INQ-271 | Strike! - Global

Full Title: Strike! The Culture and Art of Labor Conflicts

Topic Description:

As the modern capitalist economy emerged, labor strikes became a focal point in economic, political, and social conflicts. Workers fighting for better pay, racial and gender equality, and national independence refused to work in order to escalate their demands and demonstrate their power. The tremendous impact of strikes on the daily lives of workers—sometimes improved conditions, sometimes severe repression—resonated across literature, film, and painting and shaped contemporary cultures. In this course, you will explore major historical events through the lens of specific labor strikes from around the world as they have been documented in historical texts, literature, film, memoirs, and journalism. You will analyze how labor organizations and their ability to stop work became the center of explosive confrontations, as well as the limitations of the strike and the obstacles frustrating workers in their struggle for better conditions.

Counts as Global? Yes

Topic Approved: April 2022