Transformations in Labor:Americans at Work in the “New” Global EconomyCourse DescriptionBooks & SuppliesAttendance and DeadlinesAssignmentsLeading DiscussionResponse EssaysCourse ScheduleTransformations in Labor: Americans at Work in the “New” Global Economy Soc 395 Section 1, Mon/Wed 2:15-4:05pm CARN 304, Grinnell College, Spring 2005 Professor: Karla A. Erickson Email: [email protected] Phone: (641) 269-3330 Office: 111 Carnegie, office hours posted outside my office weekly “McDonald’s has more employees than U.S. Steel. Golden Arches, not blast furnaces, symbolize the American economy.” ---George Will (Macdonald and Sirianni, 1) ”At Walmart, they observe how you work with everybody, even when you’re just stocking or pulling freight. They look to see if you have people skills, to see if you like people. I mean, you wouldn’t want someone up here who was unfriendly or sarcastic or something like that.” ---Walmart Greeter (Bowe, Bowe and Streeter, 1) “Time is indeed money, and bodies are seemingly endless sources of money-making activity.” (Barndt, 225) Course Description What is the ‘new’ global economy and how has it transformed the landscape of the American workforce in the last three decades? Who are the workers in the ‘new’ economy? How do individuals experience the consequences of globalization in their lives, both as workers and consumers? This course will examine recent transformations in the U.S. economy—including deskilling, downsizing, and the rise of the service sector—and will consider how each of these “transformations” relate to issues of identity, community, family formation, structural inequality and national culture. Work has changed so quickly in the last three decades that we have yet to fully comprehend the micro level consequences in our daily lives and the macro level consequences for American culture and global processes. We will address key questions about the consequences of globalization and the ‘new’ economy on American workers and consumers. However, our study will not end at the borders of the United States., instead we will track the flow of labor and capital through case studies of the consequences of globalization in daily practice and experience. We will begin the course by examining recent transformations in the U.S. economy including downsizing, deskilling, interactive service work, and labor migrations. Throughout, we will contextualize our questions against the backdrop of the commodification of care, McDonaldization, labor control and resistance. We’ll move from considering debates about the consequences of the new economy for American culture and character to examine the production and consumption processes in global context, including the global stratification of wealth and the outsourcing of low-wage, low-skill and domestic labor around the globe. Throughout, we will draw on qualitative case studies and the voices of workers in the ‘new’ economy, always considering how work is lived through race, class, sexuality, gender and nation. Our study will carry us from laid off white American middle class men and their families as they manage the shame and confusion connected to job loss, to Mestizo and Indigenous Mexican women who leave their homes and families to pick tomatoes that they cannot afford to buy.Transformations in Labor 2 Objectives 1. Introduce students to key theories, methods and questions in the sociological study of work. 2. Strengthen our ability to identify the micro and macro processes that connect production and consumption and to situate national labor conditions in global context. 3. Develop a nuanced understanding of how labor processes build on, reinforce and occasionally challenge social inequalities based on race, class, gender, sexuality and nation. 4. Hone our insight into the complexities of how the ‘new’ economy influences the distribution of opportunities and resources, informing how individuals feel about themselves, form families, negotiate their time, and construct communities. 5. Encourage each of you to familiarize yourself with new terms and to develop a framework for observing, describing and analyzing transformations in labor. Books & Supplies Working in the Service Society Cameron Lynne Macdonald and Carmen J. Sirianni Temple University Press 1996 Falling from Grace: Downward Mobility in the Age of Affluence Katherine S. Newman, University of California Press 1988 Crossing the Great Divide: Worker Risk and Opportunity in the New Economy Vicki Smith, Cornell University Press 2001 Tangled Routes: Women, Work and Globalization on the Tomato Trail Deborah Barndt, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers 2002 Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild , eds. Metropolitan Books 2002 Gig: Americans Talk about their Jobs John Bowe, Marisa Bowe and Sabin Streeter, Three Rivers Press 2001 Journal --of your choosing, dedicated to this course for notes and observationsTransformations in Labor 3 Attendance and Deadlines This course requires a high level of student interaction, participation and involvement. I expect you to come to class on time, prepared and ready to discuss. Each class meeting you are expected to have read all the assigned readings and have worked in your journal beforehand, in order to come to class prepared to actively discuss the materials. The course starts promptly at 2:15pm; I take attendance at the start of class, so be on time. Everyone gets one “oops” as I call it, one day off from the course while still getting full credit for attendance. Each additional absence will be reflected in your attendance and participation grade. More than three unexcused absences will lower your final grade for the course. When you do need to miss class, it is your responsibility to get notes and an update from a classmate and to contact me regarding your absence. Your written work needs to be in on time. I rarely allow late work to be handed in, and only if you contact me in advance of the deadline. All written assignments must be printed out and handed in, I do not accept emailed assignments. Whenever possible, please print double-sided. Assignments should either be handed in during class, or to my mailbox in Carnegie 115. After office hours, assignments can be slipped under the door of my office, Carnegie 111. Contacting Me I expect to