuation shape what is articulated as an environmental problem and what is in consequence proposed as a solution?
B.
In the 1960s and 1970s new environmental movement organizations and green political parties have been created. What are the different explanations for the fact that this development took place during this period of time? What kind of environmental problems are these movement organizations and parties focusing on and what kind of solutions do they aim for? To what extent is this concern for the environment either similar or different from the concern for the conservation of nature established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century?
Note: You do not have to provide a bibliography. The syllabus is the bibliography. Simply indicate the last name of the author, the publication date, and the page number if you quote a reading in you essay (e.g. Cronon 1996:
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