AFST 30214 - Labor and America since 1945

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Africana Studies

Description:

This course explores the relationship between workers and the labor movement to American politics and culture since 1945. The United States emerged from World War II as the strongest global power, and its citizens subsequently enjoyed a long postwar economic boom that created what we might call the first truly middle-class society in world history. At the heart of that new society was the American labor movement, those unions like the United Auto Workers and the United Steel Workers who ensured that at least some of the postwar profits made it into the wallets of workers and their families. Today, however, unions represent only 8% of workers in the private sector. What accounts for the decline of organized labor since the 1950s? What has the decline of the labor movement meant for workers specifically, and the American economy and politics more broadly? How and why have popular perceptions of unions changed over time? What has been the relationship of organized labor to the civil rights movement, feminism, and modern conservatism? What is "globalization" and what has been its impact upon American workers and their unions? Through an exploration of historical scholarship, memoirs, polemical writings, and Hollywood films, this course will try to answer these questions. Students interested in politics, economic development, international relations, social justice, human rights, peace studies or mass culture are particularly welcome.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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