Syllabus: Geography of Gender, Race & Labor

Rebecca Burnett, University of Washington

The purpose of this course is for students to think critically about the intersections between race, ethnicity, gender and labor in the United States. This course asks students to explore the ways in which identity, political economy, and space come together to create different patterns and relationships in terms of labor. While there will be a strong focus on analyses of labor from a geographical perspective, attention will also be given to scholars outside of geography and outside of mainstream academia. Students will begin the course with a theoretical overview of the debates, conceptualizations, and constructions of labor, race, gender, and class. Next, the course will focus specifically on case studies, approaches and policies that have influenced the empirical landscape of labor in the U.S. in the past century. Finally, we will turn toward alternatives to current interpretations of labor and work both in terms of theory and material practices.