Democracy crisis and climate crisis 3800-KDKK26-S-OG
During the seminar, we will examine philosophical and ethical analyses of the crisis of democracy and the climate crisis, as well as the connections between them.
On the one hand, we will pay particular attention to critiques and proposals for alternatives formulated within (eco)Marxist, feminist, posthumanist, and decolonial approaches. On the other hand, we will examine how ecological ideas are embedded within conservative, anti-liberal, and even fascist conceptual frameworks.
Therefore, we will examine the concepts of authors such as H. Marcuse, W. Reich, E. Traverso, D. Chakrabarty, E. Domańska, J.B. Foster, K. Saito, and A. Malm, as well as those of M. Heidegger, P. Linkola, and Nazi ideologues.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
Acquired knowledge:
Student:
- possesses structured knowledge of contemporary perspectives on the crisis of democracy and the climate crisis and their interconnections;
- distinguishes and characterizes the axiological premises and ethical implications of selected approaches in this area;
- identifies and describes key points of contention in contemporary debates in this area.
Acquired skills:
Student:
- is able to critically analyze philosophical, scientific, and journalistic texts related to the seminar’s subject matter,
- is able to formulate, properly justify, and present their own position on the seminar’s subject matter,
- is able to prepare a written analysis of selected issues related to the seminar’s subject matter.
Social competencies acquired:
Student:
- recognizes the significance of the crisis of democracy, the climate crisis, and their interconnections,
- is able to collaborate in a group,
- is prepared to engage in discussion while respecting differing attitudes and viewpoints,
- is able to participate in a debate on ethical issues related to the crisis of democracy and the climate crisis.
Assessment criteria
- activity during classes (including presence, knowledge of given readings, participation in discussions) – 50%,
- preparation of a seminar paper – 50%.
Two absences per term are allowed.
Bibliography
Reading assignments in the planned order of discussion. The reading list is preliminary and indicative. A detailed one with a schedule will be presented at the first meeting.
Marcuse, H. (1998). Eros i cywilizacja. Trans. H. Jankowska. A. Pawelski. Warszawa: Muza.
Marcuse, H. (2023). Psychoanaliza, polityka, utopia. Trans. A. Filas. Kraków: Vis-à-vis Etiuda.
Bińczyk, E. (2022). Kapitałocen, ekologiczna ekonomia dewzrostu i filozofia Herberta Marcusego. Analiza i Egzystencja: czasopismo filozoficzne, (59), 117-134.
Reich, W. (2009). Psychologia mas wobec faszyzmu. Trans. E. Drzazgowska, M. Abraham-Diefenbach. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Aletheia.
Traverso, E. (2011). Europejskie korzenie przemocy nazistowskiej. Trans. A. Czarnacka. Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy „Książka i Prasa”.
Traverso, E. (2021). Faszyzm jako pojęcie transhistoryczne. Trans. S. Słowiński. W: Myśl krytyczna wobec ruchów nacjonalistycznych i skrajnie prawicowych. K. Bielińska (ed.). Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy „Książka i Prasa”.
Laruelle, M. (2025). Rosyjski eurazjatyzm: ideologia imperium. Trans. A. Czarnacka. Warszawa: Instytut Myśli Politycznej im. Gabriela Narutowicza.
Heidegger, M. (1977). Budować, mieszkać, myśleć. Eseje wybrane. Trans. K. Michalski et al. Warszawa: Czytelnik („Pytanie o technikę”, „Budować, mieszkać, myśleć”).
Hołyj-Łuczaj, M. (2018). Radykalny nonantropocentryzm. Martin Heidegger i ekologia głęboka. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
Calarco, M. (2022). Zoografie. Kwestia zwierzęca od Heideggera do Derridy. Trans. P. Sadzik, P. Szaj. Poznań : WBPiCAK.
Staudenmaier, P. (2026). The Politics of Nature in Nazi Germany Environmental Ideals and the Myth of Blood and Soil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Linkola, P. (2011). Can Life Prevail?: A Revolutionary Approach to the Environmental Crisis. Arktos.
Flipo, F. (2026). A Political Philosophy of Ecologism: Ecofascism or Ecosocialism?. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Guattari, F. (2025). Trzy ekologie. Trans. J. Brzeziński, J. Bednarek. Gdańsk: Słowo/obraz/terytoria.
Foster, J. B. (2020). The return of nature: Socialism and ecology. NYU Press.
Lowy, M. (2024). Climate Crisis and Alienation. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 35(1), 1-3.
Saito, K. (2023). Marx in the Anthropocene. Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism. Cambridge University Press.
Battistoni, A. (2025). Free gifts: Capitalism and the politics of nature. Princeton University Press.
Domańska, E. (2013). Humanistyka ekologiczna. Teksty Drugie, (1-2), 13-32.
Chakrabarty, D. (2021). The Climate of History in a Planetary Age. University of Chicago Press. ‘
Braidotti, R. (2022). Posthuman feminism. Polity Press.
Salleh, A. (2017). Ecofeminism as politics: Nature, Marx and the postmodern. Zed Books Ltd.
Zylinska, J. (2018). The end of man: A feminist counterapocalypse. University of Minnesota Press.
Domańska, E. (2024). Humanistyka indygeniczna. Teksty Drugie, (6), 12-45.
Hokowhitu, B. (2021). The emperor’s ‘new’materialisms: Indigenous materialisms and disciplinary colonialism. In Routledge handbook of critical indigenous studies (pp. 131-146). Routledge.
Lugones, M. (2010). Toward a decolonial feminism. Hypatia, 25(4), 742–759.
Mendoza, B., & Grijalva, D. P. (2022). The epistemology of the south, coloniality of gender, and Latin American Feminism. Hypatia, 37(3), 510–522.