Critical Social Inquiry 0233 - Labor Economics

This course provides students with an introduction to major economic theories of labor markets, employment and unemployment and will examine the extent to which these theories are borne out by both statistical and qualitative studies of labor in the United States, a major capitalist economy. We will use a variety of methods in our study: statistical and graphical summaries of economic and social indicators; ethnographic descriptions of work in the factories, offices, laboratories, and hospitals of the modern economy; historical narratives about the development and transformation of labor in the United States; and economic arguments based on principles of social or individual behavior. Our analytical tools will include statistical methods, race, gender and class analysis as well as the analytical tools of neoclassical economics. Labor issues such as the growth of part-time/flexible employment; low wages, unemployment, gender and racial discrimination, wage and income inequality and unpaid labor will be discussed along with debates around minimum wages, immigration and labor unions.

Power, Community and Social Justice Quantitative Skills Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.