Work, Exploitation, and Freedom

This course provides an entry point for some of the crucial political and moral questions regarding the social organization of human labor and the distribution of its products. We will approach these questions through a survey of some of the key theorists of capitalism. The course will introduce students to the thought of classical political economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, Karl Marx’s critique of political economy, theorists of racial slavery and the gendered division of labor, and contemporary thinking about possibilities for the future of work and leisure.