6 ECTS credits
162 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1021422CER for all students in the 2nd semester at a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.
This course provides an in-depth analysis of work and employment in the epoch of ‘advanced capitalism’ (1990-2020). Throughout the course, a worker-centred, European, cross-national perspective is adopted.
Students will receive a short introduction to the process of industrialisation, the growth and development of capitalism, mass production-mass consumption society and its subsequent structural crisis.
The starting point for our in-depth analysis of current debates in the area of work and employment is the recurrent finding that for many people work has become more intense. We will analyse the concept of “job quality” and compare job quality over time and between European countries. These empirical findings will provide the justification for an in-depth exploration of four driving forces behind differences and evolutions in job quality: (1) recent developments in the capitalist mode of regulation; (2) new models of work organisation; (3) the role of technology in shaping people’s work environment; and (4) tendencies towards labour market flexibility and dualization.
From the diagnosis resulting of the analysis of driving forces of change, students will be challenged to think about possibilities for the future of work in a post-capitalist society.
The students will be provided with an electronic reader. The content of this reader shapes the course material that is discussed during the lectures and summarised in the course handout (slides). All course material will be provided on the learning platform Canvas
Advised/optional literature: Edgell, S., Gottfried, H. & Granter, E. (2015). The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Work and Employment, Sage Publications, London.
Teaching Methods
- Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
- Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study
- Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.
Lecture: 24 h (8*3h)
Practicum: 12h (4*3h)
Self (126h)
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Evaluation:
The result for the evaluation component ‘paper’ can be transferred to the second term in case the student passed on this component in the first term.
Further details on the evaluation procedure will be explained in the course outline. This course outline is posted on the learning platform, Canvas.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology