ILRID 1530 - Introduction to the Sociology of Work and Labor

Spring. 1.5 credits. Letter grades only.

Staff.

This introductory course will look at multiple dimensions of work and labor from a sociological perspective. We will consider not only the structural and historical conditions that influence the organization of work, but also how those processes and structures affect particular workplaces. Throughout, we will foreground the distinctiveness of a sociological approach, one that understands work and broader social processes as mutually constitutive dynamics. Major topics of inquiry will include classic and contemporary theories of labor markets, the emergence of wage labor, exploitation and labor control, technology and work, race and ethnicity, gender, immigration, and the role of labor movements, unions, and other workplace-oriented institutions in shaping the experience of work as well as broader social inequality.