Environment, Politics and Development

Entry requirements

Months of entry

September

Course content

Why are we facing a planetary ecological crisis? And what can we do to solve the world’s major socio-ecological problems?

The MSc Environment, Politics and Development programme addresses these pressing questions through a combination of critical political ecology and interdisciplinary approaches.

The programme is taught by leading political ecologists who have research and practitioner experience at various scales and locations across the Global South.

The programme's teaching engages with the most important global thinkers and considers power structures and relations along the lines of race, gender, class and caste in global political ecology.

The course offers a critical analysis of key issues including extractivism, water, forestry, climate, fisheries, agricultural production, biodiversity, and energy transition.

Perhaps most importantly, you will analyse and assess proposed solutions to ecological crises, including loss and damage compensation, market-based solutions, degrowth, green new deals, and climate reparations.

The masters asks important questions including:

• How can we analyse structural socio-ecological injustice between the Global South and North?
• Will systemic change proposals like Green New Deals, Degrowth, and Climate Reparations work for the most marginalised?
• How does the environment intersect with global poverty, wealth and questions of inequality?
• Can Carbon trading offer a solution to managing climate change?
• How do ‘race’ and racism influence the climate crisis?
• How does access to water intersect with dynamics of wealth and poverty?
• Is wildlife conservation implicated in social injustices?
• What role can and do environmental movements play in development?
• How can we organise the global economy in a just and sustainable way?

Why study MSc Environment, Politics and Development at SOAS?

• we are ranked second in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2022)
• SOAS is ranked in the top 5 universities in the UK for producing a CEO or Managing Director, according to new research
• we are specialists within the humanities including in key topics such as international development, gender development, violence and conflict, environmental sustainability, the role of aid and trade in promoting development, as well as refugees and forced migration
• our staff have unrivalled practical knowledge across the discipline and regularly inform organisations such as the UN, NGOs and international governments
• as well as the curriculum knowledge you will also obtain a rich historical and cultural knowledge about the countries and regions in which you may work in
• you will be able to flexibly structure your programme using our open options modules to take advantage of the expertise of our other departments, including the opportunity to learn a language
• we are specialists in the delivery of languages. Your command of a language at SOAS will set you apart from graduates of other universities

Information for international students

For details, including English language requirements, please see SOAS website

Fees and funding

For details of postgraduate fees, please see SOAS website