Course Catalogue

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This course covers the global history of organised labour during the first period of globalisation, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Transcending nationalist historiographies, the course surveys the mass unionisation of working people across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean worlds, and competing ideas around race, class, gender and nation over the period leading up to postcolonial independence. Alongside a deep engagement with global labour historiography, students will evaluate primary sources from a wide range of trade unions, labour leaders and oral history interviews, and reflect on the dramatic transformation of notions around solidarity over the period, and the repercussions of these changes into the present.

Three hours of seminar time per week over 20 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus, broken by reading weeks. This is one of the Honours options in History and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into History, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

None

None

Oral assessment and presentation

1 x 10-minute oral presentation (1,000 words) 10%

1 x peer feedback (oral and written) on the strengths and historiographical engagement of another student's presentation, and areas of improvement (800 words) 10%

Written Assignment 

1 x primary source analysis (1,000 words) 15%

1 x literature review essay (2,000 words) 25%

1 x essay (3,000 words) 40%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity for students to:

■ Learn about the development of the global labour movement from the 1880s to 1940s, with specific case studies focusing on Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Scotland, South Africa and Trinidad.

■ Engage with historiographical debates about global labour history as a concept, approach, and method.

■ Gain research experience critically evaluating a range of primary sources through a transnational comparative approach.

■ Develop practical skills in locating and using primary sources, identifying secondary literature and effectively communicating arguments in different essay formats.

■ Enhance oral presentation and analytical skills.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Critically discuss global history of organised labour between the 1880s and 1940s.

■ Analyse the key theoretical, methodological and historiographic issues around global labour history.

■ Synthesise primary and secondary sources relating to labour movements across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean worlds.

■ Evaluate the long-term legacies of the labour movement on a global scale.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.