Invisible Labor, Collective Power: Gender, Work, and Social Change

Catalog description

This course examines the many ways in which gendered labor-both paid and unpaid-shapes economies and societies worldwide. Moving beyond traditional definitions of work, we explore how capitalism depends on unpaid reproductive labor, from domestic work to emotional and care labor, and how women’s work is systematically devalued. Through a global feminist political economy perspective, we analyze case studies of factory workers, gig economy laborers, domestic workers, and migrant caregivers, paying attention to how race, class, and nationality intersect with gendered labor exploitation. Rather than focusing solely on women’s individual agency, we examine collective struggles, feminist labor organizing, and policy interventions that seek to transform gendered labor structures. Topics include the feminization of poverty, informal economies, the impact of neoliberal austerity, and alternatives such as labor unions, cooperative economies, and feminist strikes. Students will engage with readings from social reproduction theory, feminist political economy, and contemporary labor activism to critically rethink the future of work and social change.