ILRLE 3450 - Race and the American Labor Market in Historical Perspective

(crosslisted) ECON 3480, HIST 3480

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: ECON 3030 or ILRLE 2400.

S. Sanders.

This class investigates race and class in the American labor market from Colonial America to the present day. We investigate the circumstances and labor institutions that brought labor to the U.S. and how laborers of various classes were received. A primary goal of the class is to understand the degree to which social mobility was historically possible in different time periods in American history. Social mobility is intimately tied to labor market institutions and the ability for workers to get ahead within those institutions. Some of the institutions we study are Indentured Servitude, Slavery, tenant farming, the Great Migration and labor organization in the industrial north. Ultimately we hope to build an understanding of the historical roots of the role of race and class today.