Globalization & Labor

Undergraduate / Graduate

Increased globalization-in the form of freer trade, more open immigration, the international flow of capital, and the spread of information technologies-has profoundly influenced both international and domestic politics in the present age. While some credit increased globalization with dramatic reductions in extreme poverty and rising standards of living, others see it as a new form of colonial domination driving environmental degradation and labor exploitation. In this course, we will examine these developments through the lens of labor. We will look at how workers and their unions have shaped, and been shaped by, the politics of globalization on issues ranging from tariffs to democratization and from fiscal austerity to climate change. Students will emerge with a greater understanding of the power of, and challenges to, worker solidarity.