Spring 2012 courses

Here are the classes I'm taking this semester:

Social Theory of Time and Space : Stanley Aronowitz
American Labor and Globalization : Frances Fox Piven
Hegel - Phenomenology of Spirit (uncredited small-group seminar) : Stanley Aronowitz


Prof. Stanley Aronowitz saronowitz@gc.cuny.edu
Soc. 80000- Social Theory of Time & Space {17533}
Thursdays, 4:15 – 6:15 p.m. Room TBA, 3 credits
Time and space are relatively neglected topics in the social sciences. But they are central to the natural sciences which have fundamentally altered our conceptions. This course explores the concepts of time and space in social theory. Beginning with how physics and biology address these questions, we will see how philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Gaston Bachelard, and Alfred North Whitehead dealt with them. Finally, the work of E.P. Thompson, Henri Lefebvre, Norbert Elias and the Frankfurt School, particularly Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse will be discussed. Among the readings:
Lee Smolin- The Trouble with Physics
Levins and Lewontin- The Dialectical Biologist
Bergson- Matter and Memory
Bachelard- Dialectic of Duration
Whitehead- Selections from Process and Reality
Thompson- "Time, Work- Discipline…"
Lefebvre- Production of Space; Critique of Everyday Life volume 3.
Norbert Elias- Time: an Essay
Adorno- Selections from Negative Dialectic
Marcuse- One Dimensional Man
Some of these readings will be in the form of class presentations.

Frances Fox Piven 
LABR 601 – Labor and Globalization
Course Description:
This course will examine the impact of the globalization of production on work itself, as well as on workers and international labor movements. It will present globalization as a central problem for both developed and developing economies and as a dilemma for U.S. workers and their unions. Students will analyze the history and function of the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, determining how these institutions influence the global flow of capital and labor as well as the flow of goods and services. The course covers topics essential for understanding workers' issues and rights in contemporary economies. These include the impact of global outsourcing; the rise of women in workforces around the world and the implications for issues of gender; organizing in a multi-national context; increasing poverty and inequality; and the decreased regulatory powers of states relative to multinational corporations as a result of free-trade agreements and neo-liberal development policies. All topics will be studied from a historical perspective that traces the development of capitalism from its beginnings in nation-states to its current hegemony in the global marketplace. Students will study responses of the labor movement to capital flight and to the movement of jobs and production across national borders, including efforts at cross-border organizing. They will examine the extent and effectiveness of global labor strategies and the potential of broad-based coalitions to protect workers' rights.