Labor and workers history

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Eric Geerkens

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The aim of the course is to put into historical perspective some dimensions of the very subject of the master's degree in labour sciences. Essentially, the historical background covers the 19th and 20th centuries, the time of industrial and post-industrial capitalism.

For teaching purposes, a provisional distinction will be drawn between 'work' and the people, workers, who carry it out and organise to defend their rights in connection with it.

We will begin by examining the status and place of work in Western societies, in relation to the status of individuals, around the question of free/non-free work.

An important place will be reserved for the way in which work is organised, making a clear distinction between prescribed work and real work, from the beginnings of industrial mechanisation to platform work via the Taylorian turn.

This work is carried out by men and women whom incipient capitalism and its successive forms has had to recruit, locally, through internal and then external migration.

The aim is to see what capitalism does to these workers, which raises the question not only of changes in living standards but also of occupational risk and damage to health in the workplace.

We will then look at the way in which working men and women have organised themselves to defend their interests, the way in which the State has positioned itself in relation to the social issue and, finally, the social institutions that have resulted. This last point will be broken down into two parts, with the specific Belgian features highlighted: the industrial relations and the social protection.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

By the end of the course, students will be able to better understand some aspects of the today working life, putted back in their historical context. They will be more systematically attentive to the socially situated nature of provisions or decisions relating to work (and which sometimes seem purely technical), its organisation and the sharing of its results.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course will mainly take the form of ex-cathedra teaching, but will be prepared by recommended readings.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- MyULiège


Further information:

The reading of articles will be offered prior to certain lessons; the portfolio of articles recommended for reading will not include as many articles as there are lessons. Furthermore, the June/September assessment will not require students to master the information contained solely in these articles; the assessment will focus exclusively on the material covered in the course and summarised in the PPT slides covered in the course.

Exam(s) in session

May-June exam session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )

August-September exam session

- In-person

oral exam


Further information:

In June, the exam will be written. In September, an oral exam will be organized; this exam will start with a written preparation of the answer to a first question (drawn question). This is followed by two other questions (linked to the first one; when you draw the first one, you actually draw the three questions) for which the preparation time will be shorter.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Eric Geerkens, professor Histoire économique et sociale quai Roosevelt 1B (Bât. A4) 4000 Liège Belgium
Tel. ULg : +32 4 3665359 Mail : e.geerkens@uliege.be 

Association of one or more MOOCs