300633 Labour (S) (WiSe 2021/2022)

Changes in the global economy in recent decades have led to major reconfigurations of labour. Using
anthropological and sociological texts and studies, this seminar will consider the different ways in which labour has been historically conceptualised and how it has transformed through globalisation and neoliberalisation. Among others, we shall consider the spatial and temporal dimension of labour, its relationship to personal and collective identities (class, gender, ethnic, etc.), the relationship between productive and reproductive labour, related questions of value, citizenship, freedom, as well as future possibilities and issues. The first several sessions will be devoted to key theoretical concepts such as value, labour, work, neoliberalism, and the rest of the semester will be spent on empirical studies of labour in global societies and contexts. Studienleistung will be based on class discussion inputs and project work on a particular theme (as part of a team or pair). Submission of an essay will be required if you wish to fulfil your Moduleleistung with this seminar.

Bibliography

Below are examples of the texts that we will read from:
Excerpts from the writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Durkheim
Willis, Paul. 1977. Learning to Labor. How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs
David Harvey 1989 The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry in the Origins of Cultural Change. Blackwell
Ehrenreich, Barbara and Arlie Russell Hochschild. 2002. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy
Dunn, Elizabeth. 2003. Privatizing Poland: Baby Food, Big Business, and the Remaking of Labor.
Biao, Xiang. 2006. Global "Body Shopping": An Indian Labor System in the Information Technology Industry.
Ferguson, James. 2015. Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution.