American Labor and Working Class History

Catalog description

Will historians remember 2023 as a turning point in the history of the organized labor movement or a momentary deviation from a decades-long decline? Public support for unions is at its highest level in years, even as hundreds of thousands of workers in the United States have gone on strike, halting production in critical industries from film and entertainment to auto manufacturing. In this advanced seminar, we will seek historical context to better understand these recent trends by examining histories of class formation, the evolution of working class politics, the development of American capitalism and the transformation of the global economy. Spanning from the history of colonial America to the 21st century, we explore the changing nature of work, and follow the identity, experience, and political activity of working class people as they evolve over time.