Labor & the Sociological Imagination ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

In this course we will explore social scientific perspectives on historical and contemporary class relations in the US, with a focus on the role of the labor movement. The foundational text is C.W. Mills’ classic from 1959, The Sociological Imagination, which still resonates as a call for a publicly engaged social science. In addition to Mills, the class will examine case studies from sociology, historical sociology and labor history, which will provide further methodological and theoretical guidance for empirically sound approaches to class analysis that situates workers and worker organizations in historical and/or contemporary power relations.