ILRIC 2385

Money, Work, and Power

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2021-2022.

This course will explore key topics in the critical study of labor and capitalism through the lens of food. Questions of race, gender,and class, but also toxicity, settler colonialism, as well as production and reproduction can all be read in the landscapes of food provision and procurement. Food is the ground for an array of labor processes—planting, harvesting, transporting, serving,and eating, just to name a few. Some of these forms of work are overt (stooped workers toiling in pesticide ridden field, for example). But some of these forms of work are invisible and unpaid. And sometimes, they are incredibly well remunerated but totally shadowy. By studying these different forms of work comparatively, we can understand genealogies and futures of inequality, resource use, and the nature of work itself. As this is a writing seminar, we will think not only about how to write but also about the effects of writing in the world. We will think about genre and representation, particularly as writing on food shapes the lives of the often racialized and sexualized workerswho bring food into being.

When Offered Fall or Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: ILR sophomores or permission of the instructor.

Satisfies Requirement Satisfies the ILR Advanced Writing requirement.

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