Summer 2018 - LBST 330 D200

Selected Topics in Labour Studies (3)

The Politics of Working Time

Class Number: 6827

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 7 – Aug 3, 2018: Thu, 11:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Instructor:

    Tom Walker
    jtwalker@sfu.ca
    Office: AQ 6219
    Office Hours: Thursdays, 15:00-16:00
  • Prerequisites:

    Strongly Recommended: LBST 101 and/or 301.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The study of issues related to work and/or trade unions not offered in regular courses. Students who have completed special temporary topics course LBST 389 cannot complete this course for further credit when it is offered as "Studying Labour Through Film."

COURSE DETAILS:

Controversy over the regulation of the hours of work has marked labour relations from the earliest days of industrialization and sustained economic growth in Great Britain in the early nineteenth century. In Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, the enactment of major labour legislation and periods of intensified unionization have coincided with movements for the ten-hour day, the nine-hour day, the eight-hour day and the 30-hour work week. During the last half of the twentieth century, however, the historical trend toward shorter hours retreated, as has – coincidentally or not – union density. 

This course will critically examine the history, politics, economics and rhetoric of working time, particularly as it affects wage labour, social reproduction and the collective bargaining regime. We will examine the relationship between working time and productivity, technology, health, leisure, household work, education, consumerism, culture, social justice, political participation and mitigation of environmental harm.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of this course, students will have learned:

  • how cultural attitudes toward work and leisure evolved in the period of industrialization;
  • how historical campaigns for shorter hours shaped unionism and labour legislation;
  • the status of controversies regarding the economics of working time;
  • how campaigns for shorter work time engaged with other social and political movements;
  • the relationship between hours of waged labour and unpaid household work in the gendered division of labour;
  • what historical trends reveal about changes in working time internationally.

Grading

  • Seminar participation 20%
  • Midterm 1 (June 14) 20%
  • Midterm 2 (July 26) 20%
  • Research essay/annotated bibliography (due in three stages - May 31, June 28, August 2) 40%

NOTES:

All assignments in this course must be completed for a final grade to be assigned.  The Morgan Centre for Labour Studies follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic honesty and misconducted procedures (S10.01-S10.04).  It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of these policies available on the SFU website: http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/teaching.html.

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:

Required readings for this course will consist of a course pack and/or Canvas links to library URLs of specified articles and book chapters.

RECOMMENDED READING:

A list of supplementary readings will be included in the long syllabus.

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