SOCI 961: ANDREW W MELON FOURNDATION SAWYER SEMINAR-
PRECARIOUS WORK IN ASIA
Fall 2011
Thursdays, 3:30-5pm
151 Hamilton
(plus 4-5 colloquium)
Arne Kalleberg
Co-PI, Sawyer Seminar
Professor, Department of Sociology
Office: 261 Hamilton Hall (962-0630)
Email:
Dennis Arnold
Sawyer Seminar Post-doctoral Fellow
Carolina Asia Center
Office: 301 New West
Email:
Joe Bongiovi
Sawyer Seminar Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Sociology
Office: Hamilton __
Email:
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is organized with combined aspects of a survey course (an overview and synthesis of select topics and readings) with those of a seminar (identification and intensive discussions of research questions). Thecentral theme of the seminar isglobal work broadly defined, including precarious work, informal employment and casualization among other work and labor categories. Weekly themes include combinations of: globalization and labor transitions; gender, race and citizenship; international capital flows and attendant re-territorializations; labor and social movements; tradeand labor and political rights; social reproduction and changing social support networks including the state and family; and globalized production networks. The geographic focus is Asia, yet a central component of the seminar is exploring and questioning the benefit of fixed national and regional scales given the fluidity of capital, labor, labor regimes, and development and social movement discourses.
Some of our meetings will be framed around particular topics or research questions. Others will be developed from presentations by our four (to five) invited public speakers, all of whom are experts in their respective fields. The invited speakers include:
- Martha Chen, Department of Public Policy, Harvard University
- Ching Kwan Lee, Department of Sociology, UCLA
- Heidi Gottfried, Department of Sociology, Wayne State University
- Beverly Silver, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
- Leah Vosko, Department of Political Science, York University, to be confirmed
A unique component of the seminar is regular involvement of UNC and Duke faculty. The spring 2011 sawyer reading group included guest speakers: Anne Allison, Anthropology, Duke; Federico Luisetti, Romance Languages & Literature, UNC; John Pickles, Geography, UNC, in addition to participation by scholars from disciplines including: Anthropology, Asian Studies, Economics, Geography, Political Science and Sociology.
For further information about the Sawyer Seminar- Precarious Work in Asia project, see
READINGS:
Participants are expected to engage discussions of readings, so it is important to complete them by the assigned session. Books can be purchased ahead of time, or accessed through the library. Papers and articles will be made available at least a week ahead of time either by e- mail or on the Sawyer Seminar- Precarious Work in Asia Web Site. Books will not generally be available in the UNC bookstore, but they are available through Amazon.com.
Books:
Kalleberg, Arne L. 2011. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: Precarity and Polarity in the U.S. Labor Market. 1970s-2000s. New York: Sage.
Lee, Ching Kwan. 2007. Against the Law: Labor Protests in China's Rustbelt and Sunbelt. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Silver, Beverly. 2003. Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization Since1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Standing, Guy. 2011. The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. Bloomsbury.
Vosko, Leah F. 2010. Managing the Margins: Gender, Citizenship, and the International Regulation of Precarious Employment. New York: Oxford University Press.
TBD Other/recommended:
Chen, Martha
Gottfried, Heidi
Mosely, Layna. 2011. Labor Rights and Multinational Production. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
SEMINAR PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS
There are three options for participation in this seminar.
- Discussion participant. We are happy to accept as many participants who would like to join without credit. These individuals may be students, faculty, staff and other interested parties. If you choose this option, you are free to attend, or not attend, on any given meeting. You are only required to complete the readings for the weeks that you attend;
- Single Credit Participant. This category is made up of students who intend to participate in each weekly class, completing the readings and discussions, but not completing a research paper or other requirements;
- Three Credit Participant. This category is for students who intend to attend the class each week, completing readings and participating in discussions. These students will also be expected to complete a semester length research paper or research proposal paper. This paper is encouraged to be related to current and/ or future research wherever possible.
Reading: All participants are expected to complete the readings before each session that they participate in so that they can be full participants in the discussions;
Participation: All in attendance are expected to fully participate in the sessions. We have a broad range of knowledge and expertise and we would very much like to be able to benefit from the insights and experience of those in attendance.
Facilitation: Students completing this seminar for credit will be expected to facilitate at least one session. Other non credit participants will be encouraged to facilitate sessions.
Research or Research Proposal Paper: As noted above, students taking this seminar for three credit hours will be required to complete a research or research proposal paper. This paper should address a research problem that is related to any topic that we cover during this seminar, or related topic of research interest for the participant, and is expected to use material from this seminar to shed light on the research question. The paper could be a proposal for future research related to the requirements or research agenda of the participant. Students choosing the three credit option can choose any of the faculty related to this seminar to review their papers. A one page abstract, describing to paper is due on September 29. The first part of the paper (less than ten pages, that describes your research question is due on November 3. This document should briefly: Define a research question that deals with and important issue(s) in precarious work, work in Asia, global capital and its relationship to work in Asia, global trade and its relationship to work in Asia, labor movement and social organizing in Asia or other question related to the seminar topic(s); and discuss some of the theoretical issues raised by the research problem. The complete paper is due on December 8. The completed paper should build on the first assignment and should additionally: Describe the kinds of data that would be most appropriate for investigating this problem; and indicate and justify the types of analyses of these data that are needed to study this problem. Paper should be written individually, unless prior approval is received, though you are encouraged to discuss your topic with other participants and to get their feedback.
COURSE CALENDAR AND READING LIST
August 25KEY CONCEPTS, LITERATURE REVIEW AND BACKGROUND TO SAWYER SEMINAR
Topic: Introduction to the Sawyer Seminar; summary of the “Precarious Work” conference in Korea in July 2011
Readings: Concept paper, Theory Paper, Literature Review (?)
Questions:
Facilitator: Arne Kalleberg
September 1st through Sept 22ndplus Nov 10th and Dec 1stmeetings are open to: Gereffi and/or Mayer, L. Mosley, A. Allison, Arne’s new book, Standings new book, others ?…
September 1TBD
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September 8TBD
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September 15 TBD
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September 22 TBD
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September 29 CHING KWAN LEE
Topic: China’s labor politics and development
Readings:Against the Law: Labor Protests in China's Rustbelt and Sunbelt.
Questions:
Facilitator:
October 6 CHING KWAN LEE
Topic: Re-territorialization, race and class: Chinese capital and labor relations in Zambia
Readings:
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October 7Public presentation by Ching Kwan Lee, Department of Sociology, UCLA
October 13BEVERLY SILVER
Topic: Global capitalist transitions
Readings: Silver, Beverly. 2003. Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization Since 1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Questions:
Facilitator:
October 20NO SEMINAR: FALL BREAK
October 27BEVERLY SILVER
Topic: Global capitalist transitions
Readings: Silver, Beverly. 2003. Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization Since1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Questions:
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October 28 Public presentation by Beverly Silver, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
November 3 MARTHA CHEN
Topic: Gender and informal employment in Asia
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November 4Public presentation by Martha Chen, Department of Public Policy, Harvard University.
November 10TBD
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November 16Public presentation by Heidi Gottfried, Department of Sociology, Wayne State University.
November 17 HEIDI GOTTFRIED
Topic: Gender and labor regimes in Japan
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November 24NO SEMINAR: THANKSGIVING
December 1TBD
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