The course will look at:

• How do we explain inequality?

• What is capitalism and why do Marxists say it’s important for understanding of women’s oppression?

• What can we learn from history? Women in the labour market and labour movement in C19th & C20th.

• The issues for women at work & in our unions today & what we can do about them.

By the end of the course students will:

• Have gained an understanding of the role of the labour movement as a key site in the struggle for women’s liberation.

• Have understood the position of women in capitalist society and assessed the historical gains and enduring problems facing women today.

• Have examined and assessed contemporary ideas about the persistence of inequality.

• Have been introduced to how a Marxist analysis of class exploitation can assist in understanding the oppression of women.

• Have been introduced to the history of women at work and in the trade union movement.

• Have examined how unions’ capacity for collective struggle and collective bargaining can be used to address women’s discrimination and its manifestation in the trade union movement and in the workplace.