Course Outline, Section A 2009-10

This course approaches the study of work from the perspective that the workplace and labour market are 'contested terrains', and therefore seeks to examine the competing interests and social forces that shape the social organization of work. From this perspective, the course explores the ways in which the social relations of the workplace and labour market are organized through intersecting relations of race, class and gender. In the first term, we examine the historical development of industrial capitalism in Canada, focusing on the organization of the labour process, patterns of labour market segmentation, managerial strategies to establish control within the workplace, gendered divisions of labour in the workplace and the home, and the role of trade unions. Early forms of state regulation of the workplace, the labour market, and labour relations are also examined. In the second term, the course focuses on the contemporary Canadian labour market, examining themes of globalization, precarious employment, lean production, migrant and immigrant labour, and the implications of new technologies. Changing forms of government regulation of the labour market are also explored in this context. In addition, this section of the course studies the implications of processes of globalization and labour market change for Canadian unions, and explores the ways in which recent forms of labour and social movement activism have sought to challenge neoliberal globalization. The course concludes by discussing the future of work.

Format: Three hour seminar

Seminar Times:

Section A - Tuesdays, 2:30-5:20