Labour Studies Courses

LBST 100 - Equality and Inequality at Work (3)

Introduces concepts of equality, inequality, diversity, and inclusion as we experience them at work. Includes discussion of what counts as work, who does paid and unpaid work, and how workers challenge inequality and discrimination. Examines how contemporary experiences in Canada of inequality at work are shaped by ongoing colonialism, racialization, gendering, class and other forms of social difference. Breadth-Social Sciences.

LBST 101 - Work and Worker's Rights: Introducing Labour Studies (3)

Introduces key concepts and approaches for understanding the character and organization of work, employment relations, worker’s rights, and labour movements in contemporary society. Explores who does paid and unpaid work and under what conditions through the study of trends and issues, including migration and immigration, unionization, precarious employment, and automation. Breadth-Social Sciences.

LBST 201 - Workers in the Global Economy: Globalization, Labour and Uneven Development (3)

Explores how people experience paid and unpaid work in the global economy. Focuses on processes such as migration and economic structuring, and applies critical development studies and critical geopolitics to study labour and employment. Explores links between capitalism, urbanization and labour struggles. Examines labour internationalism and global labour rights. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101. Students with credit for LBST 230 under the title "Workers and Global Capitalism" or "Work and Employment in a Globalized World" and IS 221 may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Social Sciences.

LBST 202 - Labour Research for Social Change: Methods and Approaches (3)

Introduces students to labour research through methodology and research methods for social change. By exploring what methodology is, the methods common in labour research, and understandings of social justice, students gain experience of quantitative and qualitative approaches, including survey research. Focuses on using and interpreting quantitative data and statistics for social justice and social change. Prerequisite: LBST 100 or LBST 101 or with permission of instructor. Quantitative.

LBST 203 - Work and Health (3)

Income distribution and conditions of employment are a primary factory in social determinants of health. Even when jobs are available, deteriorating working conditions, wages and benefits, and increasing employment insecurity threaten health for many. Explores work and health in Canada in relation to income, gender, race, migration, and technological change and the legal and policy protections for health and safety in the workplace. Prerequisite: LBST 101 or LBST 100, or permission of the instructor. Students with credit for LBST 230 under the title "Work and Health" may not take this course for further credit.

LBST 230 - Special Topics in Labour Studies (3)

A seminar devoted to the in-depth examination of a topic in Labour Studies not regularly offered by the Program. The course may be repeated for credit when different topics are offered. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101.

LBST 301W - Labour, Social Media, and the News (3)

Provides a comprehensive understanding of the contemporary structure, issues, and perceptions of labour unions and other forms of working-class organization and social movements. The treatment of labour in the media and popular culture will provide an understanding of how labour is viewed in society, how labour views itself, and how working-class culture informs and is informed by the larger culture. Prerequisite: LBST 100 or LBST 101 or on permission of instructor. Students with credit for LBST 301 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.

LBST 305 - Gendering Economy: Paid and Unpaid Labour (4)

Takes a broad approach to gender, placing it dialogue with race and ethnicity, class, nation, and space, to think through the complex dynamic between gender and labour from a variety of perspectives. Explores workers’ lived experiences of gender regimes while critically examining how gender ‘matters’ within the workplace. Prerequisite: 30 units including LBST 100 or three units in GSWS or WS or GDST. Students with credit for GSWS 305 (or GSWS 308) may not take this course for further credit. Students with credit for LBST 331 under the title Gender - Paid and Unpaid may not take this course for further credit.

LBST 306 - The Political Economy of Labour Markets: Critical and Radical Approaches (3)

An exploration of critical and radical political economy traditions in Labour Studies with a focus on how these approaches have diverged from, and provided alternatives to, classical and orthodox economic understandings of labour and labour markets. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101.

LBST 307 - Unfree Labour and Modern Slavery: Understanding Coercion and Exploitation in Contemporary Labour Markets (3)

An exploration of the expanding forms of unfree labour in capitalist economies as products of changing labour processes, global labour markets, and the policies of neoliberalism and 'austerity'. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101.

LBST 308 - The Labour Process: Technological Change and the Future of Work (3)

Technological change and globalization are constantly transforming the nature of work under capitalism. These transformations are examined in the historical development of work, the changing nature of the labour process and how automation and artificial intelligence might transform work in the future. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101 and/or 301. Breadth-Social Sciences.

LBST 309 - Labour and Collective Bargaining (3)

An introduction to collective bargaining: it will cover the legal requirements of the Labour Code, the bargaining process and the organizational structure and components of collective agreements, including the grievance-arbitration process. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101 and at least one other Labour Studies course.

LBST 310 - The Politics of Labour (3)

Explores working class politics and the labour movement in the context of neoliberal economic and public policy, recurring economic crises, the changing nature of work, and declining union membership. Explores electoral politics and organized labour's relationship to political parties. Examines community unionism and workers' roles in social movements focused on civil rights, gender, and the environment, among others. Prerequisite: 30 units. Strongly Recommended: LBST 101. Breadth-Social Sciences.

LBST 311 - Labour and the Environment (3)

The changing relationships between unions and environmental groups; how work in various industries contribute to climate change; and how climate-change policies affect workers in different ways. The consequences of climate policies for different categories of workers, identified by economic sector, geographic location, gender, ethnicity, and Aboriginal status. Prerequisite: 30 units. Strongly Recommended: LBST 101.

LBST 312 - Migration, Migrants, and Work: A Global Perspective (3)

Global labour migration has increased substantially in the last several decades. What factors contribute to the current wave of labour migration? Which countries send and receive migrants, and what is the role of internal migration? What challenges do migrant workers face in their host countries? This course will examine these questions to uncover the nature, trends and impacts of this growing phenomenon. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101. Students who have taken LBST 330 Global Labour Migration may not take this course for further credit.

LBST 313 - Introduction to Canadian Labour Law (3)

An introduction to labour and employment law in Canada, covering both union and non-union sectors. The course will focus variously on: the principles and practice of the BC Labour Relations Code, the Canada Labour Code, BC Employment Standards Act. BC Human Rights Code, the Workers Compensation Act (WorkSafeBC), and the contested history of labour legislation and related common law. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101.

LBST 320 - Labour and Popular Culture: Class, Politics, and Pop Culture (3)

Explores the representation of the working class in Canada and the United States through popular culture including the mediums of film and television. Prerequisite: 30 units. Students with credit for LBST 330 under the title "Labour and Film" may not take this course for further credit.

LBST 328 - Labour Geographies (4)

Examines contemporary debates in Labour Geography and geographical approaches to work and employment. Lectures explore the relationships between space, place and labour market change in the context of globalization and uneven development. Prerequisite: 60 units; LBST 101 or GEOG 221. Students with credit for GEOG 328 may not take this course for further credit.

LBST 330 - Selected Topics in Labour Studies (3)

Selected topics in areas not currently offered within the undergraduate course offerings. Students may take more than one offering of LBST Selected Topics courses for credit, as long as the topic for each offering is different. Prerequisite: Strongly Recommended: LBST 101 and/or 301.

LBST 331 - Selected Topics in Labour Studies (4)

Selected topics in areas not currently offered within the undergraduate course offerings. Students may take more than one offering of LBST Selected Topics courses for credit, as long as the topic for each offering is different. Prerequisite: Will vary according to topic. LBST 101 is strongly recommended for all upper division LBST courses.

LBST 401 - How to Make Change: Community-Labour Organizing and Action (4)

Explores community-labour organizing strategies and theories that workers and communities have used to effect social change. Beyond the formal labour movement, we focus on marginalized workers and communities who have turned to one another to amplify their power and fight against diverse forms of injustice. Students develop their organizing and critical analysis skills through popular education and a decolonial praxis. Prerequisite: LBST 100 or 101 or permission of instructor. Students with credit for LBST 330 under the title "Action and Change: Community-Labour Organizing 101" may not take this course for further credit.

LBST 431 - Selected Topics in Labour Studies (4)

Selected topics in areas not currently offered within the undergraduate course offerings. Students may take more than one offering of LBST Special/Selected Topics courses for credit as long as the topic for each offering is different. Prerequisite: Will vary according to topic. LBST 101 is strongly recommended for all upper division LBST courses.

LBST 490 - Directed Readings in Labour Studies (3)

Allows students to pursue in greater depth a particular issue or topic in labour studies. It will be offered either as an individual reading course or as small seminars, depending upon student and faculty interest. Independent research in a selected labour studies area, under the direction of a single faculty member. Papers will be required. May take twice for credit. Variable units: 1, 2, 3, 4. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division labour studies. Recommended: At least three upper division courses in labour studies.