This course introduces the critical challenges to global sustainability brought about by the violence of human exploitation of the world in which we live at an unprecedented pace and scale.

Key concepts for understanding the environmental consequences of human activity such as the Anthropocene, the Great Acceleration, and Planetary Boundaries are introduced, as well as critical analyses by political, philosophical and feminist thinkers who propose alternatives such as the Capitalocene and the Plantationocene. 

After the global transformations brought about by industrialisation, colonialism, globalisation and the rise of mass consumption, students are encouraged to consider what 'sustainability' means to different people in different contexts. We will explore contemporary theoretical approaches to social and environmental sustainability at different scales and in different cultures. 

Examples include the circular economy, the bioeconomy, bioregionalism and local material ecologies, as well as a renewed interest in the commons, regenerative economics, and the degrowth movement. We will explore how design has been deeply implicated in both unsustainable production and unequal growth, as well as the development of strategies for global sustainability and alternative ways of living and being in the world, and what ecotopian futures might look like.