Workers of the World: Global Labor History, 1600-present

Undergraduate / Graduate

Workers of the world, unite!" But who are the workers of the world? Why would such a diverse group be considered as one? In this class, we look at the making of the modern world from below, through the perspectives, experiences, and movements of those who worked the plantations, mills, mines, and households where capitalism was forged. How did diverse experiences of free and unfree labor relate to each other? What have been the historical relationships between class, gender, race, and nationality? How have workers' movements related to the great ideological struggles between liberalism, socialism, fascism, and colonialism? We will both study the social history and political economy of work-who did what jobs where, when, under what circumstances?-and the efforts to make common political meaning out of those diverse experiences of work.