Work, subjectivity and politics: contemporary dialogues

Seminar 1927

Chair: CLACSO
Coordination: Sebastián Alonso Pérez Sepúlveda (DS/UCHILE, Chile)
Home: 18 / 07 / 2019 | Registration: 04/02/2019 al 15/07/2019

Workload: 12 weeks – 90 hours.

Payment methods
If you have a link with a CLACSO Associated Center:

Paying in one payment: USD 95 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).

If you have a link with a Network or Institution Associated with CLACSO:

Paying in one payment: USD 140 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).

If you do NOT have a link with a CLACSO Associated Center:

Paying in one payment BEFORE 15/08/2019: USD 150 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).
Paying in one payment: USD 190 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).

Course presentation:

The global expressions of capitalism in its neoliberal phase have profoundly transformed work in material, subjective, and symbolic terms. Within this framework, analyzing the relationship between labor and politics constitutes a major challenge, both in developed countries and in Latin America. Despite some differences, in both contexts we observe a proliferation of labor-related suffering that remains without collective expression, in the face of the fragmentation of historically forged links between the state and the world of work, such as labor movements, labor law, and workers' parties. This situation, in light of traditional analytical categories, tends to be interpreted as a depoliticization of work.
Seeking to challenge such interpretations, the seminar develops a critical discussion of the relationship between work and politics as elaborated by social theory. Starting with a deconstruction of traditional sociological understandings of this relationship, the seminar addresses contemporary analytical categories that prove heuristically relevant by decentering the political from the state. By engaging in theoretical discussion and reviewing empirical research from both Europe and Latin America, the seminar examines the notions of subjectivation and recognition as key analytical tools for understanding the democratic horizon of contemporary critiques of labor.

Contents:

Modernity, work and politics: a first approach.
Class, the labor movement and politics: the centrality of work in industrial society.
Work and politics in Latin America I: vicissitudes of the labor movement from national-popular politics to the neoliberal turn.
Decentering of work and politics: comparative views and analytical consequences.
Work and politics in Latin America II: Work, subjectivity and politics in the New Labor Studies.
On the philosophical record of the notion of subjectivation.
On the sociological record of the notion of subjectivation.
Critical theory and contemporary work: the question of recognition.
The democratic horizons of ordinary criticism of work.
Subjectivation and recognition in Latin America.

General Bibliography of the Seminar

Dominique Méda, Work. A value in danger of extinction. Gedisa Publishing House, Spain, 2009. Chapter 3: “Act I: The invention of work”.

Martín Hopenhayn, Rethinking Work. History, Profusion and Perspectives of a Concept. Editorial Norma, 2001. Chapter VI.

Alain Touraine, Social Movements.

Nicos Poulantzas, “Social Classes”. In VV.AA. Social Classes in Latin America, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Institute of Social Research, Editorial Siglo XXI, 1988.

Enzo Faletto, Labor Movement and Political Behavior. FLACSO Working Paper, Santiago de Chile, 1977.

Francisco Zapata, “The history of the labor movement in Latin America and its forms of research”. In Enrique De la Garza (coord.), Latin American Treatise on the Sociology of Work. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 2000.

François Dubet and Danilo Martuccelli, What kind of society do we live in?, Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, 2001. Chapter 1: “The decline of the idea of society”.

Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, Editorial Siglo XXI, Madrid, 1987. Chapter to be defined.

Danilo Martuccelli and Maristella Svampa, The Empty Square. The Transformations of Peronism. Losada Publishing House, 1997. Chapter 1: “From the National-Popular Model to the Neoliberal Moment” pp. 51-77.

Laís Abramo, Cecilia Montero, “Origin and evolution of the sociology of work in Latin America”. In Enrique De la Garza (coord.), Latin American Treatise on the Sociology of Work. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 2000.

Enrique De la Garza, “Towards an expanded concept of work”.

Enrique De la Garza, “From the expanded concept of work to that of the expanded labor subject”. In Trade Unions and New Social Movements in Latin America, CLACSO, 2005.

Jacques Rancière, “Politics, Identification, Subjectivation”. In Politics, Police, Democracy, LOM Ediciones, 2007.

Étienne Tassin, "Of political subjectivation. Althusser/Rancière/Foucault/Arendt/Deleuze." Magazine of Social Studies No. 43, Bogotá, 2012, pp. 36-49.

Alain Touraine, Critique of Modernity, Fondo de Cultura Económica Publishing House, Mexico, 2000. Part Three, Chapter One: “The Subject”.

Axel Honneth, The Struggle for Recognition, Editorial Crítica, Barcelona, 1997. Chapter 9.

Axel Honneth, The Right to Freedom. Outline of a Democratic Ethics. Katz Publishers, 2014. Part III, Chapter 2, Section c: “The Labor Market”.

Stecher, A. (2015). The flexible company as a governance device. Contributions of Governmentality Analytics to the study of work subjectivities in Latin America. Universitas Psychologica, 14(5), 1779-1794.

RIVERA, Héctor; VALENZUELA, Daniel and VENEGAS, Sebastián. Process of political subjectivation of manufacturing workers in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile in the context of fragmented work. Work and society. [online]. 2013, n.21,pp.543-561.

Osvaldo Battistini, “The complex interactions between work, identity and collective action”. In Work in front of the mirror, Prometeo Ediciones, 2004.

FAQ

What do I need to take a CLACSO virtual seminar?

The basic requirements for taking a seminar are:

Availability of at least 4 hours per week to dedicate to the seminar course.
Internet access.
Reasonable handling of communication and computer tools.
Language proficiency in the language in which the course will be taught. The official languages are Spanish and Portuguese.

What is the length of a CLACSO virtual seminar? What is the total number of hours?

The seminars last 12 weeks, plus the completion of a final project. A total of 90 hours of dedication will be credited.

What is the work modality and dynamics?

A course consists of twelve classes, each accompanied by required readings, supplementary readings, discussion forums, and learning activities proposed by the teaching team, as well as partial submissions and a final project. The course is delivered online and asynchronously. Some instructors may propose synchronous activities. In these cases, the time and date will be agreed upon in advance between the teaching team and the students to ensure everyone's participation. To pass the seminar, students must participate in at least 80% of the discussion forums and activities proposed by the instructors, complete all scheduled partial submissions, and pass the final project.