This course will examine the politics and social reproduction of work in Canada. It will begin by examining how working people have responded to workplace conditions, beginning in the 19th century and moving to the present day. Here we will examine work broadly, focusing on how both paid and unpaid labour is shaped by class, gender, race and other forms of social inequity. The course will then look at how governments regulate work in the 21st century, examining how employment is structured as a strict legal relationship between those who sell their labour for a wage and those who purchase that labour in order to create additional value through profit. Examining these intersections, the class will then examine the numerous legal structures that shape the modern workplace, focusing on rules of unionization, individual employment relations, and occupational health and safety. Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hoursPrerequisite(s): 12 credit units of POLS and/or IS; or 36 credit units at the university level, including at least 6 credit units of ANTH, ENG, HIST, INDG, IS, POLS, RLST, SOC, or WGST.
This course will examine the politics and social reproduction of work in Canada. It will begin by examining how working people have responded to workplace conditions, beginning in the 19th century and moving to the present day. Here we will examine work broadly, focusing on how both paid and unpaid labour is shaped by class, gender, race and other forms of social inequity. The course will then look at how governments regulate work in the 21st century, examining how employment is structured as a strict legal relationship between those who sell their labour for a wage and those who purchase that labour in order to create additional value through profit. Examining these intersections, the class will then examine the numerous legal structures that shape the modern workplace, focusing on rules of unionization, individual employment relations, and occupational health and safety. Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hoursPrerequisite(s): 12 credit units of POLS and/or IS; or 36 credit units at the university level, including at least 6 credit units of ANTH, ENG, HIST, INDG, IS, POLS, RLST, SOC, or WGST.
