The expansion of the labour studies department comes at the perfect time, says SFU prof
The limited labour studies program at SFU will begin growing with a recent donation to the program. This donation will now make it possible for students to major in labour studies.
The history of labour studies at SFU reaches back over 35 years, when the program was created in 1975. However, until recently the program remained on the academic periphery, only becoming available as a minor and a certificate in 2000. A 2010 donation from SFU alumna Margaret Morgan made the expansion of the program possible.
In September 2011, the labour studies program moved from being part of the history department to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to reflect anticipated demand as the program continues to grow. The next few years will be a transitionary period.
According to Dr. Gary Teeple, director of the Morgan Centre for Labour Studies at SFU, the donation and the expansion of the program are well-timed. Global markets still remain wounded from the 2008 economic crisis, popular protest movements are on the rise, and globalization has changed the way that money, people, and goods interact. All of this has placed the relevance of studying labour under a renewed spotlight. “The labour studies program provides courses intended to shed light on the current trends of neoliberalism, globalization, and the changing nature of work from the point of view of those who must suffer these changes — the overwhelming majority of the world’s population,” said Teeple.
Apart from focusing on wider trends, the program is set to deliver a unique perspective on history and current events to students — one from the point of view of the labour force. “Labour Studies strives to grasp social reality in a critical manner . . . using all the disciplines at its disposal,” explained Teeple.
Rising global unemployment and inequality have perhaps increased the academic relevance of labour. According to a 2011 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report entitled “Divided we stand: Why inequality keeps rising”, income inequality has been on the rise in the developed world since the 1970s. Moreover, the same authors say that since 2000, incomes have been increasing faster at the top, with earners in the top 10 per cent leaving lower earners more rapidly behind. Rising income inequality comes with various causes, but central to them are regulatory reforms in labour markets. According to the same OECD report, this trend is set to continue — along with some dire consequences. As upward social mobility becomes limited, social resentment and political instability become very likely developments, and in many ways are already underway, say the OECD authors.
Yet, while acknowledging this ominous forecast, Dr. Teeple offered his own prescription: “An entire generation of young people is facing increasing debt, loss of hope, and rising unemployment . . . what better time to take a course in labour studies?”
