Capital and Labor. A Contentious History

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course will take a historical perspective on the relationship between capital and labor. After some theoretical considerations, we will explore the transformation of work from pre-industrial to industrial societies and the subsequent emergence of trade union movements in the 19th century first in Europe and then in other parts of the world. We will see how trade unions changed from craft to industrial organizations and how capital and labor were able to forge a compromise in the postwar decades. This compromise crumbled in the 1980s and 90s in the wake of renewed class conflict. The course will end with the discussion of some current trade union challenges.