LABOR 315: Labor, Community, & Social Justice Organizing

Communities across the US and the world are struggling with growing inequality and distribution of resources, ineffective political systems, and environmental degradation. Organizing is the process of bringing people together and challenging them to act on behalf of their shared values and interests. Organizers develop the relationships, motivate participation, facilitate strategy and enable people to gain new appreciation of their values, the resources, and interests and a new capacity to use their resources on behalf of their interests. In this course, students will use case study methods to explore the various applications of organizing, methods of organizing and strategic approaches to organizing campaigns. The primary focus will be labor and labor/community organizing, but the course will be useful to any student who wishes to pursue organizing approaches to social justice.