SOCIOL 208 : Economy and Society

Arts

2020 Semester Two (1205) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Examines the changing relations between work and life outside of paid employment. Particular attention is paid to new forms of expropriation that profit from claiming private ownership of collective effort, ideas and cultural forms. These developments are crucial to understanding and contesting social inequality, globalisation, organisational restructuring and new technologies. Course material is drawn from international literatures and is grounded in an understanding of contemporary New Zealand.

Course Overview

This paper examines capitalism as a political economic system and the histories of struggle and resistance that have always challenged capitalist social relations. Students will be provided with a theoretically and empirically grounded entry point for understanding key principles, processes and formations of capitalist economies. This will include frameworks and examples of critique and resistance to these conditions.
The first half of the course will cover key concepts that underpin capitalist economies. This provides analytical tools for understanding, analysing and critiquing capitalist processes historically and in the contemporary context of finance, logistics and changes in the nature of work.
The second half of the course outlines how capitalism is a socially contested economic system. This part of the course provides students with a foundational overview of key movements and literatures that demonstrate the success and ongoing political stakes of resistance to capitalism in different social contexts. Particular attention is paid to indigenous resistance, feminism and social reproduction, trade unionism, artistic interventions and environmental struggle. Through each of these forms of resistance, particular focus is given to how they challenge the structures of capitalism and engage with the possibility of radical social transformation.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 30 points at Stage I in Sociology or 15 points at Stage I in Sociology with a minimum B+ pass, or 30 points in International Relations and Business

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Understand some of the key meanings of work from the history of political economy (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 2.3, 6.1 and 6.3)
  2. Identify the different assumptions about human beings and social situations that accompany different concepts of work (Capability 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 4.2, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3)
  3. Understand the shifting relations between work and "non-work" (Capability 2.1 and 6.1)
  4. Understand the meaning of the concept of "the work of others" and the economic, social and political consequences of this concept (Capability 1.3, 2.3, 3.1, 4.2, 5.2 and 6.1)
  5. Develop the groundwork of a critical understanding of work that places work within the context of the capitalist political economy (Capability 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Essay 30% Individual Coursework
Essay 30% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 40% Individual Examination

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15pt point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 2 hours of lectures, a 1 hour tutorial, 4 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 3 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 25/07/2020 05:03 p.m.