Labor Studies 620 - Labor History

This course examines labor and work in the U.S., from colonial America to the present. We will consider: 1) the relationship between workers, employers, and the state; 2) the strategies that workers? movements have used to build power, along with employers? strategies to minimize that power ; 3) the internal workings of unions, such as democracy, politics, and union structure; and 4) the roles of workers? organizations in reproducing (or changing) inequalities stemming from gender, race, citizenship status, and other identities. We?ll situate these discussions in the changing political, economic, and cultural contexts over time.