Universität Wien

240554 SE MM3 Anthropology of labour (2025S)

Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
Mo 23.06. 11:30-13:00 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").

Details

max. 25 Teilnehmer*innen
Sprache: Englisch

Lehrende

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

  • Dienstag 24.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Mittwoch 25.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Donnerstag 26.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Freitag 27.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

Description and Aims:
Capitalism takes many paths, shaped by local histories and struggles; therefore, it is crucial for anthropologists to define labor broadly. We should not take for granted social divisions of waged/unwaged; recognized/unrecognized; essential/non-essential; forced/free or other such antimonies. Rather we are called upon to trace the production of these categories, paying special attention to moments when differences of value and recognition are reanimated or created anew. The unequal categorization and valorization of labornot simply the technical division of labor, but the politics of it allmakes labor "a divided and struggled over social formation." The field of the Anthropology of Labor puts this matter at the center of a research program that begins by conceptualizing labor as a political formation, examining how the state and capital name, divide or unify, value or devalue various kinds of work, while on-the-ground actors and organizations act in ways that shape political outcomes. In this course, we will engage with theoretical resources for researching labor in a changing context of global capital accumulation. We will read case studies from across the globe, covering diverse sectors, economic arrangements, and laboring populations. We will also consider the many kinds of politics these different arrangements produce.

Structure: Seminars begin with a short lecture that frames the readings, to be followed by student presentations of readings, structured by students’ critical comments and questions. Students are encouraged to think about the readings through the lens of their own research. Class discussion then follows, in which all are encouraged to analyze, critique, and expand upon the texts. It is important that presenters include examples from their own research areas and make connections among the readings. There is a strong emphasis on active class participation.

Learning Outcomes: At the conclusion of the course, students should understand the conceptual and theoretical framework of the anthropology of labor, its central questions and perspective, as well as develop their own critiques; be familiar with case studies which use an anthropology of labor approach; use assigned readings and class discussion to enrich and develop their research projects.

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

Attendance and participation are required. Assessment is based on a combination of seminar contributions, oral presentation, and written work.
- Oral presentation (40%): Students will introduce readings in class. Each presentation should include a summary of the main thesis and/or case of the text, as well as critical comments and questions about the readings.
- Exam (40%): Students will complete an end-of-seminar essay, using their critical assessment of readings to focus on a theme of their choice, developed in conversation with the instructor.
- Class participation and critical engagement with texts (20%): Students are expected to participate the class actively.
--No AI tools shall be used for written work or to prepare presentations. Instead, students are expected to read and write independently.

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

91-100 = 1, excellent
81-90 = 2, good
71-80 = 3, satisfactory
61-70 = 4, sufficient
0-60 = 5, fail

Failure to meet course requirements (e.g. failure to submit the final essay, present readings, or participate actively) will result in failure of the course.

Prüfungsstoff

Literatur

W.E.B. Du Bois. 1969 [1920]. "Of Work and Wealth. "Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil. New York: Schocken Books, 81-105. https://ia600204.us.archive.org/3/items/darkwatervoicesf00duborich/darkwatervoicesf00duborich.pdf

Carbonella, August and Sharryn Kasmir, "Introduction: Toward a Global Anthropology of Labor," In Blood and Fire: Toward a Global Anthropology of Labor, eds. Sharryn Kasmir and August Carbonella, Berghahn Press. 2014, Pp. 1-30.

Silvia Federici. 2004. The Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Autonomedia. (focus especially pp. 1-133.) https://files.libcom.org/files/Caliban%20and%20the%20Witch.pdf

Kasmir, Sharryn and Lesley Gill, "No Smooth Surfaces: An Anthropology of Unevenness and Combination." Current Anthropology, 2018, 59(4):355-377.

Narotzky, Susana. 2018. "Rethinking the concept of labour." JRAI 24(S1): 29-43.

Caglar, Ayse. 2025. "Expanded extractivism, confinement, and (im)mobilized labor in city-making: alongue duréeperspective." Dialectical Anthropology. https://rdcu.be/d8H3V

Kasmir, Sharryn and Lesley Gill. 2022, Eds. Anthropology of Labor. Handbooks in Anthropology, Routledge Press: London. (Browse and identify three chapters that interest you.)

Lazar, Sian. 2023. How We Struggle: A Political Anthropology of Labour. Pluto Press. (Browse and identify one chapter that interests you.)

Strümpell, Christian and Michael Hoffmann, Eds. 2024. Industrial Labour in an Unequal
World Ethnographic Perspectives on Uneven and Combined Development. De Gruyter: Oldenbourg. (Read Introduction and identify one chapter that interests you.)

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Letzte Änderung: Do 27.02.2025 13:26