Anthropology of Work 3102-FAWO

In a world of growing precariousness, the issue of work has come to the forefront of public concern. This course analyzes the forms and structures of social relationships arising during the processes of production, distribution, and exchange at the local and global level. Its main goal is to show that working activities and employment relations represent social and cultural contexts replete with meaningful actions, strategies, and behaviors, and not just a set of productive activities. Work, then, has a cultural dimension, and may be understood in different ways by different people depending on class, gender, cultural background, and locality. The course will show that employment is only one form of work, and that the term 'work' encompasses a wide range of activities that produce use values and goods and services for immediate consumption, and mobilize knowledge. The course will address two main issues: 1) What can an anthropological understanding of work tell us about personal realization, self-worth, and the making of collective identities? 2) What forms of production activities are mobilized or devalued as labor?