Summer 2015 - LBST 301 E100
Labour Movements: Contemporary Issues and Images (3)
Class Number: 5181
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
-
Course Times + Location:
May 11 – Aug 10, 2015: Tue, 5:30–8:20 p.m.
Burnaby
-
Instructor:
Simon Chilvers
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
This course will give students a comprehensive understanding of the contemporary structure, issues, and perceptions of labour unions and other forms of working-class organization. It will focus on external and internal problems that the labour movement faces, such as labour law and state policy, employer strategies, bureaucracy, racism and sexism. The treatment of labour in the media and popular culture will provide an understanding of how labour is viewed in society, how labour views itself, and how working-class culture informs and is informed by the larger culture. Recommended: LBST 101.
COURSE DETAILS:
This course introduces major issues, structures, and perceptions that concern unions and other working-class organisations today. It focuses on problems faced by the labour movement, including economism, bureaucratisation, electoral opportunism, racism, sexism, state/employer strategies, and repressive laws. Attention is paid in particular to the portrayal of labour in popular culture, how the labour movement engages with these representations, and how 'working-class values' relate to dominant class interests.
COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
Students completing this course will have an enhanced understanding of general challenges facing the labour movement and specific economic, political, and ideological issues that affect working class lives in Canada. Students also will be able to critically engage different scholarly and activist perspectives on the tactics and strategies of exploiting and exploited classes in their mutually-constituted struggles.
Grading
- Participation 20%
- Presentation 20%
- Essay 60%
NOTES:
In addition to completing the essay and presentation assignments, students are expected to do the weekly readings, regularly attend seminars, and participate in classroom discussions.
REQUIREMENTS:
All students are expected to read SFU’s policies concerning academic honesty and student conduct (S 10.01 - S10.04). The policies can be read at this website: www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html.
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Ross, S., Savage, L., eds. 2012. Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada. Halifax: Fernwood.
Additional readings are listed in the syllabus and can be found on SFU Canvas.
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS