Universität Wien

210122 SE M4: International Politics and Development: (2024S)

Exploring Globalisation, Global Value Chains, and Labour Dynamics in the Contemporary Landscape

9.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work

Eine Anmeldung über u:space innerhalb der Anmeldephase ist erforderlich! Eine nachträgliche Anmeldung ist NICHT möglich.
Studierende, die der ersten Einheit unentschuldigt fern bleiben, verlieren ihren Platz in der Lehrveranstaltung.

Achten Sie auf die Einhaltung der Standards guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis und die korrekte Anwendung der Techniken wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens und Schreibens.
Plagiierte und erschlichene Teilleistungen führen zur Nichtbewertung der Lehrveranstaltung (Eintragung eines 'X' im Sammelzeugnis).
Die Lehrveranstaltungsleitung kann Studierende zu einem notenrelevanten Gespräch über erbrachte Teilleistungen einladen.
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 50 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 07.06. 09:45 - 14:45 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 14.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Saturday 15.06. 10:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Friday 21.06. 09:45 - 14:45 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
  • Saturday 22.06. 10:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This module is designed to equip students with the knowledge and insight necessary to reflect upon the ramifications and impact of globalisation on work and employment. It will scrutinize the main changes in the organisation of production and value creation since the mid-1970s.
Special attention will be given to the growing significance of Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Global Value Chains (GVCs) and emergent geographies of production putting at the centre of the exploration the realities of work.
At the heart of the seminar lies the exploration of who is working, under what conditions and with what effects.
Students will examine relevant theoretical frameworks to understand the process of globalisation, with special emphasis given on those addressing labour issues such as precarity, informality, migration, the feminisation of labour along with the evolution of and challenges to International Labour Standards (ILS) and Global Labour Regulation.

The content and assessment are structured to facilitate a critical dialogue between theory and empirical studies, allowing students to gain valuable knowledge, test their ideas against concrete realities and meet the learning outcomes.

The teaching plan involves lectures complemented by designated reading materials, exercises in class, recorded content discussion, and time for in class group work.

All the module’s materials will be available on Moodle, including the module schedule and announcements, the suggested reading list, and the assessment submission links and details.

CONTENT WARNING: On some occasions we will be covering topics (such as violent death, extreme exploitation and abuse based on class, race and/ or gender) that some students might find distressing.

Assessment and permitted materials

Minimum requirements are:

Short Group presentation (oral, English)
Individual Essay Outline (written in English, 800 words max)
Individual Written Assessment (written in English, 2000 words max)

Essay marking criteria is organised considering three main categories: Structure (20% weighting), Content (60% weighting) and Presentation (20% weighting). Within those categories, there are six-mark bandings. It will be possible for you to do well in one category and less well in another. Your final mark will be determined by your overall performance across all three categories.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance is mandatory. In the first session, students must attend in order not to be de-registered from the class.

Presence (students must not miss more than 1 seminar) 15%
Seminar and Group participation and presentation 15%
Essay outline (individual) 25%
Essay (2000 words, excluding the bibliography) 45%

Examination topics

The assessment design provides students with the opportunity to reflect on the issues discussed. It is considered an opportunity to consolidate knowledge, research and work in collaboration with others to know more about how corporations, suppliers and workers become part of global markets, how those are governed and how they affect the daily lives of people and societies globally.

Reading list

N.B.: The complete reading list will be published in moodle at the beginning of the semester.

• Dicken, P. Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy, London, Sage. (There are many editions of Dicken’s book. Please aim to read the most recent edition)

• Donaghey, Jimmy, and Juliane Reinecke. 2018. ‘Global Supply Chains and Employment Relations’. In The Routledge Companion to Employment Relations. New York: Routledge.

• Gereffi G. and Korzeniewicz. 1994. Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers)

• Harvey, D. 2007. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, Oxford

• Hyman, R. 2001 Understanding European trade unionism: between market, class and society. SAGE, London.

• Kuruvilla, S. 2021. Private regulation of labor standards in global supply chains: problems, progress, and prospects. Cambridge University Press.

• Locke, R.M. 2013. The Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labour Standards in a Global Economy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

• Mezzadri, A. 2017. The sweatshop regime: labouring bodies, exploitation, and garments made in India. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

• Munck, R. 2002 Globalisation and labour: the new "great transformation" London and New York, Zed Books.

• Nathan, Dev, Meenu Tewari, and Sandip Sarkar, eds. 2016. Labour in Global Value Chains in Asia. Development Trajectories in Global Value Chains. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Newsome, K., Taylor, P., Bair J. and Rainnie A. 2015. Putting labour in its place: Labour process analysis and global value chains. London: Palgrave.

• Saad Filho A. and Johnston D. 2005. Neoliberalism: a critical reader. London, Pluto

• Silver, B. J. 2003. Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization since 1870, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Wilkinson, A. Wood G.E and Deeg, R. 2014. The Oxford handbook of employment relations: comparative employment systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Wright M. 2006. Disposable women and other myths of global capitalism. New York: Routledge.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 31.07.2024 12:06