Work and Racism

3 unit(s) This course provides a critical introduction into how work and race shape our lives. Rather viewing work and race as two independent realms of our lifeworld, students are asked to conceive them as a co-constitutive system. Within this framework, students should think deeply about the racial and capital logics that underlie our social structures (e.g. social networks, employment arrangements, public and private institutions) and define our experiences, subjectivities, and actions. Emphasis will be placed on how these logics produce racialized labour markets and differential vulnerability to violence and death in all their forms (social, physical, psychological). From slavery and settler colonialism to the contemporary moment of global anti-racial capitalism uprising, course content will cover case studies primarily from North America but also from parts of Asia. Through lecture, digital media, guest speakers, and group discussions and projects, students are encouraged to explore connections between the course material to their own reflections of the current moment.