GLOBALST *730 / Work and Democracy in the Global Society

3 unit(s)

D. Wells (cross-listed as WORK SOC *730)

This course centers on the transition from a postwar “golden age” of state-regulated labour regimes to a more disorganized capitalism of “flexible” labour regimes. The main dynamics of this transition include a new era of transnational corporate rivalry and collaboration, massive technological change, and a complex new global division of labour. Students will analyze this transition at the level of the workplace, community, nation-state, sub-national industrial districts and the supranational level, including regional trading blocs. Students will assess the impact on labour of key global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs/World Trade Organization and the International Labour Organization. The course will focus on both “first” and “third world” labour regimes. Finally, the course will examine key labour responses to globalization, including the activities of transnational labour bodies, new alignments between labour and social movements, and emerging forms of transnational labour solidarity. Enrolment is limited to a maximum of 3 students from the M.A. in Globalization Studies, or permission of the instructor.