Faculty of Law

Course Description

Natural Resources are currently at the centre of debates on international politics. On the one hand, world market prices for fossil fuels have risen significantly in the context of the war in Ukraine; on the other hand, the energy transition will significantly reduce demand for oil, gas and coal in the medium and long term. However, this does not mean the end of raw material exploitation. On the contrary, the energy transition even requires a significant expansion of the extraction of lithium, copper, coltan, nickel, rare earths, etc.

During the seminar, we will analyse the implications of these changes on a global level for energy politics at the international and national level. Therefore we will analyse selected case studies. The focus of the seminar will be on the consequences from the perspective of development research as well as peace and conflict research. 

Faculty

Law/Social Sciences

Institute

Chair for Peace Studies

Lecturer

Prof. Dr. Stefan Peters

Study Period (dd/mm/yy)

17/10/2022-10/02/2023

Mode and Time

Synchronous, Time (CET): Wednesday, 16:00-18:00

Online Tool for Teaching

Webex

Language of Instruction

German

Target Group

Bachelor, Master

Prerequisites

English B2

ECTS

6

Course Description

This course analyzes the challenges and paradoxes of the phenomenon known as “shrinking spaces”. The concept refers to the increasing trend and impact of diverse forms of restrictions and violence against critical actors, including academix and civil society organizations in different regions across the world, especially in the so-called “global south”. In the past few years there has been a new circle and increase of restrictive and punitive measures against political and social activists, practitioners, and scholars. Extreme violence is being used more frequently, albeit under formally democratic governments, while judicial harassment has become normalized. These and other measures are part of a global political climate that civil society experts have termed “shrinking space for civil society”, “disabled environments” (Van Tuijl 2000), “restricted operational space” (Borgh and Terwindt 2012), some even referring to a “closing space” or, in particularly drastic cases, to “no space for civil society” (Albrecht 2017).

It should be noted that government harassment and repression of social movements, opponents, critical scholars, and non-governmental organizations is not a new phenomenon in many countries. However, this new escalating wave of restrictions has a twenty-first-century twist and combines old and new elements. A crucial feature of shrinking spaces - which helps to distinguish it from past intimidation practices - is its gain in local legitimacy among large groups of local population and modernization through the use of civil and criminal law and of new technologies to suppress fundamental rights and liberties of civil society actors.

To analyze this growing trend of restricting and repressing civil society and especially human rights practitioners, the course will draw on the multiple dimensions and consequences of shrinking space in different regions across the world. It will also shed light on the ambiguous role of the global north as well as of local elites in shrinking space for civil societies. Finally, the third section analyzes the concept and discourse of shrinking space in the global north and global south.

Faculty

Law/Social Sciences

Institute

Chair for Peace Studies

Lecturer

Rosario Figari Layus

Study Period (dd/mm/yy)

17/10/2022-10/02/2023

Mode and Time

Synchronous, Time (CET): Mondays, 12:00-14:00

Online Tool for Teaching

Webex

Language of Instruction

English

Target Group

Bachelor, Master

Prerequisites

none

ECTS

6