Sociology (SOCI) 332

Overview

Women and Unions is about women’s paid and unpaid work. It is about women’s struggles against the gendered division of labour, and the discrimination and exclusion that come with it. It is also about women’s struggles against employers who take advantage of women’s subordinate position in labour markets and about the fight that union sisters had, and still have, inside the labour movement to be heard and recognized as equals by their union brothers. The main focus of this course is on women and unions in Canada, but it also puts women’s struggles into a historical and global perspective.

Outline

• Unit 1: Introduction—What Is “Women and Unions” About and Why Study the Topic?
• Unit 2: “A Change Is Gonna Come”—Transformations of Work in Postwar Canada and the Making of a New Women’s Movement
• Unit 3: “Union Maids”—Equity Struggles and Union Renewal
• Unit 4: “At the Purchasers’ Option”—Unions, Housework, and Globalization

Evaluation

To receive credit for SOCI 332, you must complete four written assignments and achieve an overall grade of D (50 percent) or better for the entire course. Your final grade is determined by a weighted average of the grades you receive on these assignments for credit. The weightings for each assignment are as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.

Materials

Physical course materials

The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:

Federici, S. (2020). Revolution at point zero: Housework, reproduction, and feminist struggle. Oakland, CA: PM Press.

Foley, J. R., & Baker, P. L. (Eds.). (2009). Unions, equity, and the path to renewal. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Sangster, J. (2010). Transforming labour: Women and work in post-war Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

All other course materials are online.

Challenge for credit

Overview

The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.

Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

Evaluation

To receive credit for the SOCI 332 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 percent) on the take-home assessment.

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