Global Warming at the Margin: The Current Sociology Curricula of Climate Change in Bangladeshi Universities

Climate change is little studied or taught by Bangladeshi sociologists, even though it poses significant threats to social life in the country. To uncover the level of importance given to climate change issues in sociology departments at Bangladeshi universities, this study analyzes data from six public universities. The data include sociology curricula and interviews with a selected group of teacher-sociologists. This paper unearths several critical factors behind the marginal responses to global warming from mainstream sociology in Bangladesh. First, sociologists seek to separate the discipline from other sciences by focusing solely on ‘social’ structure and social-scientific explanations. Sociology curricula have avoided the global warming agenda because of its allegedly ‘natural scientific’ nature. Second, sociologists are found to have a propensity to suspect teleology in general and to emulate the indifference towards the future found in contemporary society. With myopic vision, sociologists in Bangladesh tend to address immediate social ills while maintaining a safe distance from climate threats, which they view only as a future concern. Furthermore, a lack of expertise among Bangladeshi sociologists impedes the development of climate change courses.