Fall 2017 - GEOG 328 D100
Labour Geographies (3)
Class Number: 4160
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 5 – Dec 4, 2017: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Kendra Strauss
kstrauss@sfu.ca
Office: AQ 6220
Office Hours: During term time – Wednesdays, 1:00pm – 2:15pm
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Prerequisites:
At least 60 units, including LBST 101 or GEOG 221.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
An examination of contemporary debates in Labour Geography, surveying geographical approaches to work and employment. Lectures will explore the relationships between space, place and labour market change in the context of globalization and uneven development. Students with credit for LBST 328 may not take this course for further credit.
COURSE DETAILS:
Labour Geographies introduces students to geographical approaches to work, employment and labour markets. Labour geographies start from the perspective that workers’ experiences and agency are central to understanding processes like colonialism, uneven development, globalization and neoliberalism. Labour geographers build on insights from geographical political economy, Marxism, feminism and post-structuralism to explore the answers to questions such as: how do working people shape spaces and places of labour and employment? How do workers’ struggles produce their own ‘spatial fixes’? How are geographies of global production, reproduction and migration reshaping labour markets in the global North and global South? And how does a geographical approach to Labour Studies help us understand technological change and precarity?
Course Requirements:
This course requires a close engagement with assigned texts, participation in class through presentations and discussion, and the completion of assignments, including a final research paper. The course includes a fieldtrip to downtown Vancouver (see below) and will include visits from external speakers.
LBST /GEOG 328 has an optional fieldtrip and related assignment that may require travel by vehicle, public transit, or foot during the scheduled class hours. Students who do not wish to, or are unable to, participate in the fieldtrip will be provided with an alternative assignment. Further details can be obtained from the instructor.
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
COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
Students will be introduced to the history and evolution of Labour Geography in response to critiques of geographies of labour and employment. They will also gain an understanding of critiques of, and challenges to, Labour Geography from more diverse labour geographies. Students will learn how to analyze geographical approaches and concepts, and apply them realworld issues affecting workers and their communities.
Grading
- Attendance and participation: 10%
- Short written assignments (2): 15%
- Mid-term exam: 30%
- Final research paper: 45%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
There are no required texts for this course, which utilizes books, articles, films and other media to
explore labour geographies in a global context. A complete list of readings will be provided in the
full syllabus and made available on Canvas and on reserve at the SFU library.
RECOMMENDED READING:
These texts will be used, along with a selection of articles and book chapters, throughout the course:
Castree, N. et al (2004) Spaces of Work: Global Capitalism and Geographies of Labour. London: Sage.
Herod, A. (2001) Labor Geographies: Workers and the Landscapes of Capitalism. New York: The Guilford Press.
McGrath-Champ, S. et al. (eds.) (2010) Handbook of employment and society: working space.
Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar
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