Welcome to Reuben Roth's Sociology of Work and Education Website
Working Life Academic Interests What's Embourgeoisement? Informal Learning Academic Papers Course Outlines, Assignments, Readings Personal Bio Links |
Greetings, I'm an Associate Professor in Labour Studies and Sociology at Laurentian University. This website is where I allow public access to some of my past and current writing and research on the sociology of work and the workplace, social class and stratification, economic and social inequality, the Canadian working-class in its many forms (social, political, cultural, etc.), progressive labour economics, political sociology and the continuing effects of industrialization and postindustrial capitalism on people's everyday lives. It's also where I send my students for a variety of resources. ![]() |
I have taught Sociology and Labour Studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels since 2001. I am currently a tenured faculty member in the Labour Studies Program, which is part of the School of Northern Development at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. In the past, I have been a Research Associate and Senior Researcher at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (1995-2003) and York University (2002-2005). At York's Centre for Research on Work and Society (CRWS) and OISE/UT's Centre for the Study of Education and Work (CSEW) I administered several large SSHRC grants related to informal learning, non-formal education, the workplace, shifting labour markets in the current 'new economy' and educational outcomes and their relation to the labour market.
There has always been a political underplot involved in this idea [that the working class has been obliterated as both a social and political force]. ... The claim that the working class is in decline has been used to justify the[ir] strategy of a 'broad democratic alliance' against Thatcherism stretching as far rightwards as the SDP-Liberal Alliance. [This]... definition of class which focuses on consumption is therefore likely to lead to a belief in the dissapearance of class antagonisms and the merging of working and middle classes. Those who argued, after labour had suffered three successive electoral defeats in the 1950s, that the working class was undergoing 'embourgeoisement' --becoming middle class-- appealed to the evidence of manual workers' greater affluence and changed lifestyles (Goldthorpe, 1987: 3).
If they are an hourly-rated worker..they're going to be making good money by anybody's standards, sixty five to seventy five thousand, in that range. If they are a skilled tradesman (sic), then they will be much in demand and they will probably be into six figures. These are people who have at least two cars brand new probably got a boat, probably got a camper, probably got a cottage. These people are concerned about how they accumulate wealth, how they hold onto it; taxation is a big problem..
Feel free to drop by every now and then to see what other new papers I've added.
Chapter One of my doctoral dissertation 'Oshawa Autoworkers: Social Integration and Oppositional Class Consciousness Among the Unionized Workers of General Motors'
Lean Manufacturing in the Auto Industry: Kaizening Ourselves to Death On Lean Manufacturing at General Motors, Oshawa (Ontario, Canada)
"Notice to Departments 91 and 92 Employees": An Institutional Ethnography
The Rise of Precariousness in Canada's Nickel Mining Industry
Hidden Knowledge: Organized Labour in the Information Age. This link takes you to an excerpt from the book's introduction. I co-authored a chapter (with D.W. Livingstone) on the learning experiences and learning capacities of Oshawa autoworkers. This is based on research I conducted for David Livingstone's "Working-Class Learning Strategies" project from 1994-2001.
Workplace Communities and Transformative Learning: Oshawa Autoworkers and the CAW
The Canadian Auto Workers and Paid Education Leave: Social Unionism in Practice
Guest lecture at York University on Social Class in the New Millennium, November 28, 2003
The Autoworkers of General Motors, Oshawa: Integration or Alienation?
Bibliography on embourgeoisement and "General Motors Autoworkers" essayA handy resource for Labour (Labor) Studies students
The Hidden Injuries of Class Revisited: Notes to a Sociology 215 lecture, Feb. 12, 2001 On socialization and social class in North America today
Literature on Social Mobility Posting to 'working-class studies' newsgroup - NB: This is an MS-Word document -- click to save or open.
OF INTEREST TO LABOUR STUDIES STUDENTS
Course syllabus for LBST 1006 winter 2014
Course syllabus for LBST 3906-EL01 "Organizational Theory"
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OF INTEREST TO UNDERGRADUATE SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS
OF INTEREST TO INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS
Don't Panic: A Tourist's Guide to Sociology. A short note to introductory sociology students
Being Testwise - Lecture on Quiz and Exam-taking, September 2011
OF INTEREST TO SOCI-2296 "SOCIOLOGY - EDUCATIONAL ISSUES" STUDENTS:
Syllabus for SOCI-2296 'Sociology - Educational Issues' (Fall 2016).
OF INTEREST TO 4th YEAR SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS
Winter 2017 SOCI-4076 Syllabus. Note this opens directly to a pdf file.
Winter 2016 SOCI-4086 Syllabus. Note this opens directly to a pdf file.
OF INTEREST TO ALL UNDERGRADUATE SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS
Race, Gender and Class: The Identity Politics of Postmodernity or the Socialist Project?
OF INTEREST TO GRADUATE STUDENTS:
Presentation criteria for graduate students in SOCI-5216 EL01
PAPERS ON NATIONALISM AND CULTURE
How Yiddish Was Murdered: Paper Presentation to ASA Annual Meeting, 2013
I currently live in Oshawa, Ontario (45 kilometres east of Toronto).
This useful website discusses Oshawa's industrial history. Yes, in a comparison to England's busiest industrial city, Oshawa was once known as "The Manchester of Canada"The Manchester of Canada: Industry in Oshawa
Oshawa is home to the resplendent, 55-room, McLaughlin Mansion Parkwood. A federally recognized historic site, the Parkwood estate is one of Canada's last interwar mansions and it resonates with local history. It may interest you to know that Parkwood is one of Canada's most popular Hollywood film locations. Parkwood is one of Oshawa's 'hidden gems' and should ever find yourself in the vicinity of Oshawa you should certainly make it a point to visit this magnificent historic house. It's not simply a tribute to wealth, but a demonstration of skilled craftspeople -- the upper tier of the working-class back in the day. It's also a good reminder that the labouring classes enriched the bourgeoisie to a staggering degree -- even at the tail end of the gilded age.
In Oshawa I'm engaged in a variety of local community pursuits. I am a past Trustee of the Oshawa Public Library and I'm a supporter of the Ontario Philharmonic (formerly the Oshawa-Durham Philharmonic).
I can be reached via email at: rroth@laurentian.ca
I enjoy feedback (as you do, I'm sure).
I have an interest in traditional and historical music forms, especially early American blues and folk music, such as those archived by Alan Lomax. As problematic as some claim he may be, he did record some historic and irreplacable music. Without these recordings, we'd be just a bit more impoverished than we are. /
John Coltrane: Jazz is a love of mine and John Coltrane's music is a muse. Here's 'My Favorite Things' (a Fan's homepage with discography and thesis): My Favorite Things: John Coltrane Website
Lyrics to "Early in the Mornin'" (composed by "22" and recorded by Alan Lomax) xxx
RELEVANT AND INTERESTING LINKSLaurentian University's Workplace and Labour Studies Program which is part of the School of Northern and Community Studies. Laurentian's Workplace & Labour Studies program graduates often hear that their demanding program is the equivalent to many graduate programs in Industrial Relations. This may be due to the 300-hours of field research placement student must do in a union, HR Department, corporation, non-profit, not-for-profit, or other organization.
School of Labour Studies, McMaster UniversityMcMaster's got an excellent undergraduate Labour Studies program.
York University's Work and Labour Studies ProgramYork University's Labour Studies program is the largest in Canada.
Brock University Labour Studies Program Brock's Labour Studies Program has some great people on the faculty team.
McMaster University School of Labour Studies This is the only graduate program in Labour Studies in Ontario. Highly recommended.
The Centre for Research on Work and Society (CRWS) The Centre for Research on Work and Society Located at York University, this research and dissemination centre unites university academics with trade unionists and conducts advanced research of interest to union members, academics, activists, educators, community workers, anti-globalization activists, social progressives and anyone interested in workplace-related issues. Be sure to search their extensive holdings of free online working papers.
The Centre for Working-Class Studies was the first center of its kind in the United States devoted to the study of working-class life and culture. The CWCS creates social spaces for civic and academic conversations on working-class life and culture and its intersections with race, gender, and sexuality and serves as a clearinghouse for information on working-class culture, issues, and pedagogy. More than an intellectual project, the CWCS is also engaged with the broader society, providing assistance in creating a culture of organizing and education within working-class institutions and society. The Centre for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University
The Canadian Labour Congress is Canada's national umbrella labour (trade union) body. Their website is of interest to those who wish to pursue learning about Canadian labour unions, or nonunion workers curious about unions, or those wishing to conduct research on how to join a union.
The Independent Media Center is a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth. We work out of a love and inspiration for people who continue to work for a better world, despite corporate media's distortions and unwillingness to cover the efforts to free humanity. Indymedia
The American Sociological Association.I've been a longtime member and I recommend it to my students and those interested in sociology.
Independent Jewish Voices Independent Jewish Voices – Canada is a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties.
TruthdigA progressive U.S. news source, edited by Bob Schier, former L.A. Times columnist, who was fired after his columns questioned the U.S. response to 9/11.
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"The Angry Arab""The Angry Arab" is a blog written by As'ad AbuKhalil -- a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus -- and is often laced with great insight as well as acerbic humour. This site has daily links and views on events in 'Middle East' politics.
Here's a link to a great sociology website -- it's one of my very favorites. Sociosite is a wonderful reference for sociology students and others interested in the social sciences. Great sociologists, popular themes, and other resources are featured in this very dense site. Sociosite
Here is a link which is useful for students of political science or sociological theory. The Marx to Mao Page is a resource for those with a phrase (or less) they'd like to look up and read in full. Marx to Mao Page
This is a link to The C. Wright Mills Homepage, which contains excerpts from a wide range of Mills' written works. This man saved North American sociology in the late 1950s with his compelling writing and engaging work. Those academics who criticize newly-founded universities for being "too practical" (see UOIT below) should recall that C. Wright Mills had a similar plan to snatch sociology away from the elite in the late 1950s. In the end Mills struck a blow for grounded academic work, the linking of sociology with real life experiences, and was an advocate who railed against elitist dogma. C. Wright Mills Homepage
I take anti-racism seriously and make use of an active anti-racist pedagogy in the classroom, using a wide range of resources. Here is an old standby: author Peggy McIntosh's article on "White Privilege". It's a great tool that helps make racism and privilege visible to those who may not see it. It's an effective piece of thinking and writing and is a great kickoff to a classroom discussion on race at almost any level. WALL - The Work and Lifelong Learning research network WALL research network endeavours to identify gaps in workplace training and education in Canada and bring visibility to current learning and work issues and trends.
Here's a link to 'The Durkheim Pages' website. It contains detailed English-language summaries of each of Emile Durkheim's four major works, including: The Division of Labor in Society (1893), The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897), and The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912). The Durkheim Pages
The Indiana University in South Bend has an excellent online roster of courses, and an excellent list of U.S. labour links Indiana University Labour Studies Program
MUSLIMEDIA.com is an independent website run by Crescent International, and features some of the best commentary on events in the Middle East by Zafar Bangash, among others. Muslim Media
The Nation has been a voice of the U.S. left since 1865. This is a progressive weekly newsmagazine that cannot be ignored. The Nation
Counterpunch is modestly self-described as "America's best political newsletter," and that may indeed be true. Edited by "The Nation" expatriate Alexander Cockburn, Counterpunch is unabashedly liberal (in the American sense of the word), anti-Republican, and progressive to its core.Counterpunch
The Socialist Register, in existence since 1964 is "Compulsory reading for people who refuse to be resigned to the idea that there can be no alternative to our unacceptable society", according to Daniel Singer. Some free articles available from past issues. This is necessary annual reading.
Rabble A recommended progressive Canadian political news and analysis website.
Salon.com Smart U.S. political and cultural writing.
Common Dreams A progessive news and views source
Oshawa Historical SocietyThe Oshawa Historical Society was established to preserve Oshawa's history.
Democracy Now!A daily newscast with a different, progressive, perspective on the news. Not for your conservative uncle.
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