Government 276 - Political Visions of Nature

Upon what visions of nature does modern political thought rest? When one looks back to the history of political thought, does one only find ideas of human dominion over nature or are there also buried alternatives? And what might these diverging pathways have to teach in the present moment? This course surveys the history of Western political thought from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century from the vantage point of the present ecological crises to track and understand these diverging pathways. Students read texts from agrarian republicanism, liberalism, socialism, anarchism, transcendentalism and other lesser-known schools of political thought. Designation: Theory. Prerequisite: GOV 100. Enrollment limited to 40.