Confronting Capitalism: Feminism, Work and Solidarity

3 units

This course explores the relationship between gender, the ideological construction of work and workers, and feminist and queer mobilizations against labor exploitation. To examine how notions of the ideal worker shape and are shaped by gender, sexuality, and race, we will study various forms of work, including care work and reproductive labor; affective and emotional labor; migrant labor; service work; and sex work. Considering what is new and old about late (or neoliberal) capitalism, we will explore how the relationship between citizenship, the state and political economy has shifted over the last four decades. Across each of these registers, we will engage thinkers spanning Marxist feminist, radical feminist, liberal feminist, indigenous feminist, Black feminist, and disability justice traditions. We will ask how these interwoven genealogies grapple with U.S. imperialism and the relationship between race, class, and patriarchy, while mapping out various visions of solidarity economies, internationalism, and anti-work politics. Prerequisite: Intro to WGSS or permission of instructor.