History 693W - S-Workers & Work/the Americas
Fall
2017
01
4.00
Kevin Young
TH 2:30PM 5:00PM
UMass Amherst
40666
42875
This seminar introduces students to the study of labor and the working class, broadly defined, from the early 1800s to the present. We will begin by exploring the varied definitions of labor and the working class associated with Marxism, anarchism, and other theoretical traditions. From there we will survey the development of the field of labor history, focusing on the so-called new labor histories of the 1960s and onward,
characterized by "bottom-up" approaches and an emphasis on the interplay of political economy, social relations, and cultural identities. Since the 1980s the field has taken new turns, for instance by emphasizing the roles of race, gender, sexuality, religion, and art in working-class life and labor movements. Specific topics will include slavery and slave resistance, the rise of mass production and the modern corporation, trade unionism and other worker strategies, the segmentation of the workforce along ethnic, gender, and other lines, the connection between labor relations and environmental degradation/sustainability, increased capital mobility over the past century, and worker migration both within and between nations. By examining a wide range of case studies from the modern United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean, we will seek to understand both the diversity of specific experiences and the global forces that shape workers' lives across the hemisphere. Though our primary geographic focus will be the Americas, we will also draw upon select case studies from Western Europe, Africa, and Asia. Requirements include a medium-length essay analyzing primary documents and/or oral histories plus a longer historiographical review paper due at the end of the semester.
characterized by "bottom-up" approaches and an emphasis on the interplay of political economy, social relations, and cultural identities. Since the 1980s the field has taken new turns, for instance by emphasizing the roles of race, gender, sexuality, religion, and art in working-class life and labor movements. Specific topics will include slavery and slave resistance, the rise of mass production and the modern corporation, trade unionism and other worker strategies, the segmentation of the workforce along ethnic, gender, and other lines, the connection between labor relations and environmental degradation/sustainability, increased capital mobility over the past century, and worker migration both within and between nations. By examining a wide range of case studies from the modern United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean, we will seek to understand both the diversity of specific experiences and the global forces that shape workers' lives across the hemisphere. Though our primary geographic focus will be the Americas, we will also draw upon select case studies from Western Europe, Africa, and Asia. Requirements include a medium-length essay analyzing primary documents and/or oral histories plus a longer historiographical review paper due at the end of the semester.
Open to Doctoral & Masters students only.