Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - LBST 201 D100

Workers in the Global Economy: Globalization, Labour and Uneven Development (3)

Class Number: 5133

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Mon, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Instructor:

    Serdar Kaya
    ska99@sfu.ca
    Office Hours: Mondays, 12:00-1:00pm

  • Prerequisites:

    Strongly Recommended: LBST 101.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores how people experience paid and unpaid work in the global economy. Focuses on processes such as migration and economic structuring, and applies critical development studies and critical geopolitics to study labour and employment. Explores links between capitalism, urbanization and labour struggles. Examines labour internationalism and global labour rights. Students with credit for LBST 230 under the title "Workers and Global Capitalism" or "Work and Employment in a Globalized World" and IS 221 may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course provides an interdisciplinary examination of work and labour in the global economy. It connects historical systems, such as colonialism and slavery, to contemporary challenges shaped by globalization, technological change, and uneven development. We will explore how capitalism, urbanization, and geopolitics structure global production networks and the changing nature of work. Key topics include but are not limited to economic restructuring, platform capitalism, labour migration, and the gig economy. Through evidence-based case studies from diverse regions, the course highlights workers' struggles, resistance, and organizing, analyzing how global processes perpetuate and challenge hierarchies of class, gender, ethnicity, and citizenship.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

(1) connect historical labour systems, such as colonialism and slavery, to contemporary global work dynamics,
(2) explain how globalization, economic restructuring, and digital platforms are reshaping work and employment,
(3) evaluate how labour dynamics intersect with class, gender, ethnicity, and citizenship to produce and challenge social inequalities,
(4) analyze global labour issues using scholarly sources from diverse contexts, and
(5) construct a clear, evidence-based argument on a global labour topic in a research project.

 

Grading

  • Midterm Exam (Week 7, during class) 30%
  • Research Plan (Week 8, day of class, at 11pm) 10%
  • Research Project (Week 10, day of class, at 11pm) 20%
  • Final Exam (TBA, Fall 2025 final exam period: Dec 4-16) 30%
  • Participation 10%

NOTES:

Grading: Where a final exam is scheduled and the student does not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, an N grade will be assigned. Unless otherwise specified on the course syllabus, all graded assignments for this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned. An N is considered as an F for the purposes of scholastic standing.

Grading System: The Undergraduate Course Grading System is as follows:

A+ (95-100) | A (90-94) | A- (85-89) | B+ (80-84) | B (75-79) | B- (70-74) | C+ (65-69) | C (60-64) | C- (55-59) | D (50-54) | F (0-49) | N*
*N standing to indicate the student did not complete course requirements

Academic Honesty and Student Conduct Policies: The Labour Studies Program follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic honesty and student conduct procedures (S10.01‐S10.04). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style.  It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website.

Centre for Accessible Learning: Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need classroom or exam accommodations are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (1250 Maggie Benston Centre) as soon as possible to ensure that they are eligible and that approved accommodations and services are implemented in a timely fashion.

REQUIREMENTS:

Two Written Exams: The midterm and final exams will assess your ability to apply the course's key terms, concepts, theories, and case studies.  To ensure clarity and facilitate preparation, censored versions of both exams will be released prior to the exam dates, revealing their general scope and structure.

Research Project: Each student will be assigned a research project on a real-world scenario in global labour. The project will involve analyzing the given situation, collecting and evaluating evidence, and constructing a well-reasoned argument for a proposed solution. The assignment has two stages: students will first write a brief proposal to receive feedback. The final submission will incorporate reflective journal entries documenting key milestones, challenges, and insights from the research process. (Detailed instructions are available on the online platform.)

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Main Reading (textbook)

–  Taylor, Marcus; & Sébastien Rioux. (2018). Global labour studies. Polity.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Recommended Reading

–  Davis, Mike. (2017). Planet of slums. Verso. pp. 240.

–  Florida, Richard. (2018). The new urban crisis: How our cities are increasing inequality, deepening segregation, and failing the middle class, and what we can do about it. Basic. pp. 368.

–  Milanovic, Branko. (2016). Global inequality: A new approach for the age of globalization. Belknap. pp. 320.

–  Standing, Guy. (2021). The precariat: The new dangerous class [4th edition]. I.B. Tauris. pp. 256.

–  Steger, Manfred B. (2023). Globalization: A very short introduction [6th edition]. Oxford University Press. pp. 192.

Recommended Reading (case studies)

–  Bales, Kevin. (2012). Disposable people: New slavery in the global economy. University of California Press. pp. 336.

–  Connelly, Catherine E. (2023). Enduring work: Experiences with Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. McGill-Queen’s University Press. pp. 200.

–  Kara, Siddharth. (2024). Cobalt red: How the blood of the Congo powers our lives. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 288.

–  Mezzadri, Alessandra. (2017). The sweatshop regime: Labouring bodies, exploitation, and garments made in India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 260.

–  Muñoz, Carolina Bank; Bridget Kenny; & Antonio Stecher (ed.). (2018). Walmart in the Global South: Workplace culture, labor politics, and supply chains. University of Texas Press. pp. 280.

Extended Reading

– Dalrymple, William. (2022). The anarchy: The East India Company, corporate violence, and the pillage of an empire. Bloomsbury. pp. 576.

– Frankopan, Peter. (2017). The Silk Roads: A new history of the world. Vintage. pp. 672.

– Harvey, David. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford University Press. pp. 254.

– Panizzon, Marion; Gottfried Zurcher, & Elisa Fornalé (ed.). (2015). The Palgrave handbook of international labour migration: Law and policy perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 643.

– Sassen, Saskia. (2001). The global city: New York, Tokyo, London. Princeton University Press. pp. 480.

– Sharma, Ruchir. (2017). The rise and fall of nations: The force of change in the post-crisis world. W.W. Norton. pp. 480.

– Silver, Beverly J. (2003). Forces of labor: Workers' movements and globalization since 1870. Cambridge University Press. pp. 260.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.