Summer 2016 - LBST 301W D100
Labour Movements: Contemporary Issues and Images (3)
Class Number: 5094
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
May 9 – Aug 8, 2016: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Simon Chilvers
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Prerequisites:
Recommended: LBST 101.
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. Students with credit for LBST 301 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
COURSE DETAILS:
This course introduces the major issues, socio-economic structures, and perceptions that concern unions and other working-class organisations today. It focuses on the problems that are faced by the labour movement, including economism, bureaucratisation, electoral opportunism, racism, sexism, state/employer strategies, and repressive laws. Especial attention is paid to how labour is portrayed in popular culture, how the labour movement engages with these representations, and how 'working-class' values relate to the interests of dominant classes.
COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
Students completing this course will have an enhanced understanding of the broad challenges facing the labour movement, plus many specific economic, political, and ideological issues that affect working class lives in Canada today. Students also will be able to critically engage with a variety of scholarly and activist perspectives on the tactics and strategies of exploiting and exploited classes in their mutually constituted struggles.
Grading
- Participation: 10%
- Course Diary: 15%
- Fieldtrip Report: 15%
- Book Review: 15%
- Research Essay Proposal: 10%
- Research Essay: 35%
NOTES:
LBST 301W has an optional fieldtrip and related assignment that may require travel by vehicle, public transit, or foot during the scheduled class hours. Students that do not wish to participate in the fieldtrip will be provided with an alternative assignment. Further details can be obtained from the instructor.
REQUIREMENTS:
In addition to the written assignments, students are expected to complete the weekly readings, regularly attend seminars, and participate in classroom discussions.
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:
Many of the syllabus readings are accessible via Canvas.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Ross, S., Savage, L., eds. 2012. Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada. Halifax: Fernwood.
(Available in the library).
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site contains information on what is meant by academic dishonesty and where you can find resources to help with your studies. There is also a section on tutoring.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS