LABR 155 A-Z - Special Topics in Labor StudiesSemester Hours: 3
Periodically
Exploration of important labor issues and their impacts on working people. Areas of investigation may include historical origins of and contemporary developments in labor-management relations, pay and benefit structures, occupational health and safety, employee participation, employment diversity and inequality, immigration, the youth work force, union organizing and leadership strategy, public sector collective bargaining, workplace rights and ethical issues, worker education and training, labor theory and research methods, unions’ role in politics, government labor regulations, labor-community relations, working class literature and film, media coverage of labor, human rights in the global labor market, comparative labor movements, and global unionism.
Current Special Topics
LABR 155I - (BJ, IS) Karl Marx & Crisis Today
This course welcomes those approaching Karl Marx for the first time as well as those with previous courses on Marx or Marxian economics. The course is an exploration of contemporary macroeconomic and environmental issues using the analytical apparatus developed by Karl Marx in Volumes One, Two, and Three of Capital. While the course will explore issues and applications on the frontier of Marxian economics, it will also provide beginners with sufficient preparation to tackle intermediate topics dealing with Vols. Two and Three of Capital, such as the theory of rent (and contemporary financialization), the theory of a falling rate of profit (and contemporary stagnation and policy ineffectiveness), the question of unequal exchange between the Global North and the Global South, and finally the causal relation between capitalism and climate change. Students who complete the course will have gained a thoroughly grounded analysis of and explanation for the contemporary “polycrisis” and will therefore have the basis upon which to craft and evaluate proposed responses to the current exhaustion of capitalism.
Same as LACS 016I , ECO 154B
LABR 155J - Women, Work, and Organizing
In this course we will explore various forms of women’s work – paid and unpaid, past and present, in the home and the office, in factories and on farms – and the different ways that women have organized to make life better on and off the job for everyone. Along the way, we’ll learn about the fight to reevaluate the kind of work that women “naturally” do by demanding “wages for housework;” consider women’s massive contributions to the labor movement and the fight for fair wages, safe working conditions, and a share of the good life through strikes and other forms of protest; and examine women’s efforts in court and the halls of government to secure laws against exploitation and discrimination. We’ll focus on the US, with an eye to how developments here impact and are impacted by worker organizing around the globe. If you are a worker – or will be a worker someday – this course is for you.
Same as RHET 189J , WST 150I
Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
Topics may change each semester. Students may repeat the course for credit when topics vary. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule.
View Course Offering(s):
Fall 2026
January 2027
Spring 2027
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